John Deakin wrote a column for Avweb - one of his first - entitled "Throw that checklist away".
Obviously a title designed to garner controversy, but, as he proceeded to point out, not necessarily bad advice.
Why? because a lot of the checklists that you see either contain pointless items like "remove pitot cover" or, if you look at a pre 1976 (non GAMA) POH are woefully inadequate.
As has been pointed out above, a checklist should be personal and evolve. If you constantly forget an item, put it in twice, or in red. If you have special equipment like an aotopilot, add it. Perhaps an item like 'switch lights on if after dark' MAY be removed. (do you need a reminder when you're in your car?) It's supposed to be a document to help you fly not a crutch without which flight is impossible.
Let's add the standard disclaimer here that I'm not saying you fly without one - quite the opposite in fact, especially considering your experience level (congratulations btw
) You might try making one that you feel comfortable with and get with an instructor to ask for his (or her
) opinion.
As your experience level increases, you'll adapt your checklist to suit your style of flying.
One last note. My understanding is that as the equipment gets larger, check lists become just that, a back up check. Rather than read each item and react to it, the pilot uses a memorised flow pattern to configure the aircraft and the checklist to verify the configuration.
Good question though.