thewhitelily: (Default)
The White Lily ([personal profile] thewhitelily) wrote2007-06-22 12:25 am

Ode to a Spreadsheet

How did anyone write in the days before spreadsheets?



If I were to print this out in eight point font and put it up on the corkboard above my desk, it would take eighteen A4 pages. Sweeeeet. Admitedly, six of them would be more like third-pages, but I'm claiming them anyway.

Since I shrunk it down so much, a rough explanation might be necessary: Chapters go down the left, one row each. Starting from the left, they have the number, the chapter title, the summary, then known carpet-gnawing bugs. Across the top go all the plot threads and directly under their titles, any specifics I've worked out need to be added but am not yet certain where. Each cell where a plot thread appears in a chapter is shaded the darker grey, while each cell where it's merely mentioned is the lighter grey. Text is red where I'm talking about what should be there, black if it's what is there.

So now I have a bird's eye view of the plot, the pacing, the foreshadowing, and the backstory. I've assigned proper plot threads to all the characters, concepts, and other bits and pieces that were important.

This means I can trace all my major and minor plot threads forward and backwards, spotting connections and parallels between previously unrelated bits and tying them into each other and the backstory. I can skip from here to there as my brain storms over the plot and slide ideas straight into place so that they're in just the right spot for if/when I want to write them. I can make sure that each individual character has their own story that makes sense from beginning to end, no matter how minor. I can keep an eye on each chapter to make sure there's enough stuff happening in it - and if there's not, find something appropriate that could do with a bit more meat and tie it in. I can keep an eye on threads that go too long without cropping up again, those that appear too late in the piece or have a twist that might not be adequately prepared, and those that don't seem to be related at all to anything else and need to be totally cut.

Aaaaaah. From here on, editing should be all downhill! :) Well, maybe not. But making decisions about what needs to go where will certainly be a whole lot easier!

So do I rock almost as much as Excel? Or am I a neurotic control freak with no artistic soul? I'm thinking both!

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