Wattmag Issue #13

How Plotting Your Novel with A Spreadsheet Can Change Your Writing Life

This month's Wattmag article is brought to you by: the massive overhaul I just gave my novel and the spreadsheet outline that saved me from going crazy while doing it. 

I know what you might be wondering. A spreadsheet? Why would I as a writer use a spreadsheet? Bear with me while I walk you through how a scene list created in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets (which I use) can change your writing life forever.

Before I get on my soap box and start to preach, let me tell you a little about myself. I'm a plotter by nature. I tried the pantsing business and...well... epic fail. On Wattpad I have a completed Duology, which I am busting my brain to refine with the hope of publishing. Each time I tried to sort through the edits, I'd get flustered and lost in the wilderness of all the twists and turns with no idea of my direction.

As a plotter, I knew my plotting game was off. It worked for the first draft, but when it came to getting down to the meat of it, it fell flat. The muses saw my plight and BAM I discovered the One Page Novel Outline by E.A. Deverell. Cue life altering experience.

The One Page Novel Outline is a spreadsheet mapping out your entire novel, broken down into structure parts to help you with pacing. It's free so grab yourself a copy of the Google Sheet along with the workbook, also free, and join me in Plotter's Heaven. We have refreshments.

For those of you using Scrivener, there is a template for that as well.

My Process

Before the actual editing commenced, I went through my first draft and did a breakdown, adding in the scene descriptions, word count and the like into the spreadsheet. Mapping out the materials I had to create a second draft. In doing so, I generated a big picture outline of my plot from start to finish in the order the chapters appeared in Draft One. Then I opened a new Google Sheet and did a revised outline for the second draft, tightening up as many loose ends as I could while doing some shuffling.

All was well and good until I realized the second draft wasn't flowing either. There was a missing 'something' I couldn't quite place. If I didn't have the big picture view the spreadsheet outline provided, I wouldn't have been able to rearrange the entire book in the space of two days without losing my ever loving mind. All the details I needed was already plugged in; it was just a matter of finding the right order, murdering my darlings, narrowing my focus, filling in the sinkholes and weaving it all together again. My plotting game was on point.

A big issue many writers like you and I have is finding a way to navigate through all the moving parts without them slipping through our fingers. I honestly believe, as it has worked for me, that a scene or chapter list in Google Sheet or Excel is a big advantage. You can track your word count, make notes of subplots, characters and other details vital to your book.

We all have our little quirks, so you can customize the spreadsheet while keeping the core structure.

But plotting stifles creativity...

Show that myth the door. Plotting does not stifle creativity it is your mindset that becomes an issue. My plot outline acts as a map with signposts. I know where all the places are and the final destination, but at the same time I know and am open to the possibility of detours. If after taking the detour I find myself at a dead end, it's easier for me to find a reset point using the outline.

An outline should be a fluid guide and not one set in stone. Don't feel as if you have to follow it all to a 'T.' While writing; new ideas will come. Sometimes your characters reveal things you hadn't considered before. Make your plotting exercise as flexible as your writing.

The Structure

I use both the eight-part structure the Outline provides along with the Four Act Structure.

The workbook for the outline comes with worksheets along with definitions for each stage and what should happen. Deverell also provides examples you can mimic.

I would definitely recommend the One Page Novel Outline to all my fellow plotters, and to the pansters as well. The more intricate your novel, the better it is for you to have an outline no matter if you are a Plotter or not. It'll keep your chapters and scenes organized while giving you reference signposts to take some of the stress out of re-assembling and editing your manuscript.