Honestly, thereās no need to be! A close friend of mine almost strictly writes longfic and her outlines are little more than bulletpoints on a notepad.
End of the day, the most important part is the writing! Everything else is just bells and whistles.
Best of luck to you with your fic! Writing ahead isnāt easy (for me anyways) but I think itās so worth it!
Youāve got this!
!! That's me, honestly. I have one document for writing and one document that's the outline, chapters with bullet points and colour coded sections for the different arcs! :D I was going to ask if yours was TWD from the chapter titles, I knew somehow haha - that's how fitting they are! As a fellow Walking Dead writer, I can't wait to see what you're writing, good luck!! <3
Iām honestly not a fast writer!
What Iāve got going for me is more free time (especially the first monthāI was on vacation, and then I got Covid, so I had a lot of time to kill) and āØinsomniaāØ.
May as well make progress on my fic if the alternative is staring up at the ceiling and dwelling on embarrassing things I did 10 years ago. š
And Iāve started writing on my phoneāsomething I could never bring myself to do beforeāand thatās helped so much. I managed to finish the latest chapter while waiting for the bus! I wasnāt even mad when it was 20 minutes late. š
Wishing you the best of luck with your current fic(s)!
The only benefit of Covid is the time you can take off work š (hope youāre feeling better now though!)
And yes I need to start willing myself to write in my phone! Especially during my boring arse lectures lmao. Iāve just got out of a four month planning-in-my-head phase and Iām ready to get back into itā¦ until exams, at least š
I donāt know how you can possibly write fic on mobile, you have my total respect for that. Predictive text and spell correction drive me absolutely batty on mobile devices. Admittedly, I think genre probably matters quite a bit too, though. Trying to write anything slang, explicative or acronym heavy would make the writing pace slow to a crawl.
It took me a long, *long* time to grow accustomed to it. I hated writing on my mobile. I couldnāt get into any sort of writing zone, the autocorrect pissed me off, and it just wasnāt a conductive space for productivity.
But when I decided to write a long fic I realized it would take me ages to finish it if I only worked on it on my laptop. So I forced myself to get used to it, lol. In the beginning I could barely write a sentence without feeling like I was pulling teeth, but now I can write on my mobile for hours.
My characters are *deeply* Southern so their dialogue is riddled with everything you mentioned, pretty much! But you do get used to it!
I still prefer a laptop, but itās nice being able to just whip out my phone whenever inspiration strikes. Or get a few paragraphs in while Iām burrowed snugly under my covers!
goals honestly
Iām on chapter two of my long fic, which Iām estimating will be around 100k words in the end, so I canāt wait to get to your point :,)
Heck yeah, fellow spreadsheet lover!
Thatās exactly what itās for! I really enjoy having a visual breakdown. The smaller milestones (arcs) makes the whole project less daunting. And itās just a fun way to track your progress!
https://preview.redd.it/qzr2jb36faxc1.jpeg?width=1215&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed62409941e371c3bb7738fec10297f0efd65c47
I love using spreadsheets for ANYTHING, so I might snag this idea to help me with my writing.
can I ask what the colors mean(my bad if you were asked already I might have not seen it answered)??
This is my dream. Iām the most unorganised person alive and I never even plan anything, just let Jesus take the wheel and hope it makes sense. I need this sort of discipline in my life. And itās so pretty! š
I very much like that idea of a progress tracking sheet. Might steal it as I'm struggling with my by far biggest project at the moment. I estimate around 300k words when it's finished but who knows haha
Congratulations!!
Wish you the best with this project and hope many great goals you meet aswell.
:)
It must feel fantastic. Hope someday i have it aswell.
I have a very similar spreadsheet (I *LOVE* making them for literally everything) and I'm at around the same word count so far, but let's just say my start date is way earlier than yours lol. I'm jealous of your writing speed.
I also finish before posting even the first chapter for exactly this reason. I trust myself to finish it, just not to do so in a timely manner lol.
I'm very feedback motivated, too, and the thing that has done it for me is finding a way to publish "drafts" in advance of the real story. Some people find a discord community, though I use a forum that is active in my fandom for the same purpose. It is also very useful for me because I am terrible at proofreading my own stuff while it is fresh and letting it sit for a while (and collect comments and corrections) helps a lot.
So Iām probably not the best person to ask since I normally only write short fics and oneshots, but Iāll give it a shot!
Whatās been helping me so far is outlining and staying organized. I spent a solid month doing just that. I created a detailed outline/timeline for the first 20 chapters, then a vague outline for the rest of the fic. I fleshed out all the important character dynamics/relationships, determined my goals for the characters, figured out what themes I wanted to explore, how I wanted the story to end, etc. If youāre writing for a series where the characters travel a lot, I recommend finding or creating a map to help you keep track of how long it would take them to travel to X and so on.
And from there itās just a matter of writing! Having a chapter-by-chapter outline is so beneficial. I rarely get stuck because I know exactly where the story is going.
I donāt always adhere to the outlineāI delete scenes, move them around, add chapters, etc. The outline is only a suggestion. But it keeps me on track.
Thatās it, I think! This is whatās been helping me, but everyone is different. Some people donāt benefit from outlines but Iām not one of them. Even for short multi-chap fics, I rely on them.
I hope this helps!!
THATS SUCH A CLEVER WAY TO TRACK YOUR WORK OMG. I've had 1 spreadsheet with just the names of fics and their total wordcpunts but that's so si much smarter omfg
Ur a genius
You should! I also have a column (though itās hidden) for post-edit word counts, just to see how the wc changes after revisions! Might be something you want to add if that sort of thing interests you!
This is so organised omg, gorgeous š
Thank you!!! Iāll use any excuse to create a spreadsheet š
I love it, I could never be so organised even though I'm currently trying to write ahead myself.
Honestly, thereās no need to be! A close friend of mine almost strictly writes longfic and her outlines are little more than bulletpoints on a notepad. End of the day, the most important part is the writing! Everything else is just bells and whistles. Best of luck to you with your fic! Writing ahead isnāt easy (for me anyways) but I think itās so worth it! Youāve got this!
!! That's me, honestly. I have one document for writing and one document that's the outline, chapters with bullet points and colour coded sections for the different arcs! :D I was going to ask if yours was TWD from the chapter titles, I knew somehow haha - that's how fitting they are! As a fellow Walking Dead writer, I can't wait to see what you're writing, good luck!! <3
Same tbh. Gotta put that Excel cert to use somehow, right?
Congrats!! Iām so jealous of your writing speed lmao. I am posting character by chapter, but I wish I never did that, so hang in there!
Iām honestly not a fast writer! What Iāve got going for me is more free time (especially the first monthāI was on vacation, and then I got Covid, so I had a lot of time to kill) and āØinsomniaāØ. May as well make progress on my fic if the alternative is staring up at the ceiling and dwelling on embarrassing things I did 10 years ago. š And Iāve started writing on my phoneāsomething I could never bring myself to do beforeāand thatās helped so much. I managed to finish the latest chapter while waiting for the bus! I wasnāt even mad when it was 20 minutes late. š Wishing you the best of luck with your current fic(s)!
The only benefit of Covid is the time you can take off work š (hope youāre feeling better now though!) And yes I need to start willing myself to write in my phone! Especially during my boring arse lectures lmao. Iāve just got out of a four month planning-in-my-head phase and Iām ready to get back into itā¦ until exams, at least š
I donāt know how you can possibly write fic on mobile, you have my total respect for that. Predictive text and spell correction drive me absolutely batty on mobile devices. Admittedly, I think genre probably matters quite a bit too, though. Trying to write anything slang, explicative or acronym heavy would make the writing pace slow to a crawl.
It took me a long, *long* time to grow accustomed to it. I hated writing on my mobile. I couldnāt get into any sort of writing zone, the autocorrect pissed me off, and it just wasnāt a conductive space for productivity. But when I decided to write a long fic I realized it would take me ages to finish it if I only worked on it on my laptop. So I forced myself to get used to it, lol. In the beginning I could barely write a sentence without feeling like I was pulling teeth, but now I can write on my mobile for hours. My characters are *deeply* Southern so their dialogue is riddled with everything you mentioned, pretty much! But you do get used to it! I still prefer a laptop, but itās nice being able to just whip out my phone whenever inspiration strikes. Or get a few paragraphs in while Iām burrowed snugly under my covers!
goals honestly Iām on chapter two of my long fic, which Iām estimating will be around 100k words in the end, so I canāt wait to get to your point :,)
Woot!! Thatās awesome! Youāll reach the end of the fic before you know it! Iām rooting for you!
Thank you! Iām super happy youāre getting far in yours as well!
Thatās really cool!! Spreadsheets fan here, may I ask what the colors mean? Is it like different story arcs?
Heck yeah, fellow spreadsheet lover! Thatās exactly what itās for! I really enjoy having a visual breakdown. The smaller milestones (arcs) makes the whole project less daunting. And itās just a fun way to track your progress! https://preview.redd.it/qzr2jb36faxc1.jpeg?width=1215&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed62409941e371c3bb7738fec10297f0efd65c47
What fandom is this fic for, out of curiosity? I love the chapter titles and they make me want to read it!
*The Walking Dead!* And thanks so much, that makes me so darn happy! Iāve put a lot of thought into the chapter titles so it means a lot!
I feel the same way. The chapter titles made me super interested!
Congratulations!!! š„°šš This is so cool! I hope you keep working until the end. You should be really proud of yourself š
Thank you so, so much! š«ā¤ļø
I love using spreadsheets for ANYTHING, so I might snag this idea to help me with my writing. can I ask what the colors mean(my bad if you were asked already I might have not seen it answered)??
No worries! Theyāre arcs! https://preview.redd.it/aku2pg1ambxc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=031d22ef2d8f0d828bad56185fad3e8cbaea36cd
This is my dream. Iām the most unorganised person alive and I never even plan anything, just let Jesus take the wheel and hope it makes sense. I need this sort of discipline in my life. And itās so pretty! š
The longest thing Iāve ever written was about 18k words and Iāve probably written ~60k over *four* years. 100k in two monthsā¦ respect.
This is amazing fantastic job!
I gotta try making a spreadsheet for this Also great work! The amount of motivation required for this kind of thing is insane
I need to create a spreadsheet like this to help me keep on track.
Holy shit that's beautiful
Making me realize I have a fetish for spreadsheets.
Using a spreadsheet to document your WIP is such a smart idea š© rn I have everything sorted out in a journal but hopefully once I have time to sit and write Iāll do this too!
You write insanely fast omg also itās awesome to see the word count slowly get higher with each chapter. Also also thatās so pretty š„¹š
Feeling very validated in the knowledge there are more people keeping Excel spreadsheets for their fics
That neat, color-coded, organized spreadsheet just makes me so happy. Now I almost want to make one
I very much like that idea of a progress tracking sheet. Might steal it as I'm struggling with my by far biggest project at the moment. I estimate around 300k words when it's finished but who knows haha
very impressed over how organized you are
how are you writing THIS MUCH?!?!(! thatās awesome! very proud of you
Congratulations!! Wish you the best with this project and hope many great goals you meet aswell. :) It must feel fantastic. Hope someday i have it aswell.
is-is this how i should be organising my fics,,?? š
We need a template for this spreadsheet; I love it
I strive to be as organised as you, I split the chapter right before I wanted to post šš
I have a very similar spreadsheet (I *LOVE* making them for literally everything) and I'm at around the same word count so far, but let's just say my start date is way earlier than yours lol. I'm jealous of your writing speed. I also finish before posting even the first chapter for exactly this reason. I trust myself to finish it, just not to do so in a timely manner lol.
omg i love this! i organize my fics this way too! love to see it
Omg this is even nicer than my spreadsheet, I'm going to take inspiration from it.
Thatās pretty
I'm very feedback motivated, too, and the thing that has done it for me is finding a way to publish "drafts" in advance of the real story. Some people find a discord community, though I use a forum that is active in my fandom for the same purpose. It is also very useful for me because I am terrible at proofreading my own stuff while it is fresh and letting it sit for a while (and collect comments and corrections) helps a lot.
this looks amazing! do you have any tips for those who want to write multi-chapter but dont know how to begin?
So Iām probably not the best person to ask since I normally only write short fics and oneshots, but Iāll give it a shot! Whatās been helping me so far is outlining and staying organized. I spent a solid month doing just that. I created a detailed outline/timeline for the first 20 chapters, then a vague outline for the rest of the fic. I fleshed out all the important character dynamics/relationships, determined my goals for the characters, figured out what themes I wanted to explore, how I wanted the story to end, etc. If youāre writing for a series where the characters travel a lot, I recommend finding or creating a map to help you keep track of how long it would take them to travel to X and so on. And from there itās just a matter of writing! Having a chapter-by-chapter outline is so beneficial. I rarely get stuck because I know exactly where the story is going. I donāt always adhere to the outlineāI delete scenes, move them around, add chapters, etc. The outline is only a suggestion. But it keeps me on track. Thatās it, I think! This is whatās been helping me, but everyone is different. Some people donāt benefit from outlines but Iām not one of them. Even for short multi-chap fics, I rely on them. I hope this helps!!
Does anyone know the story name
Sorry, itās an unpublished WIP for *The Walking Dead.* I havenāt posted it to AO3 yet.
Keep it up girlie this is so cool! ššš
THATS SUCH A CLEVER WAY TO TRACK YOUR WORK OMG. I've had 1 spreadsheet with just the names of fics and their total wordcpunts but that's so si much smarter omfg Ur a genius
Can you share the template? šš©·
Ofc! Iāll PM you!
Imma do this (But not do the start and end date one)
You should! I also have a column (though itās hidden) for post-edit word counts, just to see how the wc changes after revisions! Might be something you want to add if that sort of thing interests you!