Remembering This For The Future

remembering this for the future

what people flagrantly misunderstand about culturally iconic ‘logicians’ like spock and sherlock holmes is that they are fuckinggggg annoying. like you canNOT write for nor adapt either of these characters properly without understanding that they are admirable in many ways, yes, but they are repeatedly and gleefully, ON PURPOSE, fucking massive nuisances to literally every sane individual around them, all the time. they love bothering people, they LOVE it, it makes them SO HAPPY, and THAT, not their brilliance, is what makes them the best. spocks a BITCH

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reblog character development the it crowd maurice moss it crowd

Update #2: A New Outlining Method, Dropdown Plotter

I've been having a hard time conceptualizing how to plan out a novel lately. It used to come so easy to me. Now that I'm a real adult, it feels like there isn't enough space in my brain anymore for me to have my story all in my head without writing my ideas down somewhere.

So, good outlining methods, which can be hard to come by, are crucial for my writing process.

But, a lot of traditional methods don't work for me.

In my opinion, it's extremely important to have an outlining method that doesn't overwhelm you, and which feels creatively freeing. And when do I need to be more creatively free, than when writing an IT Crowd fanfiction?

So I've come up with a new outlining method that I'd love to share with you all! I call it Dropdown Plotter.

Update #2: A New Outlining Method, Dropdown Plotter

Dropdown Plotter uses the dropdown menu feature, which can be found in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, to help you better visualize (and, most importantly, easily reorganize) the major aspects of each chapter of your story.

Basically, it's a spreadsheet that includes, at minimum, 8 columns.

Chapter Title

Plotlines

Included Character(s)

Perspective Character(s)

Location(s)

Chapter Story Description

Writing Stage

Due Date

Why keep track of these things? Balance. Basically, making sure your characters, plotlines, POVs, and important locations all get adequate page time.

It's a lot easier to conceptualize these things when you have it on a color-coded spreadsheet, zoomed out really far, and can see in a big picture way. For example, you might see that the red color indicating "Legolas" is in a scene, drops off after Chapter 17. You might see that the green-coded plot about his missing shoe is only important for 5 chapters in the middle of the story, or that we're spending almost the entire story in the bathroom and never in the evil lair.

So, how do you use the Dropdown Plotter?

First, you go into the dropdown menu, and you can see all the plots you've selected. There's a handy "search feature" for those writing the next Game of Thrones. You want to click the little pencil icon in the bottom right, which is the "edit" button.

On the right-hand side of your screen, a column will pop up called "Data Validation Rules." From here, you can edit the names and colors of each item in the dropdown menu, and add or delete things as you'd like.

Make sure to click "allow multiple selections" on the bottom of the data validation rules pop-up. This will allow you to select multiple characters, multiple locations, and multiple plots when you're in the dropdown menus.

Don't forget to click "Done" at the bottom!

On top of the dropdown menus, the nice thing about working in a spreadsheet is that you can always drag and drop the rows and columns. This makes it extremely easy to change the order of scenes around, in a way that feels very impermanent and easy.

Here is what my Dropdown Plotter looked like for the first three chapters of The Grant: An IT Crowd Fanfiction.

Looks pretty, right? And pretty outlines build confidence! Not only that, but what I like most about this outlining method is that it encourages me to be less precious with my ideas.

It's way less intimidating to overhaul major aspects of your story, such as the dominant POV, the main plot, etc., when all you have to do is click a little button in the dropdown menu to change everything. When I'm editing a little blurb in a spreadsheet versus an entire step outline, it reminds me that no writing problem is insurmountable, and nothing is ever really set in stone.

Again, it builds confidence.

Unfortunately, I've only built a Dropdown Plotter in Google Sheets, but I've provided a blank version to share with you all. The nice thing about spreadsheets is that you can add and delete things as you see fit. For example, some people might want to add...

More columns indicating multiple scenes within the same chapter!

A "Story Beat" column, to mark the specific plot beats each chapter follows (as in the Hero's Journey or the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet).

An "Important Info" column, to mark any worldbuilding or character details discussed or introduced in a certain chapter.

Literally anything your little heart desires!

Happy outlining and I hope you enjoy the Dropdown Plotter!

Google Docs

Dropdown Plotter Spreadsheet

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writeblr writers on tumblr writers writerscommunity creative writing writing advice writing community posts novel writing writing tool book writing it crowd spreadsheets plotting outline writers on writing the grant an it crowd fanfiction it crowd unexpected reboot outlining dropdown plotter outlining method

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it-crowd-unexpected-reboot

1 week ago

Rip Jen Barber from the IT crowd, you would have loved chatGPT

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reblog the it crowd jen barber it crowd

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it-crowd-unexpected-reboot

1 week ago

If you can’t think of anything to say about a fic, writers also like to know:

- what time it is

- how long you’ve been reading

- how many chapters you’ve covered in the last 24 hours

- what you were late for because you were reading

- the woeful few hours you have left to sleep

- the emotional outbreaks you’re experiencing

- the inappropriate place you’re having said outbreak

- the general public’s reaction to your outbreak

- how much phone battery you have left

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writeblr writers on tumblr reblog writing fanfiction writerscommunity creative writing

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it-crowd-unexpected-reboot

1 week ago

Which of these men would you rather date?

For this scenario, imagine you're a heterosexual woman in your 20s. You can be a bit of a screw up but are generally normal, you just find yourself in weird situations sometimes.

Options:

Daniel, a security guard who likes quizzes and used to like you until you accidentally prevented him from winning a lot of money. He now hates the sight of you and it’s really awkward. He also has some anger issues.

Bill, a known player and generally sexist and disrespectful man who treats women like prizes to collect. Is rude to waitstaff. Doesn't like tapas. Talks about your sex life openly. Once got haunted by a ghost.

Phillip, a cosy scottish accountant with lots of friends in the theatre. Very into PDA. Secretly gay and in denial about it.

Douglas, a man who inherited his dad’s company and is slowly running it into the ground. Is CONSTANTLY horny and has pretty much no respect for women. Has more money than sense and is as dumb as a bag of bricks. Has nice hair.

Peter, a kind of cringy, optimistic and wholesome guy. Can cook well. Loves hugs and telling goofy stories. Is kind of up himself but not harmful at all. Is encouraging of you and your dreams. His full name sounds like a really bad word and it’s really embarrassing when people bring it up.

Gary, a builder who’s tall, bald and not very conventionally attractive. Once thought a woman was in love with him and was nice about it. Good at his job. Fairly normal. But once pissed in your sink as revenge because you falsely accused him of pissing in your sink.

Michael, a driving instructor and generally nice guy. He just REALLY looks like a magician. Like distractingly so. Despite this, he’s really bad at doing magic.

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