#google spreadsheets

First off, here is the finished project:

Only two rows are completed because I am still in the process of filling it all out, this is just to show where all the information goes!

Now, how to get there.

Step 1. Create a blank spreadsheet and type '@' in the first cell, A1. This is what you should see;

Step 2. On the bottom right hand side, you should see "Project tasks", hover over that and you should see this;

Step 3. Now press insert.

Step 4. You will see this blue pop-up, read it and go through the three steps, this will teach you to use the different functions of this template.

Now you can customize it however you like but I will show you how to make and exact copy of mine to start with.

Step 5. Start by changing the column names and functions. In the very first column called "Task" double click to change the name to "Title"

Step 6. Now move onto the next column. Using the same method as before, change "Priority" to "Fandoms" - skip this step if you only write for one fandom but read it as you will need to know this procedure later on.

6.1. Click on the first drop-down box and you should see this;

6.2. Click the pen symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of the smaller white box that has just appeared. You should see this;

6.3. Click on the text box that reads "P0" and change the text to one of your fandoms. To follow my template, change it to "Supernatural". Do the same with the remaining 3 options then click "Add another item" and add 3 more options. Title them as such; Criminal Minds, MCU, X-Men, Doctor Who, Buffy, Vampire Diaries. This should be what you can see;

6.4. Now, you can change the colours of each option by clicking on the coloured circle on the left of each option. You can use the preset colours or mix your own. Do so for all 7 options and make sure to keep them as different colours to make organisation easier for you. You should see something like this;

Feel free to use colours that correspond with each fandom or your favourite colours for your favourite fandoms etc. I just went with the basic rainbow for this example.

6.5. Congratulations, this was the most difficult step and YOU have just completed it! Go get yourself a biscuit or something nice, you did very well.

Step 7. Now moving onto the "Owner" column, if this helps you, leave it, but it does nothing for me, so I changed it.

7.1. Click on the small drop-down arrow to the right of "Owner", you should see this;

7.2. Click on the first option, "Edit column type", you should see this;

7.3. Click on "None".

7.4. Now change the title of "Owner" to "Pairing", in the cells below, you can add the pairing, i.e. Castiel x Fem!Reader or Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson, etc.

Step 8. Right click the "Status" column, you should see this;

8.1. Click "Insert 1 table column left" and you should see this;

8.2. Rename the column to "Concept", in the cells below, you can add the concept of your WIP, such as "Awkward Cas + one bed" or something else to easily identify your fic TO YOU. Remember this part is only for you, it doesn't even need to make sense, as long as it helps you.

Step 9. Repeat Step 6, using the column title "Progress Status" and the drop-down options titles; Not Started, Just Started, Partially Complete, Almost Complete, Needs Edit, Completed and Posted. It should look like this;

Step 10. Repeat step 7 on the column labelled "Start date" and change it to "Word Count" - if this matters to you. It should look like this;

Step 11. Do the same to "End date" and change it to "Summary", It should look like this;

If you would like to include the start and end date columns, just insert other columns for "Word Count" and "Summary" - "Summary" is also optional but I like to have it there.

Step 12. Change the "Milestones" column to "Request" (unless you'd like to keep it, then move across). Change the type of column to "Dropdown" and follow step 6 again to add the options "Requested" and "Not Requested". Once completed, it should look like this;

If you do not take writing requests, this step is unnecessary.

Step 13. Now, go to the title of the table in the top left-hand corner - It should be the same colours as all of the other column titles - Change the title from "Project_tasks" to "Current WIPs".

13.1. Now next to the title, there is a drop-down arrow with more options, you should see this;

13.2. Click "Adjust table range" and you will see this;

This may look scary, but you'll be fine. It's not as hard as it seems.

13.3. See the "J15" part? That is a cell number. the "J" is the column and the "15" is the row. How many WIPs do you have? 7? That will be our example number. Now how many columns have you used? If you have followed the tutorial exactly, you have used columns A-H. All you have to do now is change "J15" to "H8" and click "OK" and you should see this;

It does not matter how many WIPs you have, you can enter any number so long as you add 1 because the row with all of the heading counts as 1 of the 8 rows.

Step 14. Now, go back to the drop-down arrow next to "Current WIPs" and change the colours of the header to whatever you like, for this example, I have used gray so it should look like this;

Step 15. Now all you have to do is a little tidy up, delete the excess titles outside of the table if you have any, rename the spreadsheet document up at the very top left of your screen and make any columns wider or thinner by dragging the them side to side from the borders of the letter titles at the top. You should see this;

Step 16. You have finished creating the spreadsheet, congratulations! Now you just have to fill in all of your details for each WIP and you will be organized as hell. Then you can get to writing......

Do you use Ellipsus? If so, you might like to look at this post where I show a very simple method I use to organize my drafts there which has helped me like you wouldn't believe!

Another helpful feature is that if you get the inspiration to write for one specific character, press Ctrl + F and search their name.

Also, another thing! I made two of these, one for requests and one for my own ideas. If you do this, I suggest adding a date column to the requests spreadsheet so you can filter them by which date they were requested too!

Thank you for reading and if you got this far, good on you! I know computers, especially things like spreadsheets, can be time consuming and annoying, you have done really well with this, you should be happy with yourself.

Happy writing!

There doesn’t seem to be a simple way to share them already linked, and there are a few quirks with setting this up, but it’s not difficult.

Step 1: go to the Responses tab of the form and click Link to Sheets.

Step 2: Click Select existing spreadsheet and find the copy you saved of the A Year in Fanfiction spreadsheet.

Woohoo! They’re linked! Now this is where things get a little tedious.

You’ll find that you now have two tabs on your spreadsheet, one that has the pretty AO3-inspired formatting, and one that’s plain. The plain sheet is where the form sends your answers.

Alternate Step 2: Click Create a new spreadsheet, this way the plain sheet and the pretty sheet are separate documents.

Step 3: In the plain sheet, hide column A and delete the blank columns to the right.

Step 4: In the pretty sheet, click cell B1, hit ctrl+a, right click, and copy. Go to the plain sheet, click cell B1, hit ctrl+a, right click, and paste.

Step 5: Submit a test response on the form. If you are in edit mode for the form, click the eye symbol at the top to go into preview mode. Your response will appear on row 2 of the sheet.

Step 6: Select row 3 and drag it back to row 2, bumping your test row down. 

Step 7: Click cell B1, make sure the formula in orange says $B$3:$B. Repeat with cell C1; the orange formula here should read $M$3:$M and the one in purple should read $H$3:$H. This tells the sheet to start counting at row 3, your first row of fics!

Step 8: PROFIT!

Feel free to play around with it! Change the theme, the alternating colors, add new categories to the form, make it your own!