Disclaimer, I have no idea what’s going to come out of this experiment, it might be a waste of time, but I already got started so let’s go!
I was working on my giant story worksheet in Google Sheets and noticed a menu option to create an app for it with AppSheet. I got curious about it and one thing led to another and I started to create an app though I’ve never used this framework. I’m essentially trying to recreate the logic of my sheet and make it easier to use and easier to REUSE and to make it harder to sabotage myself.
What is this giant sheet that I’m talking about?
It has several sheets actually and I’ve been working on it for a while, continuously tweaking it to add more functionalities. I think a lot of people are very unaware of how capable spreadsheet programs are. You can use them to automate stuff, to work for you.
But the more complex they get, the harder they are to maintain.
So what do I automate?
Let’s start from Foolscap. Foolscap sheet is where I record general overview of the full story. What is it called, what it’s about, genres, story goals, key character roles, etc.
Automation comes in here with validation. To keep things easier, faster and consistent, I have queries and drop downs for some values. For example, genre values reference another sheet that has the full list, and I can just pick from the list, don’t have to type it in.
It gets more complicated but also very useful when you get more granular.
In another sheet I write down individual scenes from my book. And for each I have a description of what actually happens and then notes on implied stuff, themes, etc. Then I have the analysis part. For each scene, I pick which Subplot this scene affects and once I do, some of the other information prepopulates based on what I filled out in the Foolscap.
The point of this effort is not to fill it while writing, but rather after. It’s a tool to help edit the book. Because one of the end results is that I can put my story on a graph and see where things are stagnant, which chapters I need to focus on.
One of my long term goals that I had for my giant sheet was to create logic that would literally tell me what I’m missing, like a paid advisor, a hired editor.
But the longer I work on it, the more I see how much harder it is to put it into practice.
Now back to the app.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got started (last night actually), and there’s a learning curve to it, but I’m pleasantly surprised that it actually looks kind of cool and there’s even an easy to use phone app that comes out of this. There’s hope that it will do what I want of it.
To make it clear, my app is not intended to hold the actual manuscript, worldbuilding, etc. It’s only an analysis tool.
Right now I’m calling it StoryBuilder. Might rename later.
If you wanna keep us updated/track your progress without maintaining a conversation, I could move this to personal threads and delete the other user replies (mine included ofc).
