Project Gantt
Constructing a novel is very much a “project.” In fact, your query rejections (You do have some, right?) will frequently refer to your book as a project. For example, “Your project has an interesting premise. However, it’s not right for our agency at this time…blah, blah, blah.”
As you construct your novel, you do so task-by-task. These tasks are events, plot points, scenes, and/or chapters. They need to flow (Note the infinitive is not split, though I was sorely tempted.) logically and sometimes be connected in a way that has an unbreakable link. The killer, for example, can’t murder the victim until he/she meets the victim.
At the outset, creating this timeline of tasks is easily done and easy to keep organized. We just keep track of things in our head. However, as the book deepens and plot takes on a life of its own. These events (tasks) can become harder to track, link, and control.
To help with tracking and organization, you might want to try project management software. Properly used…and what I’ll suggest is easy to use…it will organize your events and prevent later chaos. Regrettably, much PM software is horribly expensive and equally complicated. Microsoft Project comes to mind. However, there are free packages that are very good for novelist use and not complicated. I mean, what more could you want?? Over the last few weeks, I’ve tried several; you can find them by googling, “Free project management software.” In the interest of brevity, I’ll quickly discuss just the one I recommend—though a couple of others are a close second.
“Project Gantt” is my software of choice. You can go to their website by following this link. Project Gantt is, of course, free, easy to use, and intuitive. If you can use Excel, you can use this software.
It opens in an Excel matrix format. (See above photo.) Tasks are listed down the left side, the timeline in days or weeks is listed across the top. You enter the task, add some parameters like Task Name, Duration, and Dependencies. (The little arrows and lines from the above photo. Dependencies will prevent murdering the victim before meeting the victim.)
After pressing Enter, the task pops-up as a horizontal bar on the right side of the spreadsheet. You can move the task vertically (event sequence) and horizontally (event time), as well as insert tasks as you think of them—or delete them. You can insert and remove dependencies. You can increase or decrease duration.
What’s particularly nice is if you move or change one task, all subordinate linked tasks move or adjust a corresponding amount along the timeline, preserving the integrity of must-stay-in-sequence events. Very, very handy and totally useful.
As a bonus, this software can play a role outside your writing world to organize any project or group of tasks. Let’s say you’re having a major party for New Year’s eve. Lots of things (events) to get done before the 31st. You can list all the tasks necessary to launch the party, link the ones that must come first to the ones that are subordinate, and have a graphic representation of what needs to be done and by when. In this context, you can even assign resources (people responsible for task accomplishment.) When you complete a task, delete it and the chart automatically updates. Cool. So, it has many uses.
I recognize that not all of you are software people, so, this gadget might not work for everyone, but hopefully there’s one or two who will find this worth trying. It is, after all, free, easy to use, and helpful.
Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you a great weekend. See you on Monday. Galen.
Themocracy
Excel is one of the few programs I can manage so I might be able to handle this one. However, I can see myself spending too much time playing with the possibilities and not enough time writing.
Galen – Yet another good software recommendation. You must have the biggest hard drive in your neighborhood!
I’ve never thought about using PM software for keeping track of the events in a novel. I’ve used a few different programs (Bee Doc’s Timeline is nice but my timelines get unwieldy) but I keep coming back to a system I developed in Excel. I can’t wait to get home and try this out this weekend!
This looks MUCH better than what I’ve tried to do in the past on Excel.
Another great idea from Galen!
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
Looks interesting, another good tip, and appreciated. I’m far less technical in my approach to writing than you, but not one to overlook new ways of doing things. This one reminds me of my General Contracting days. I had software for the Project Flow Chart that graphed out all the vaious aspects of the project with timelines, draw schedules, sub-contractor insertions, all that. It helped.
Have yourself a merry little weekend, Galen!
The Old Silly
Since I’m pretty good at Excel, I think I might check this out, thanks!
Good if you like this kind of thing. I like the disorder of sticky notes and colored index cards.
Wow. Good for you being so organized!
Looks interesting. I am a geek, and would probably create something similar if I ever feel I need it, but a great recommendation all the same.
Incidentally, I had to tell you that when I started working on my first novel (which is 81% done according to the word counter I created), I found myself using a system you had spoken of to ensure that all the characters got equal time.
THANKS!