I've misjudged one strand of my novel and it has a knock on effect from about p30 right through to p 240.

So...I need to rework it. I'm wondering what, practically, other people do to solve a problem like this. Literally, I mean do you get out big sheets of paper, take it for a walk, sit at the computer unpicking it line by line?

I ask because I'm in paralysis. Book is due in on Friday. I have the entire week clear, 8-5 each day so plenty of time to work it but I'm panicking on where to start.

Please help a donkey not starve between its bales.

I print out a new copy of my big planning grid, fill in everything I want or need to keep, and then alternate glaring at it, and going for walks, until I can start filling in new bits where they belong:

http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2010/05/help-yourself.html

If I don't know some bits further on, I don't worry too much because as I work my way towards that part, cutting and shutting and moving and embroidering and expanding, I usually find that the answers sort themselves out. As far as I'm concerned, the grid isn't about representing the whole novel, it's about helping you to see the shape of it and how all the bits fit together.

FWIW, I know people who use a version of this with one column for each character, but it wouldn't work for me like that, because the whole point is that a column represents a strand of the plot.

The other thing I've done recently - but you may not have time for this - is to write something like a synopsis, although I prefer to think that I'm telling myself the story, in the new version.

There's something about having to turn it into consecutive sentences which express a chain of cause and effect, which really makes sure that your chains of cause and effect connect up. And of course you don't have to polish it at all, unlike a synopsis for sending-out purposes.

Good luck!

Emma

<Added>

Having said that, once I've got the grid roughed out, I make myself a little plan of campaign. Quite often it just says "Work through from Ch 1, making all changes". But sometimes it's obvious that one piece of work depends on having done another, in which case I make myself a checklist.

And my default is working forwards, whatever the morning's job is - that way you're less likely to get wound up in a cocoon of missing chunks and floating scraps.

Oh, and I'm sure you've thought of this, but do it on a new copy of the file. Keep the old one, so if all else fails you can revert to factory settings.

Writing full sentence plot synopses for each character to check they have a forward story arc that is properly meshed into the plot - that is something that hadn't occurred to me. So am off to try that now. Thank you.

I do a lot of grids and columns and itty-bitty choppy things but the full sentences sound like there'll be nowhere to hide the flaws, which is what I need at this stage.

You could try a full-sentence synopsis for all of them, integrated. That might help to show up where the different strands aren't working together, when you find that you can't do a "meanwhile" or "remembering how"...

Emma

Just done one on the antagonist who is the character I am having structural probs with. And as so often happens, the subconscious had it sorted but hadn't told me. All of the things he currently does for no reason are exactly what he would do for a specific, plot driven reason. It's like seeing the plot through correct prescription glasses suddenly! Just need to point the action in the right direction now. I say 'just'...

Emma, I really want to download your novel grid, but they come up as .ods files (?) and I don't have a program to open those. I don't know what they are. Any chance you could email it me in Word? It's just that yesterday I tried the 'download a programme that will open this file' option, and my computer crashed.

I was very interested in this too, but my geek husband tells me an ods file means 'Open Office' so we'd need to have this in order to open it.

(Geeks are very useful to have around the place: tend not to stray, unfussy as to feeding, will take out the bins and unless a shiny new gadget appears, are generally level-headed and reliable )

Yes, it's an Open Office spreadsheet file. Open Office is free and very quick to download - I use it on my netbook, rather than pay for another licence for Word/Excel/PowerPoint etc.

You can open an .ods file in MS Excel, if you've got that.

If it doesn't work, let me know, and I'll save it as an Excel .xls file.

It has to be a spreadsheet file of some sort, because of course you want to pull it about however suits the novel...

Emma

Oh OK< I will try and download Open Office. I know my husband keeps telling me to use it. And also will try with Excel - I do have that.

Hope it's working for people.

I also like Open Office because it's quick - much less bloated than Word.

Emma

Hmm. Downloaded Open Office, but still can't see how to open the file.

Will get Supergeek on the case amd report back.

I had to do this with a subplot in Cold Light, and had a similar amount of time in which to do it.

For me, I cut and pasted all the scenes out of the main ms, reordered them in a new document, edited them and then cut and pasted them back in. I then spent a week working on transitioning in and out of these scenes and finessing the places where other characters refer to what is going on in this subplot in other scenes.

It was tricky and fiddly, but possible and I'm glad I did it, even though pulling (I think) 10k words out of the novel, jiggling with them and putting them back in so late in the game was very scary.

Sorry it's being difficult. It might be easier to do one from scratch - just start a spreadsheet, and set the columns and rows to heights which give you the right size of boxes - use Print Preview, and check whatever box means it actually prints the lines...

Emma

LadyB - that's what I've ended up doing, and though it's fiddly, it seems to be working. It's gratifying when it starts to knit in.

Emma, I also downloaded your spreadsheet but can't open the download.

I had to do this with Dark Ride too...I did my own version of Emma's grid [only my own because I'm too thick to be able to make spreadsheets work properly] and literally highlighted everywhere this bit of the story appeared so I could see it properly and then remove/replace with new storyline. Good luck Susannah!