Monthly Progress Tracking Template (With Chart!)

Monthly Progress Tracking Template (With Chart!)

I love spreadsheets and charts and visual motivators, and I’m pretty sure some other people do too, so I’ve decided to make a shareable template of my monthly progress tracking spreadsheet! 

You tell the spreadsheet your unit of measurement (hours, words, pages, etc.) and your actual goal (50,000 words, 200 pages, 70 hours) and the spreadsheet will calculate how much you need to write per day. 

Simply fill in your daily progress and click on the “Progress Chart” tab and you’ll find a pretty chart that maps out your progress (bars), and how it tracks compared to your goal (dotted line). 

It might not be the most sophisticated piece of software, but it’s easy to use, free, customizable, and will provide you with that simple satisfaction of watching a progress bar get taller and taller. 

The template isn’t editable, but you can either make an editable copy or download it by going to “File” and then either “Make a copy” or “Download.” Easy peasy. 

Google Drive Spreadsheet Link

sometimes binding public domain works is fanbinding the same way that some original works belong on ao3 because they're fanfiction. hope that helps

As you've asked for asks!:

Do you have any quick-and-dirty book/fic binding methods a terrified-of-failure novice could use to bang something out to get over the first collywobbling step of Actually Doing The Thing? (this may be something I've been meaning to ask for ages)

yes! I absolutely do! in my opinion the best quick-and-dirty bookbinding method is a no-glue pamphlet: you don't have to mess with glue or measuring or cutting anything, all you need is your text, some paper, a needle and thread. you can use the same needle to punch holes if you don't have an awl.

this is going to be a little long but that's because I'm going to write out some fairly detailed instructions for an A5 sized pamphlet. If you don't want detailed instructions and think you can glean the necessary info from photos, just skip to the photos! I've also linked tutorials.

for preparing the text to printing, in whatever software you use (word, libreoffice, gdocs, whatever) make sure your document is set to page size A5. make it look readable. then save as/export that document as a straight-paged PDF. now go to the bookbinder JS tool (https://momijizukamori.github.io/bookbinder-js/), and upload the PDF. source manipulation: none printer paper size: A4 display unit (you can ignore, or choose cm if it gives you anxiety that it automatically displays points) printer type: select single-sided or duplex accordingly* rotate paper: ignore flip on long side: check if you are printing duplex and if your duplex printer flips the paper on the long side page layout:  tick folio page scaling: original page positioning: centered ignore the rest flyfleaf: ignore signature format tick: standard signatures. in the length drop down, this depends on the type of pamphlet you are doing. for folio i generally find 4-5 pages per signature a comfortable thickness. if you have 6 whole A4 pages you can still do that as a single signature or you can split it into two signatures 3 pages each. wacky small layouts: ignore this signature info click the generate preview button to see what your PDF looks like imposed! I love this step especially when I'm doing quarto (A6) or octavo (A7) sized books generate output - click this to generate an imposed PDF

for A6 and A7 sized books the instructions are much the same, except for these you make sure the page size is A6 or A7 in your software, and then you choose quarto or octavo instead of folio. for signature length drop down I keep signature length to 1 for octavos typically and 2 for quartos, as this still refers to sheets of paper, and for octavo 1 sheet of A4 paper will turn into 4 smaller sheets in one signature once folded and cut.

*if you don't have a duplex printer you will have to manually turn the paper to print on the other side. I cannot be arsed with this so I bought a printer capable of duplex printing (I didn't have a printer anyway). if you already have a printer check what it can do as you might be surprised and go from there.

now to the pamphlets! you don't need a cover - I have one for the long stitch pamphlet but for the saddle stitch one I didn't bother and just made sure the first page had a title on it. you can always take a different piece of paper and print a cover on or or just use coloured cardstock and create a simple cover, but a cover is not necessary unless you're doing a long stitch pamphlet. all you need to do is to punch holes and start sewing. there are a few different stitch types below, I wouldn't say any of them are more difficult or easier than others, but they do look different so...pick one you like the look of and go from there?

pamphlet stitch (uneven number of holes) I haven't ever done a pamphlet stitch but here's a tutorial for how to do it: https://www.starpointestudio.com/simple-pamphlet-stitch-book-step-by-step/

saddle stitch (uneven number of holes) I realised that what I was thinking of as a pamphlet stitch is actually saddle stitch, as in this A7 pamphlet:

here's a tutorial for how to sew saddle stitch: https://www.bookbindingworkshopsg.com/saddle-stitch-bookbinding-tutorial/ here's a video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWHkY5jOoqM (sealemon has a lot of bookbinding tutorials and I know many people who like her videos, I used her tutorial for coptic binding way back when I first made a book but I can't otherwise vouch for the quality as I haven't used her videos)

french link stitch (even number of holes) in this one I used french link stitch which I typically use for thicker textblocks that i'm not planning to use tapes with as the french link gives it some robustness, I used it here because I had never done it before and wanted to try it out. I am planning to take these stitches out and re-sew this pamphlet with a cover now that I've found a suitable piece of transformer fanart to use as a cover:

french link tutorial. it's quite long but it has a colour coded bit towards the end that shows how the thread is supposed to link which i find very helpful to visualise: https://www.handmadebooksandjournals.com/bindings/french-link-stitch-binding/

here's a video tutoral from DAS bookbinding (he is my go to for techniques and he has the most soothing Australian accent as well, though fair warning not all of his videos are for beginners): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ZPdbaM-Ws

long stitch (even number of holes) for this one I used long stitch and I had a cover. this one is my favourite variation because I can make these pretty and simple covers and the stitch looks nice on the outside as well, so this one scratches the 'i want to make a book' itch for me.

here's a tutorial that also includes a how to on a cover that is different from my cover: https://lccprintmaking.myblog.arts.ac.uk/files/2020/06/Long-Stitch-Tutorial-A4.pdf DAS also has a video tutorial for long stitch but it's like three videos long, maybe watch it later :'D  here's one I haven't watched but seems decent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnignTL_wDQ

you can use saddle stitch for this kind of pamphlet as well, that's what I did for dozens of ships and hundreds of souls (https://ashmouthbooks.tumblr.com/post/681587080267202560).

I hope this helped!!

How exactly do you do a character study whether it be a film character or a book character?

Character development is the soul of story-telling. Compelling characters are what make or break a good narrative, which makes it one of the most important elements of any creative writing project. A fantastic way to get to the bottom of what makes a great character is by conducting a character study on characters you already know and love. So how, exactly, can you do that?

What is a character study?

A character study is a critical examination of a character in a work of literature, television, film, or other media, to understand their role and significance in the narrative. It involves delving into the character’s behaviours, motivations, relationships, and growth throughout the story.

Why should you do a character study?

Understanding Complexity: Characters are rarely black and white. Exploring what makes them tick can help you understand the nuances of character development and how to incorporate those complexities in your own characters.

Character Growth: Observing character growth can provide you with insights on how to develop and transform your characters over time.

Motivation and Conflict: A character study can help you understand the inner motivations and conflicts that drive characters’ actions and decisions.

How to conduct a character study?

Choose a character from that you admire or find interesting from you favourite book, tv show, film, or play.

Analyse the character’s traits by noting down their physical appearance, personality, emotions, and behaviours.

Examine the character’s relationships by looking at how they interact with others in the story. What do these relationships reveal about the character?

Look at the character’s growth and development by analysing their journey throughout the story. How have they changed or evolved?

Interpret the character’s motivations and conflicts. What drives them? What internal and external conflicts do they face?

Applying what you’ve learned to your writing

Write a character study for a variety of different characters, from protagonists, to love interests, and villains. What traits do you find most compelling, and do they have anything in common? Look at what relationships stood out to you, and how deep their motivations and conflicts are. Consider their growth and change, and use those learnings to develop your own characters. You can even start with a character development template to help organise your thoughts.

To all my writers who have a tough time with smut terms and not knowing which ones to use, I have found the holy grail for us.

This reddit user took a poll of 3,500 people and went really in depth with asking their favorite terminology, along with actual pie charts on what the readers preferred to see in their smut.

Here's the direct link to the Google doc with all the info!