Novel Planner Spreadsheet Excel Google Sheets Writing Tracker Word Count NaNoWriMo Author Planner Chapter Outline Beat Sheet Query Tracker

NOVEL AND AUTHOR PLANNER SPREADSHEET — thirteen connected tabs for Excel and Google Sheets

Most novel planners are printables: pretty pages you fill in by hand. This one does the arithmetic. Log a writing session and the file counts the words a day you need to finish on time, projects the day you will actually finish at your pace, says whether you are ahead or behind, keeps your streak, totals every chapter from the log, and places your beat sheet by word count.

WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT

• The pace math nobody else does. Words left over days left, rounded up: the number you need to hit tomorrow. Your real pace since the start, and the date it lands you on. Ahead or behind against a straight target line. Move the deadline and every one of them moves.
• One row a session. Date, minutes, words, chapter. Words an hour, the running total, where you should be and ahead or behind are worked out beside it. 300 rows is a whole book.
• Chapters that total themselves. Tag a log row with the chapter number and the chapter adds up its own words against its target. The act balance shows Act I, II and III against a quarter, a half and a quarter.
• A beat sheet placed by word count. Type your beats and a percentage for each; the file gives every beat its target word and names the chapter it lands in. It tells you which beat you are in now and how far the next one is.
• The whole desk in one file. Scene cards with goal, conflict and outcome (a card missing one turns red), the cast with want, need, flaw and arc and a live count of the scenes each character is in, the world and its rules, five revision passes by chapter, and the agent list with a wishlist match, days waiting and the pitch.
• NaNoWriMo ready. Type 50,000 words, November 1 and November 30, and the file says 1,667 a day before you have written a word, then tracks every day of it.
• Works in Excel 2016 and later AND Google Sheets AND Apple Numbers. Portable formulas only, no macros, no add-ons, no account.

THE THIRTEEN TABS

1. Start Here — the four things to do first, and what every tab is for
2. Setup — the book, the target word count, the start date and deadline, writing days a week, chapters planned, and the dropdown lists
3. Dashboard — words written, words a day to finish on time, projected finish, ahead or behind, streak, chapters drafted, the last fourteen days, the book by act, next up
4. Writing Log — one row per session: date, start, minutes, words, chapter, where, energy, notes. Words an hour, running total, day, should be at, ahead or behind. 300 rows
5. Progress — every day of the project: words, cumulative, the target line, ahead or behind, the streak, a chart of words a day, and your best weekday. 200 days
6. Chapters — number, title, act, POV, target, words drafted from the log, percent of target, status, scenes, scenes done, and what the chapter does; the act balance. 40 chapters
7. Scenes — chapter, scene, title, POV, setting, characters, story day, goal, conflict, outcome, target, status. Next scene to write. 120 cards
8. Beat Sheet — beat, percentage, target word, the chapter it lands in, what happens there, written. The beat you are in and the next one
9. Characters — name, role, age, one line, wants, needs, flaw, arc, first chapter, and the number of scenes each is in. 40 characters
10. World and Settings — places, objects, rules, terms, events, and where they appear. 60 entries
11. Revision Tracker — five passes with a focus each, a chapter-by-chapter grid, and the known problems with chapter, priority and resolved
12. Agents and Queries — agent, agency, genres, wishlist match, status, sent, materials, response, days waiting; the logline, the pitch paragraph and comps. 60 rows
13. How the Math Works — every formula in plain English, and the honest warnings

WHAT YOU GET

• The workbook in four colorways: Colorful, Editorial, Light and Dark. Same tabs, same formulas, pick the one you can look at all day.
• A two-page quick-start PDF: the four things to do first, what every tab is for, and the honest warnings.
• A full video walkthrough on YouTube, linked in the file and below.
• A worked sample (an invented author, 90,000 words due November 30, 23,395 written, eight chapters drafted) so every tab has something to show on the first open. Type over it.

WORKS WHERE YOU WORK

Microsoft Excel 2016 or later on Mac or PC. Google Sheets — upload the .xlsx to Drive and open it. Apple Numbers opens it too. Portable formulas only: no macros, no add-ons, no login, no subscription. Nothing to install and nothing that expires. Undated: any book, any deadline, any year.

FOUR HONEST WARNINGS, BECAUSE YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU BUY

1. The file never reads your manuscript. You type the day's word count from your word processor. An honest number beats a flattering one.
2. The target line is a straight line and real drafts are lumpy. Use the words-a-day figure to decide what to do tomorrow, not the line.
3. The shipped beats are one common three-act pattern. Retype them to the structure you actually use.
4. A query's days waiting counts from the sent date to today. Most agencies say ninety days with no answer is a pass; the file turns it amber, it does not decide for you.

INSTANT DOWNLOAD

This is a digital product. Nothing is shipped. The files are available the moment your payment clears, and you can download them again from your Etsy account any time.

WATCH THE FULL WALKTHROUGH before you buy - six minutes, every screen the real file:
https://youtu.be/RVb12kAIUXs

Questions before or after? Message us any time — we answer every one.

NicheToolkits builds spreadsheets that do the arithmetic so you do not have to.

This is a planning and record-keeping tool for writers. It calculates from the sessions and plans you enter; it does not read, edit or store your manuscript.