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Welcome to the Story Grid Spreadsheet Template!
Below, you'll find instructions for using this template to fill out a Story Grid Spreadsheet for your project.
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at support@storygrid.com.
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Instructions
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1. Make a copy of the template.
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Click here to make a copy.
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2. Allow access to link this sheet back to the template. This will populate the dropdowns and data checks.
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Make a copy first. (See step 1)
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3. Enter the Global Story Characteristics in the top section.
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If you are analyzing a prose work, select Words in cell B19. If you are analyzing a work best measured in timestamps (like a film) select Time in cell B19.
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4. Make sure you've selected the Global Genre in cell B7 on the Grid tab.
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This will populate the Conventions and Obligatory Moments choices with the ones for your global genre.
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If you have a global external genre, your secondary genre (B9) should be the internal genre, and vice versa.
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5. Let's go over the columns:
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Scene
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Scene number.
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Word Count
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Word count of scene.
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Chapter
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Chapter Title
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Chapter information that will help you find the scene. If you are working on an analysis for a work that does not need these fields, click the first minus sign at the top of the sheet to collapse them.
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Time
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Starting Timestamp
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Ending Timestamp
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These columns replace Word Count, Chapter, and Chapter Title if you have selected to measure units in Time.
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The sheet automatically calculates Time and Starting Timestamp, so all you have to do is enter the Ending Timestamp for each scene. You can also edit the Starting Timestamp of Scene 1 (in cell C22).
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Story Event
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To determine a scene’s story event, answer these four questions:
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1. What are the characters literally doing—that is, what are their micro on-the-surface actions?
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2. What is the essential tactic of the characters—that is, what above-the-surface macro behaviors are they employing that are linked to a universal human value?
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3. What beyond-the-surface universal human values have changed for one or more characters in the scene? Which one of those value changes is most important and should be included in the Story Grid Spreadsheet?
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4. The Scene Event Synthesis: What Story Event sums up the scene’s on-the-surface, above-the-surface, and beyond-the-surface change? We will enter that event in the Story Grid Spreadsheet.
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Story Event Summary
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Keep this brief (60 characters max, but ideally 30-40). It will be the label on the graph for the individual scene point.
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Trope Scene Type
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Take the events of the scene and abstract them to a level that is descriptive but does not rely on the specific context of the Global Story. Express this as a trope. For example, "Stranger Knocks at the Door," "Savior Arrives," "Friends Have Coffee," etc.
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Note that there are 6 collapsed scene type columns. These are not required.
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Value - Beginning of Scene
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Value - End of Scene
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Enter the beginning and ending values separately. For example, if Scene 1 shifts from Life to Death, enter "Life" in N21 and "Death" in O21.
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Polarity - Beginning of Scene
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Polarity - End of Scene
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Use the dropdowns to choose the polarity of the beginning and ending values.
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Turning Point Category
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Active or Revelatory.
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Turning Point Summary
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Describe the turning point of the scene.
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Point of View
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Describe the point of view in the scene.
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Period/Time
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The point in time when the scene takes place.
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Duration
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The length of time over which the scene's events take place.
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Location
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Identify the location in which the scene takes place.
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On-Stage Characters
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List the names of characters who appear in the scene.
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On-Stage Characters (Number)
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Count the On-Stage Characters.
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Off-Stage Characters
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List the names of characters who are mentioned, but do not appear in the scene.
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Off-Stage Characters (Number)
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Count the Off-Stage Characters.
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Quadrant
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Use the dropdown to select the quadrant of the Global Story that this scene is in.
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Convention
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Obligatory Moment
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The Conventions and Obligatory Moments dropdowns contain patterns.
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You can replace any [bracketed text] with story-specific information.
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For example, you can change the Love story Convention "[Character] is a Helper" to "Jane Bennet is a Helper"
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You can choose multiple values per cell to allow you to identify scenes that fulfill multiple Conventions or Obligatory Moments. When you select a new value, it will append to the existing cell contents to create a list separated by semicolons. You can still edit bracketed text.
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The only limitation to this is that if you select a value that's already in the list, it will act like you are trying to delete the others and return only the new value. So, if you want to use the same pattern multiple times, follow these steps.
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1. Select the pattern, e.g. "[Character] is a helper."
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2. Edit it: "Jane Bennet is a helper."