Meanwhile. In my ‘writing’ file I have some post its and bits of paper with meaningless, baffling and often illegible words written on them. Found one last week that said ‘cabbage. Doesn’t die’ Bet you can’t wait for that book.
The fascinating thing about J.K. Rowling’s handwritten spreadsheet is that she wasn’t simply keeping track of Harry Potter’s adventures. She was practically running an entire fictional world like a television production.
And the funniest part? This particular sheet was for Order of the Phoenix. She divided the story into chapters, months, titles and individual plotlines, including the prophecy, Harry and Snape, Cho and Ginny, Dumbledore’s Army, the Order of the Phoenix, and Hagrid and Grawp. She was literally tracking how several different storylines progressed alongside one another.
Think about how much of that book is happening simultaneously. Harry is struggling with his connection to Voldemort, Umbridge is tightening her grip on Hogwarts, Hermione is secretly organising resistance, the Order is working behind the scenes, and the prophecy is gradually becoming more important. These aren’t random events thrown together. They’re separate narrative threads deliberately moving towards the Department of Mysteries.
What’s even more impressive is that Rowling had planned the overarching seven-book story years before the first book was published. She spent five years mapping out the series and drafting Philosopher’s Stone. In a 2000 Scholastic interview, she explained that she always had a basic plot outline but deliberately left certain things undecided because she enjoyed discovering them while writing.
And looking back at the books, you can appreciate why. Details introduced casually in earlier instalments eventually become significant revelations. The films sometimes had to compress or remove these connections because of their runtime, but the books had the space to develop them across several years.
Honestly, the spreadsheet is fascinating because it shows just how much work went into making Hogwarts feel like a place where things continued happening even when Harry wasn’t looking.
Imagine having an entire magical universe in your head and still needing to organise it on a handwritten spreadsheet. J.K. Rowling was operating differently. 😭
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Afghan women are totally disappointed.
No one hear us.
No action for us.
We are totally removed from the society.
We are totally lonely. where is the international community?
No one count us human in Afghanistan. 💔