JK Rowling now plans her novels on laptop spreadsheets

JK Rowling has revealed she now plans her novels on spreadsheets on her laptop.

The Harry Potter author has spoken of her writing process in a series of interviews published on her website.

The 58-year-old, who is currently working on the latest instalment of her Cormoran Strike series, famously worked on her Harry Potter novels in cafes, and on trains.

Now, however, she said that her fame means this is no longer possible and while she still enjoys writing with a pen a “laptop is useful”.

The author said she used to detail the plots of her stories in hand-drawn tables in notebooks.

Rowling added that now she constructs her novels on a colour-coded spreadsheet on her laptop with any clues she inserts into the stories highlighted in blue.

In a preview of the interviews, published in The Sunday Times, she said: “I used to do everything in notebooks, but increasingly I do a lot of planning on the laptop.

“I used to just hand write all these tables. Now I have them in tables on my laptop. So I’ve got red herrings. I always do clues in blue.

“It’s just a reminder of where information is supposed to be given. And different columns for strands of the story. Each row is a chapter, obviously. And I always colour code. It’s nice to have a book to just jot ideas down in, but a laptop is useful.”

‘I couldn’t go on writing in cafes’

Rowling said she used to love writing in cafes as she enjoyed having the sound of human voices in the background as she worked.

She added: “I really enjoyed being sort of alone but among people. That background hum of conversation I found very soothing. But there came a point where I couldn’t go on writing in cafes any more. Which is a real shame, but I couldn’t be anonymous any more.”

Rowling said that she still wrote in a notebook occasionally, but usually at night.

“I physically enjoy writing longhand, particularly at night. I can be absolutely exhausted, say it’s 3am and I have been working since 10 the previous morning.

“And you think, right, you’re done. You can barely focus on the thing. So you close the laptop, and it’s guaranteed that you’ll be halfway upstairs and another idea will come.

“So I always try to have a notebook in the bedroom, because then before I get to bed, I can write it down or I type it into my phone, or I go back to the laptop.”

Rowling, whose Harry Potter novels have sold over 600 million copies and been translated into over 84 languages, has in recent years attracted criticism for her stance on trans ideology.

This week, she accused John Swinney, who is set to become Scotland’s new first minister, of “obfuscating and blustering” when asked for his opinion on whether he believes trans women are women.

She suggested that by dodging the question in an attempt to avoid saying “women don’t have penises”, Mr Swinney had shown he could not be trusted to protect women’s rights.

Rowling was also a vocal critic of Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf over their positions on trans issues.