Outlining with Index Cards
Posted by annastan on June 7th, 2010. Filed under: Craft, WIP.As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t do a lot of outlining when I’m drafting. Instead, I wait until I have a full draft and then outline to spot plot holes, inconsistencies, etc. Well the fairy tale retelling I’m working on is in its fourth or fifth draft and, until now, I’ve avoided outlining it. But since I’ve been having trouble with pacing and structure in the first half, I decided to try a method I hadn’t used before.
I grabbed a stack of index cards and and wrote up one for each scene, stating what happens in as few words as possible. Since the manuscript has two main characters, I color-coded the cards based on whose POV the scene was from. The process was a bit mind-numbing, especially since some of the scene descriptions looked downright boring:
But as I went along and did this for the first nine chapters, I realized the reason for my pacing issues was the repetitive nature of a few of the scenes. For example, one card said: “Koro and his sister argue. His mind is already made up,” while another one said: “Koro tells his sister his mind is already made up.” Hm. Needless to say one of those scenes can be cut. In all, I found four scenes that could be cut, and I marked a couple others that needed to be reworked.
I also realized that while my two main characters had pretty equal screen time, there was one point where the boy seemed to take over for a little while. In order to fix this, I marked a scene that could be retold from the girl’s POV; in fact, I think it will make it a stronger scene in general that way. I might have noticed this imbalance later on, but it became crystal clear when looking at the cards.
I’m glad I gave the index card approach a try. It might seem overly simplistic to boil down the scenes into such short descriptions, but I think that’s what made it so useful for me. If you boil down what’s happening in each scene, it helps you spot places that are repetitive or are more about giving information than actually moving the story forward. And as far as color-coding goes, well you can never go wrong with that, can you?
Have you tried the index card method? Are there other outlining approaches that work for you?
June 7th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I haven’t tried this, but I think I will. Thanks for the tip!
June 7th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I’m a plotter so I outline before I start writing. But after my first draft, I also list scenes on index cards to see how they fit with the 3 act structure and check out pacing. It always helps. Glad it helped you!
June 7th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
I think I do thing differently each time. My first (good) novel I used index cards to “outline”. When I got to the end of a chapter I would jot down what should happen in the next chapter or two as a reminder to myself when I sat down the next day. I haven’t done that though with my current WIP.
June 7th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I think I’ll try this method -thanks. I understand Scrivner has an index card feature in it btw.
June 7th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
What timing, Anna, I just put my WIP on notecards for the first time a few weeks ago! I noticed the same thing you did with character actions, very repetitive from scene to scene. My main character had about five big conversations with his best friend while playing basketball. How boring
The cards really help visualize the big picture.
June 7th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I’m not an outliner by nature, but I really like this idea once you’ve got a working draft. Thanks, Anna!
June 7th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Indexing each scene sounds like a great idea. Labor-intensive, but with a solid payoff. I can also see how color coding the POV character for each scene would really highlight where your story lacks balance (assuming that’s what you’re going for.)
In addition to spotting redundancy, another advantage is the ease with which you can rearrange scenes to change pacing, to increase dramatic tension or even to add a few more as needed.
Thanks!
June 7th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Laura M, it was much more useful than I was expecting – definitely worth a shot. Have fun!
Laura P, aren’t you a smart cookie for using this technique? Maybe one day I’ll even get into outlining before I write, but it just never seems to work for me.
Sherrie, that sounds like a smart way of going about it. Then you’re creating the outline as you go, plus doing a bit of planning ahead. Hm, I might have to try that next time I’m drafting.
Lisa, Scrivener does have an index card feature and it really makes me wish I had a Mac! Alas, I haven’t found a PC program that quite compares.
June 7th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Sarah, that’s exactly it – the cards help visual the story in a way that a regular outline hasn’t allowed me to do. And hey, maybe those conversations your characters were having were amazing, even if they were only playing basketball at the time.
Andrea, sometimes I wish I was an outliner, but I guess some of us just aren’t wired that way. The post-draft outlining has helped me on more than one occasion, though.
John, rearranging scenes is definitely a great benefit of the index card method. I have a feeling the second half of my manuscript is going to require quite a bit of that!
June 7th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
I love tools like this. Index cards, charts, graphs, pieces of manuscript paper. Anything that helps me see structures and patterns I hadn’t realised were there and would like to take control of. Very useful post.
June 7th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I think I have referenced your blog five times since I started my new WiP on Friday. I am amazed.
June 7th, 2010 at 11:49 pm
I create a table in Word to use as a calendar of sorts, and write what happens on each day of the week or month (so far my novels have taken place in short spans of time) and where the chapters break. It’s practical for keeping straight what happens when, but it’s also a helpful way to see how action is distributed among the chapters.
June 8th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Roz, I’ve never thought of myself as a terribly visual person, but the more I dabble in different approaches, the more I realize how helpful it is to be able to visualize the structure of the manuscript. Who knew? (I guess lots of people did…)
Jon, I think you’re trying to kill me with flattery. Feel free to continue.
Shoshana, that sounds like a great way to keep things organized, especially the time span of the story. I might have to give that a try with the new project I’ve been working on!
June 8th, 2010 at 10:11 am
I used the card method with one book; it’s especially helpful if you aren’t sure of the order of scenes so that you can scramble them. In general, though, I like to see the plot as a whole. After the first draft, I try to outline the story in one page, color coding the development of main plot and subplots. Additions go in the margin, and I can retype and print it out again if it gets too messy. I don’t like a really detailed outline, and as I said, I like to see the whole thing, so this works for me for several reasons.
June 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Great idea, Anna! Even if I don’t do index cards, I’ll modify it to my Excel organization and work with it. Thanks!
June 9th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Love the idea of outlining after a draft to find what doesn’t work. I’ve never used index cards but I’ll give it a try to see how it works for me. I love trying new ideas!
June 10th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Marcia, the one-page outline sounds like a great approach. I like to be able to “see” the story too, which is why color-coding is so helpful.
Thanks, PJ! I’ve done this type of outlining in Excel in the past, but this time around the index cards just seemed like a better fit.
Catherine, I’m terrible at outlining before a draft, but outlining after is really helpful for me. Let me know how it goes if you give this approach a try!
June 16th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Great tip. I will try it once I get through my draft. I’m retelling a fairy tale, too, Little Red Riding Hood. Which fairy tale are you retelling?
June 16th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Kay, how fun that you’re retelling Little Red Riding Hood! Mine isn’t technically a retelling – it’s a story inspired by Gypsy folklore.
September 20th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
I found myself nodding my nggoin all the way through.