Outlining a novel before starting the actual novel is the best way to avoid plotholes. Many writers ask questions like ‘how long an outline should be?’, ‘what is the best way to get the best outline ready?’, or ‘Is it important to have an outline?’.
Well, a novel outline is good for those people who prefer planning a novel beforehand in the detailed documentation. Pantsers do not consider plotting the novel, which answers the third question. However, they use some sort of basic planning to get their novel ready.
But for plotters or people who for sure know they are going to miss a scene or subplot in the novel, should consider outlining a novel. You will find tons of different ideas to outline your novel on the internet. You gotta figure out which method fits best for you. Like, I have my own method. I don’t really create the entire outline, I kind of go with the flow while adding some notes under chapter title.
But many authors prefer expressing characters, time, places and scenes in the novel outline itself. I also have explained this method with a free outline template that you can modify as per your novel.
In this blog, I am gonna talk about the Index card outlining method.
What is the index card novel outlining method?
The name pretty much tells everything about the method. However, there still are some points worth considering on this method. The method is for outlining novel subplots or scenes using index cards.
Even though you are more comfortable with your laptop or PC, sometimes pen and paper notes are more helpful. Many authors prefer writing 18 to 20 pages on novel outlining using more than 2 methods.
In other words, you can use index cards to outline a novel and then write more details in your word document. The traditional back to school methods are always helpful for writers.
How to proceed with an Index card novel outlining
I have made this example of an index card outline on my PC just to show you guys how to make it. But I recommend using markers, cards, and a board to arrange the cards. A detailed process is written below.
For the starter pack, you are gonna need, different colors of cards or sticky notes. Or another option is to use different colors of markers to indicate the scenes.
Color codes are for a better understanding of an outline.
Step 1: decide the color codes
You have to decide different colors for characters, plot twists, subplots and whatever suits you.
The obvious color codes can be
Red for danger: War, fight, conflicts, disagreements, negative twists like death and so on.
Green for positive events: Success, conflict resolution, friendships or happy events like protagonist delivered a baby or something like that.
Pink for love interests: Proposals, crush on someone, romantic scene, first kiss or love confessions.
Apart from this,
Blue color for chapters. Yellow cards for subplots in a novel.
It’s up to you what colors you want to use for which activity.
Step 2: Making the cards
Now its time to fill the cards up. Have you decided on your card colors yet? I hope you did.
Now, first, write the chapter names (tentative) on blue cards. You can do another way around, like making cards for primary events and then adding chapter cards at last. I personally write chapter names first.
After that, make cards for each event in the chapter. For example, the Protagonist’s entry, his/her motives, a fight scene, a sudden twist in a plot, subplots and any other detail you wanna add.
Step 3: Arrange the cards
This method, according to me, could take a bit longer time. Because you might forget to make cards for some events in the previous steps or maybe you want to add more subplots. In such cases, you gotta rearrange the cards based on the flow of the story.
However, the primary structure to arrange the card is:
- Get a big table or a board on which you are going to stick the cards. (I use the door of my wardrobe) First, stick all the chapter cards on the board.
- Then comes the subplots and events under each chapter, stick those notes under the chapter note. Remember, color codes are important. If you are going to introduce any love scene in the chapter, use the color code. Similarly, for plot twists and wars.
- Scan the hierarchy of events that you made with the cards, do you see anything missing? That’s probably a blank spot in the novel which you gotta find out, and eventually, you will. For example, killing a character or revealing a secret.
- This step is to check if you have created any plotholes by mistake. With the index cards, it’s easy to find out errors.
Another way is to arrange all the events and subplot cards on the board first and then adding the cards for the chapters. Either way, you will have a clear picture of the flow of the novel.
Step 4: Convert the index card flow into a detailed document outline
Plotters write descriptive information of each event in the novel into their outline. A detailed outline can be of any number of pages. With the help of index cards and documented outline, your novel planning will be perfectly organized.
Now you can proceed with the first draft. While writing each chapter, make sure you scan your index cards and documented outlines to avoid errors. If you think you want to add some more scenes in the chapter, reflect those changes in the index card outline as well as a documented outline.
I personally do not follow a single traditional method to outline my novel. However, if I come up with something new, I write it down in the notes. I hope you will find something helpful out of this method.
You may also like:
How to write a novel outline: With Detail outlining template
Happy Writing!
