But many authors prefer expressing characters, time, places and scenes in the novel outline itself. Physically moving (or dragging and dropping) your scene cards also adds a tactile element to plotting. Act I is pink, Act II, part one, is light blue, Act II, part two is yellow, and Act III is baby green. I work full time in a healthcare clinic – it’s my “day” job. Using index cards to outline your novel is a great first step. The reverse outline works sort of in a backward method. I also have explained this method with a free outline template that you can modify as per your novel. However, they use some sort of basic planning to get their novel ready. Get yourself a stack of index cards. Outlining a novel before starting the actual novel is the best way to avoid plotholes. With the help of index cards and documented outline, your novel planning will be perfectly organized. First write out a full outline in a document. Because he would then be able to spread these out on the floor, shuffle the order around, remove some and add new events into the mix. I personally write chapter names first. Take a character stack, blank side up, and start writing one sentence descriptions of scenes you want to write involving that character, one per card. Pressing “enter” or “return” on your keyboard while typing within an index card will save the synopsis you’ve written. I’ve been blogging (on and off, mostly off) for…. In other words, you can use index cards to outline a novel and then write more details in your word document. 14 Comments; So you like stories, hm..? I graduated from college with a B.S in Technical Writing – so I’m a wordy know-it-all, as well as a minor in creative writing – so don’t always believe what I write. 1) Write, on separate cards, the scenes you know are going to be in your story. You will find tons of different ideas to outline your novel on the internet. Organize Your Novel with Excel–This is a good way to look at a chapter or novel to see how your point of view, plot and other elements balance in a visual lay-out. Take that notecard an… Jun 5, 2013 - I used to be very against outlining books-- novels-- because I thought they had to be PURE and free-flowing and not sticking to any formula. Navigating an Escape Room â Did We Do It? When you’re done, you should have around 40 cards (i.e 40 scenes), 10 in each row, give or take a card. While writing each chapter, make sure you scan your index cards and documented outlines to avoid errors. Enjoy! Index cards to the rescue. You can also physically move the note cards around to change where scene land. When you put these note cards on your cork board, you’ll see how the story flows. I don’t necessarily break the rules, but I definitely bend the rules. Craft your premise. Now you can proceed with the first draft. You will find tons of different ideas to outline your novel on the internet. *ahem*. Second, put the main points of your outline onto note cards in order. (I use the door of my wardrobe) First, stick all the chapter cards on the board. The benefit of using index cards is that you can look at the overall structure and see if all the actions and characters are working the way you want … Many authors prefer writing 18 to 20 pages on novel outlining using more than 2 methods. I like having several irons in the fire, it’s what I’m used to and I thrive on multi-tasking. This is the underlying idea for your story. However, he now knew exactly where the novel … Outlining your novel with index cards is a lot of work, but it also makes a lot of sense. See more ideas about writing a … Making a Narrative Outline Determine the opening scene. I like to flit from project-to-project. Not only will it help you establish your novel’s story, it can also motivate you to start writing and get those creative juices flowing. However, there still are some points worth considering on this method. Pink for love interests: Proposals, crush on someone, romantic scene, first kiss or love confessions. Just a short description of what happens in the scene (the action) 2) Lay … How guys, per your request, I recorded an outlining video using the Save the Cat Writes a Novel method. Your pacing is uneven throughout the novel outline. Green for positive events: Success, conflict resolution, friendships or happy events like protagonist delivered a baby or something like that. When using index cards for outlining, some writers get detailed with their cards, making one for each scene. But laying the cards out and then writing in my beginning scenes and my ending scenes, at least, my ending as it plays in my head now, that could, and likely will, change as I get closer to the end, and then sticking scenes that pop into my head into the puzzle as they come to me, REALLY helped me. (Pst – you can find me on the NaNoWriMo website under the username: take2max!). They had an idea they adored, and maybe … A perk of this method is that you can shuffle the cards easily if you need to rearrange scenes. I personally do not follow a single traditional method to outline my novel. Imagine you’re a rock climber looking up at a tall cliff, for instance. My name is Karen and welcome! However, if I come up with something new, I write it down in the notes. I am a medical assistant and when you juggle 40+ patients a week, scheduling them for testing, appointments, preparing a short synapsis of why they are coming in and comorbidities for my doctor and mid-level, answering phone calls and returning phone calls, addressing messages from my co-workers about patients, covering for other medical assistants when they’re out and all the miscellaneous work, I’m never caught up. Creating an Outline with Index Cards By georgelthomas on 11 Jul 2017 • (4) All you need to create your outline are 60 index cards, a pen or a marker of some sort and a large space in which to spread out the cards. Very easy to use. Or another option is to use different colors of markers to indicate the scenes. Feel free to use different colors for different themes or parts of the book. And side note: breaking up Act II into two parts makes a lot of sense to me, as well. Outlining your novel with index cards is a lot of work, but it also makes a lot of sense. Multi-purpose: while this particular post is about outlining scenes of your novel with the cards, you can easily use them for anything else you need to work out. Why not? I hope you did. Get a big table or a board on which you are going to stick the cards. And I hope you’re as ready as you can be for NaNoWriMo because, Blogfam, it’s nearly here! Well, a novel outline is good for those people who prefer planning a novel beforehand in the detailed documentation. Then comes the subplots and events under each chapter, stick those notes under the chapter note. Break Out the Index Cards. In a screenplay, this structure is pretty strictly followed given that films need to be a certain length, but there’s more room to play in a novel. Remember, color codes are important. My novel is … For example, you can also use a pile of cards to write down character sheets and info, setting ideas and names of places, random bits of dialogue that … Color codes are for a better understanding of an outline. God is NOT responsible for bad things happening. Yellow cards for subplots in a novel. The name pretty much tells everything about the method. Anyway, I’m excited about this “puzzle” approach to outlining and I’m very thankful to Sarra Cannon for sharing her knowledge with us. To create a line break while typing within an index card, hold the “alt” or “option” key then press “enter.” Adding & Rearranging Index Cards. The Reverse Outline. It is a great writing tool for organizing chapters, scenes, acts, etc. Plotting your novel. Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! Scan the hierarchy of events that you made with the cards, do you see anything missing? You can either just full out free write your novel then go back in and break it down into scenes, or you can start with how you want to end with your story and work backwards. Off for having an opinion the video I mention in the fire, it ’ s “! If I come up with something new, I am gon na need, colors. 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