How to Plot a Novel Visually: The Index Card System

Many people who dream of writing a novel head to a writer's class. In that class, they're taught one of two things:

1. That there is only one way to be successful at writing a novel, and here it is ...

or

2. That there is no one way to be successful at writing a novel, so here's a bunch of ideas for you to get confused with ...

The truth is that if you take some time reading interviews with even just three different authors, you'll see that there isn't any one correct way. Every successful author has found a method that works for them - whether they found that method through trial and error, or focused on a single method they learned about and discovered something wonderful.

I've written several articles about plotting, and have devoted entire writing courses teaching the process. And through it all, I've learned that everyone has to find a system that sparks their interest ... and can be adapted to their needs.

So this article is for the visual learner, the person who (like me) wants to be able to see every piece of the puzzle and be able to arrange and rearrange that puzzle as often as they like without having to start from square one. It's a way of plotting your novel that uses nothing more than regular index cards and a box to keep them in line.

Start With a Concept

All stories start somewhere, and that somewhere is usually the tiniest little line of inspiration. For some authors, that inspiration comes from the daily news. Others overhear a conversation and are immediately itching with a novel idea from it. Still others actively seek out inspiration in the form of movies, music, or quotes.

You can start anywhere you'd like, but for this system to work the most smoothly (for most people), you'll want your concept to contain an overriding theme that colors every scene in your book. For me, this means looking at quotes. Something about them just locks a theme into place for me - and whole concept works even if you have a basic plot idea already in mind.

For example: Let's say I'm beginning a novel and I have just a basic plot idea. That idea is, "During a shooting, a girl is snatched to safety by a mysterious man. He knows her secrets." Not very involved yet, but it's something to go with. It also suggests some theme ideas. So let's add to that by finding a good quote. I'll go with this one by Mark Twain, "You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."

And with that, my concept and theme are melded into one. I also have the contents of my very first index card figured out - the basic plot idea, and the quote which will act as the theme carrying throughout my story.

Create Basic Plot Scenes

Plot scenes are what moves our story forward. There's a lot of "filler" involved in a story - scenes and action that don't necessarily relate directly to the plot, but give us a better idea of who the characters are or what kind of world they live in. In the best stories, these tie into the overall theme.

What we're concerned with first are those scenes that actually make our plot work. Many of these are basic and self-explanatory: the moment the hero/ine recognizes the problem, the moment the hero & heroine meet, the climactic moment when the hero/ine overthrows the bad guy trying to take over the world ... you get the idea.

So let's do another example. What I would possibly start jotting down on index cards (one card for each scene) might include "The Shooting: A gunman enters a flea market and starts shooting. Girl is pulled from scene by mysterious man", "Secrets: Man confronts girl with knowledge of her secrets. Is trying to use those secrets against her to do his bidding", and "The Truth: Girl is confronted with the real bad guy and is shocked to learn how wrong she's been all this time."

Again, my examples are very bare ... you can make yours more detailed or leave them at minimum guidelines. Some people are more comfortable with a detailed blow-by-blow before they start writing, while others prefer the write-as-I-go method. Whatever works for you - this is just to help you keep your plot on course.

Each basic plot scene should be on its own index card, and it helps a lot if you use different colored ink or highlighter colors so that you can tell each type of card apart as you continue on.

Create Dark Moments

Some of the best stories - the ones that continue on with us for days or weeks after we've read them - are so powerful because they contain at least one dark moment. This is the moment when the hero/ine must make a decision or take an action that holds the risk of destroying everything they've tried to achieve throughout the story. It is when everything looks so bleak, the reader can't see any way out.

Dark moments also have the power of developing your character in unexpected ways, making them fuller and richer - all because of the plot.

Go through your basic plot scenes and discover at least one, at most three, points where a dark moment could occur. Then jot down your guidelines or thoughts and put the index card in place. Again, it's easier to tell these cards apart if you use an ink color that's different from the plot scenes.

For my example, let's say I came up with this dark moment (melodramatic and sappy though it is): Man has discovered how to save the girl, but it's unthinkable. The only way to get out of this predicament is to offer his life for hers.

Get Wild

With the elements you've created so far, you've got the skeletons of a complete story. Now is the time to let your imagination run away with you, and start making cards filled with scenes that may or may not make the final cut. Get wild with it - what would happen if your characters were put in this situation? What if your character said such a thing and another character took it out of context? What can go wrong? Where can they be misled?

Honestly, this can be one of the funnest parts of writing a story. You get to go crazy with creativity, get drunk on your imagination, and play around with story ideas.

The best part is that once you start writing, the scenes that just won't work (or got a little too outlandish) can be pulled right out of the pile and you're not stuck starting over.

With this sort of plotting tool, you can easily drop in notes about your characters and character development, add images or illustrations that spark an idea for a scene, and add little bits of research that work particularly well for a turning point. It creates a linear way of visually seeing what you're creating, and it's one that you can change and alter over and over again without hurting your original idea.