Using Index Cards II

So I've got the first draft of my novel written and I've written an index card for each scene. What next?

I lay the cards out on my bed (or table, or floor depending on what large flat space I have available to me) in the order that they're written and stare at them intently. I'm looking for...

• gaps - where characters disappear
• places where I need extra scenes (to explain, connect, add plot strand, whatever)
• scenes which aren't doing much and should be combined with others
• characters who aren't doing much and either need more to do, or get combined with others
• too many exciting bits close together - too close, and each one will lose impact
• too many quiet bits close together - too close, and the pace will fall
• timing problems eg a pregnancy that lasts 2 months or 12 months
• a sense of forward movement - continual small plot/character developments
• does the story gel?
• and anything else that strikes me

The great thing about using index cards is that you can easily see the novel (which is going to be hundreds of pages at this stage) and how it's shaping up. So I add what's needed, take out what isn't. This might involve wholesale cutting of certain sections, or writing whole new sections. Sometimes I might move sections around - the book I'm currently working on I've moved what was Section 3 to Section 1. When I've finished I re-write my scenes as a list (like the one from A Single to Rome I pasted in yesterday's post) and then use that to write the next draft.

And then I repeat the whole process, until I'm satisfied that I've got the right shape. And if that takes many drafts, then so be it. And then, and only then, do I start worrying about the actual words on the page.

Using Index Cards I

I wouldn't be able to write a novel if I didn't use index cards. End of. I start a novel with a few ideas about characters, location and at least three 'big' events. A big event is one that changes the status quo - a kiss, a death, a revelation, whatever it is, the characters can't go back from what has just happened, they have to go forwards. I then start to write heading for those big moments - at this stage I'm guessing it's going to take me 15,000-20,000 words to get to each big moment. So I'm hoping for something like...

page 1...

15,000-20,000 words later Big Event A

15,000-20,000 words later Big Event B

15,000-20,000 words later Big Event C

15,000-20,000 words later, The End.

It may, of course, not work out like that in practice, but that's the rough scheme.

When I've got some words down I start to write out index cards, both for scenes I've written and for scenes I'm vaguely thinking I might write. So, let's suppose I've just reached A. I know that my next step is B. How can I get from A to B? I'll scribble some ideas down on index cards, one scene per card. I'll put down as many ideas as I can - I find this process sparks off lots more as you're doing it.

Then I arrange the cards out on my bed (as the nearest available flat space) and try to get them into a good order. If this happens, then that has to happen but this other scene will have to come before the first one to make it work. I fiddle around with the scene order, rewriting cards and adding stuff here and there until I have something I like. Then I type it up and that's my blue print. This is a bit from A Single to Rome:

Flat in Rome

Waking up, it’s all pretty mucky. Just got into bed. Claudio turns up with a viewing.

Natalie depressed, aimless in Rome.

Gets very miserable. The sun is shining but it’s raining in my heart.

Phones Michael in desperation. Chucks phone into Tiber. Thinks about chucking herself.

Claudio phones on landline. He’s bringing someone to look at the flat.

Natalie inspired to clean flat – it’s even muckier, she’s been subsisting on not much, not clearing up etc.

Borrows mop etc from Valeria. Valeria feeds her, offers her to come for supper that evening.

Claudio brings someone round to look at the flat.

It’s looking much better. Asks her for a date afterwards.

Supper with Valeria.

Clorinda also there. Mike is mentioned, Clorinda v disapproving. Establish Natalie can’t cook. Vanessa and Guy as super romantic couple. Clorinda hopes they’ll get back together. Discuss Claudio.

First date with Claudio. Meet up with his friends – she’s depressed, she can’t keep up with the language, she’s out of place. He makes a bit of a play for her, she tells him about Michael, he says M won’t be back. N cries, and is upset – what’s to become of her?

Clorinda hears her crying

NB turns up wearing white nightie – foreshadow ghost. Is very nice to Natalie, makes her cocoa, refers to once wanting space (something that relates to N, but also to her relationship with Mike, too proud, love is not love, hang on in there etc). Then says, contact Mike about a job.

Goes for job with Mike

he’s desperate, offers her something on the spot, that very evening.

It's not exactly detailed, but enough for me to write from - and if you've read the book you may realise that the book doesn't exactly follow this plan, but it's pretty close. Each one of bold heading was once an index card heading with the stuff following being the notes about that scene.

So I end up with a first draft. Then I read it, put the scenes on index cards again, and check for problems - which I'll write about tomorrow.

Plotting with Index Cards

A couple of queries have come up about exactly HOW I use index cards.

I don't do anything complicated like plan out scenes using Excel, I start with three or four plot points and write to join them, making notes as I go along. After about 80,000 words and much gnashing of teeth I reckon I've scraped my way to the end.

That's when I use the index cards. I print out the novel, single spaced to save paper, and go through scene by scene. It's a scene per card, regardless of length - a scene could be just a paragraph, or 25 pages. (However, trying to squeeze all the info from 25 pages onto one little card might give me a clue there and then that I need to divide that scene into two/three/four separate scenes.)

I reckon there are about 50-100 scenes per novel. The set of cards I've just done, I started with lots of little scenes, but they've been rationalised into some meatier scenes ie I went from approx 100 cards to about 60 (I'm guessing the numbers). Some scenes have been completely cut, and new ones imagined.

On each index card I write the major points from the scene - it could be action, information, anything. When I first started doing this they were very neatly written. Six novels in, and it's all pretty much a scrawl. Still, I know what I'm on about, and they're a tool for me, not anyone else.

Then I sit down at the computer with a stack of cards beside me. I save the draft as Draft 2, and go through the cards until I get to the end. I move stuff I don't need to the very end of the text rather than cutting it, and I make notes to myself as necessary along the way marking them with XXX so I don't miss them at a later stage. Then I do the whole thing again. And again. 16 times for Adultery for Beginners (my first novel), 4 times for A Single to Rome, 3 times for Kissing Mr Wrong (but I was pushed to make my delivery date and did another complete re-write after my editor had seen it).

What I don't do is divide it into chapters - I won't do that for ages, it's the very last thing I do before sending off to my editor, although I'll have an inkling of where some of the chapter ends may fall.

I Heart Index Cards

Apparently if you go to film school one of the techniques they teach you is to plan your film on index cards scene by scene before you write a word of dialogue. For a novel you could use them at the planning stage, but I like to use them after I've written the first draft.

Take a card and write out what happens in each scene in note form, for example, Joe tells Abigail about the party on Saturday night. Abigail is upset and storms out. Then add any other important information about the scene such as Description of pub, first mention of Miranda's name, set up Abigail's important job interview. Find a large space such as the floor or a table (I usually do this on top of my bed, cat willing) and spread the cards out. Now you can 'see' your novel in all its glory.

Things to look for...Are the major scenes evenly distributed? Is there variety between mainly action and mainly reaction scenes ie it's not clumped into lots of action followed by lots of reflection? Are the main plot strands kept going? It's very hard to get a feel for your novel when it's several hundred pages of typescript; this method lets you look at it as a whole at one time. When using index cards for Nice Girls Do I realised that I'd 'lost' Will for a bit and quickly inserted a scene to keep him fresh in Anna's - and the reader's - mind.

The other thing I use index cards for timing. Using a diary I make sure that major events such as public holidays actually turn up when they should do. This can be very useful - I'd got stuck on a bit of A Single to Rome until I realised that the May bank holiday provided a convenient opportunity and worked the timing around it.

I've tried using different coloured cards for different characters or plot strands but it got too complicated for me and now I generally use cheap old white, with coloured ones for scenes that I need to add. I like using index cards so much that I'll do a set several times in the course of writing a novel, and then work from a fresh pile of stacked cards. I think they're wonderful - try them today!

Index Cards Strike Again

I've been writing shedloads of the new novel. It's all coming along very well, but I'm starting to wonder about the structure.

At the moment I have a linear pattern. Essentially my main character starts in an okay state, things go very well, then very badly. That's the first section. The second section is all about her recovery process. The third and final section is when it all comes together and stuff gets resolved, and hopefully she ends up in a better place then where she started (I haven't written the ending yet).

Section 1 is emotional, Section 2 has more laughs. I'm not sure that the two are going to sit very well together, that an innocent unsuspecting reader won't feel there's a sudden gear change. What I'm toying with is having Section 1 run alongside Section 2, swapping from past to present.

Hooray for index cards! I've written out two sets of index cards out with one scene per card and laid them out on the bed (you could use a floor or a large table, I like to work in bed). On the left side of the bedspread is the linear form - Section 1 followed by Section 2. On the right hand side of the bedspread is the past/present form - Section 1 alternating with Section 2.

I can see immediately that each version has pros and cons. For example, the alternating form on the right would mean I could ditch some rather boring linking scenes from Section 1. In fact, I could ditch a mini-subplot that I'm not convinced works. This would be good. On the other hand, there's a BIG moment at the end of Section 1 and a BIG moment at the end of Section 2. Now they're plonked bang smack next to each other. This is bad.

Going back to the left hand side of the bedspread, I can see that the BIG moments are spread out. This is good. However, there is still that major disconnect between the sections that led me to try the alternative form in the first place. This is bad.

It will take a lot of staring at the cards before I make a decision, but think about how much easier it is for me because I can see the novel in both forms easily in front of me. There's no doubt about it; index cards are a very useful addition to any writer's toolbox.

Planning a Novel

Everybody seems to be talking about novel planning at the moment - perhaps it's Spring coming and we're all hopping about grabbing twigs to build our novels. Currently I feel it's more like clutching at straws, but this is what I do...

Round 1. Start with an idea of a background or two. It's got to be either something I already know about, or can access research material easily, or fancy doing some research on.

Round 2. Think of a few good plot points to use as markers. Woman starts affair, woman ends affair, woman blackmailed by lover.

Round 3. Start thinking about the answers to the questions the plot points pose - why does she have an affair? who with? does her lover have a partner? why do they want an affair?

Round 4. Start writing.

At some point I'm going to get stuck - it might be 10,000 words in, it might be 50,000 words in. But I know roughly where I'm heading for, and what plot threads I'm carrying.

Round 5. Get out some index cards. Write one for the last scene I've written. Write one for the scene I'm aiming for (which is the next big plot point eg they break up or he comes back).

Round 6. Lay the two cards out on the bed with a big space in-between and stare at them very very hard. What I'm doing, apart from scaring the cat, is trying to work out a logical way to get from one point to another.

Round 7. As I get ideas for linking scenes, I write them out on index cards and cautiously place them between the start and end point. Using index cards means I can shuffle the ideas around more easily or add bits. I might get ideas for extra scenes that come earlier or later, and they can be noted on cards as well.

Round 8. When I'm happy with my linking scenes, I write them up as a list and attach it to the end of my novel for reference.

Round 9. With the index cards by my side I get writing.

Write until stuck, at which point repeat Rounds 5-9.

I'll repeat this process until I get to the end of the novel. As I write more - I'm writing Novel No 6 at the moment - my forward planning gets scrappier and scrappier and the bedroom and office are littered with scrawled index cards. I do wish I was a planner - it would feel as if there was a safety net underneath me - but the two occasions I plotted out the novel from start to finish before I began writing, I completely lost interest and never finished them.

I Heart Index Cards

Apparently if you go to film school one of the techniques they teach you is to plan your film on index cards scene by scene before you write a word of dialogue. For a novel you could use them at the planning stage, but I like to use them after I've written the first draft.

Take a card and write out what happens in each scene in note form, for example, Joe tells Abigail about the party on Saturday night. Abigail is upset and storms out. Then add any other important information about the scene such as Description of pub, first mention of Miranda's name, set up Abigail's important job interview. Find a large space such as the floor or a table (I usually do this on top of my bed, cat willing) and spread the cards out. Now you can 'see' your novel in all its glory.

Things to look for...Are the good scenes (the cherries - see blog post for Nov 17th) evenly distributed? Is there variety between mainly action and mainly reaction scenes ie it's not clumped into lots of action followed by lots of reflection? Are the main plot strands kept going? When using index cards for Nice Girls Do I realised that I'd 'lost' Will for a bit and quickly inserted a scene to keep him fresh in Anna's - and the reader's - mind. The other thing I use index cards for timing. Using a diary I make sure that major events such as public holidays actually turn up when they should do. This can be very useful - I'd got stuck on a bit of A Single to Rome until I realised that the May bank holiday provided a convenient excuse and worked the timing around it.

I've tried using different coloured cards for different characters or plot strands but it got too complicated for me and now I generally use cheap old white, with coloured ones for scenes that I need to add. I like using index cards so much that I'll do a set several times in the course of writing a novel, and then work from a fresh pile of stacked cards. I think they're wonderful - try them today!