This process feels kind of freeing. I've been using the 7-point plot structure to plan my stories for a long time, but I always found it awkward to structure character arcs the same way. They don't always neatly fit into the same kind of structure, at least for me. Using this approach for character arcs feels much more organic, in a way.
I agree... using traditional structures for characters never felt right to me. Especially since some of them have much larger arcs than others and need a whole lot more checkpoints.
Wonderful process. My take away - This process starts with the highest level as columns and the character's stories as portions of the columns. The cards just makes this super portable and easily reorganizable. Expandable. ... (last adjective) I am looking forward to using this method this weekend. Got my colored index cards and fountain pen ink. Thanks Beth.
Glad you enjoyed it! This outline in particular was a little leaner than some others I've used this method for, since it's book 5 of a 6 book series... so the character arcs are pretty deeply ingrained in everything I'm doing. But I've done early-series outlines with dozens of cards before too, so definitely room to let it grow.
I write down different scenes for my book on the card and organize them by where they are in the story. Probably made it more complicated for myself but it works for me.
Many use outlining for an ideation assist. This method seems more focused on final structure and event ordering. I like it. It helps that you have daydreamed the story for eight years and have the core ideation pretty much complete. I like that your characters still have some wiggle room as you write. I've heard complaints that outlining stifles creativity. Your method seems to avoid such restriction. I will be getting at least one of your books to see the product of this method. Note added 12 Nov 24: Purchased "The Witch and the Wyrm" on Kindle (as promised above. Kindle for travel reading). It appeared to be the most recent release and the one most likely to have benefited from well-seasoned experience with the video's outlining method. Author (new to me) does have quite a collection of titles.
Sort of; I give my character arcs the same sort of rise and fall pacing as what the main plot receives. It's harder to see here, since this is book 5 in a series, so there are only two unresolved character arcs. I structured this series to give each character a full book dedicated to their arc with just a few dangling threads to wrap up in later books, and you can see the ones that are complete (blue, red, and green) just get a quick check-in to show they're still tying up the loose ends. So most is focused on the rise and fall of events between the purple and yellow coded characters, and I tried to alternate what's happening for them, so when one is in a lull, the other is in a high stakes story point. I hope that makes sense. I'm planning to make a video specifically about how I work out my character arcs and convert them to fit in my outlines, but it has to wait until I'm ready to outline a new book. I'm about 80% done writing this one, so hopefully soon! :)
I tried Scrivener years ago, but back then it had a weird compatibility conflict with the drivers for my Wacom tablet so the only way to use it would be uninstalling my tablet. Wasn't gonna happen. I'm sure they've fixed it by now, but this gives me freedom Scrivener wouldn't too, so it's nice :) I bounce around between writing on my laptop, my PC, my iPad, and my phone, so having my outline in my pocket or purse all the time is super convenient for me!
@@lexyprice4753 It’s primarily bullet points for story progression. Things like “Character A sends a letter to her sister. Character B is sent to deliver it. Character C feels overlooked for not being chosen for the errand.” When I write stories with many POVs, I will rely on the color coding of the cards to dictate what POV a section should be in, but this series has only had two POVs at a time so it hasn’t been necessary to track. I don’t find a need to plan out scene-by-scene motivation or goals for my characters; those things should be baked into the beats of what’s happening as their actions progress the story.
Is each notecard a chapter? Or just a scene? Could explain how you break this into chapters later? Also of your 5 characters in this example who get cards, do they each get POV chapters of their own?
I'd say it's less oriented on chapters or scenes and more "What needs to happen in this section of the book to move this character's arc forward?" So I make note of whatever major step a character is taking and what's happening in the background while they do it. For example, the first column's yellow cards are primarily detailing how that character is stepping into an unfamiliar role of authority, while listing the battles and obstacles the group deals with during that phase of growth. Each of those battles propels the overall story, but is a backdrop for the stages of growth she needs to experience. I tend not to outline chapters strictly because they have a habit of growing when I'm not looking, and instead I break them up wherever it feels natural to have a pause, split, or switch to a different POV. POV choices vary by series, book, and particular needs. For this series, book 1 had a single POV (portrayed here by the purple) while book 2 had purple and red characters only, book 3 was purple and blue only, and book 4 and 5 have been split between purple and yellow. Green has been a prevalent character but has never had a POV chapter of her own. I find don't always need to be in a character's POV to share their arcs, I just have to make sure they're present and in center view, which is what the blue, red, and green cards are for--reminding me not to lose those characters and that their story contribution should be the focus in those sections, even if they aren't the POV character!
This would have been a lot more helpful if you'd used details of a book you weren't concerned with spoilers (be it one of your previous or some other popular novel). I can't say this was particularly helpful.
This process feels kind of freeing. I've been using the 7-point plot structure to plan my stories for a long time, but I always found it awkward to structure character arcs the same way. They don't always neatly fit into the same kind of structure, at least for me. Using this approach for character arcs feels much more organic, in a way.
I agree... using traditional structures for characters never felt right to me. Especially since some of them have much larger arcs than others and need a whole lot more checkpoints.
Wonderful process. My take away - This process starts with the highest level as columns and the character's stories as portions of the columns. The cards just makes this super portable and easily reorganizable. Expandable. ... (last adjective) I am looking forward to using this method this weekend. Got my colored index cards and fountain pen ink. Thanks Beth.
Glad you enjoyed it! This outline in particular was a little leaner than some others I've used this method for, since it's book 5 of a 6 book series... so the character arcs are pretty deeply ingrained in everything I'm doing. But I've done early-series outlines with dozens of cards before too, so definitely room to let it grow.
I write down different scenes for my book on the card and organize them by where they are in the story. Probably made it more complicated for myself but it works for me.
This is sort of similar, though it's more of a general overview of where scenes should be rather than a description of the scene itself!
Thank you! By far the most concise and helpful video about index card-based plotting that is out there.
Many use outlining for an ideation assist. This method seems more focused on final structure and event ordering. I like it. It helps that you have daydreamed the story for eight years and have the core ideation pretty much complete. I like that your characters still have some wiggle room as you write. I've heard complaints that outlining stifles creativity. Your method seems to avoid such restriction. I will be getting at least one of your books to see the product of this method.
Note added 12 Nov 24: Purchased "The Witch and the Wyrm" on Kindle (as promised above. Kindle for travel reading). It appeared to be the most recent release and the one most likely to have benefited from well-seasoned experience with the video's outlining method. Author (new to me) does have quite a collection of titles.
This is amazing. Thanks a lot.
thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Kia ora,
That was excellent, much appreciated, thanks.
Ngā mihi nui,
from Aotearoa-New Zealand 🇳🇿 💕📚
sometimes I sits and thinks (due to your video -outlining) And sometimes I just sits . So, off we go for research, Elvis has left the building !
Sitting and thinking is an important part of the creative process too!
Fantastic presentation. ❤
Subscribed
Really enjoyed this video. Is there any kind of structure you follow with where each character's card/step on the character arc goes and when?
Sort of; I give my character arcs the same sort of rise and fall pacing as what the main plot receives. It's harder to see here, since this is book 5 in a series, so there are only two unresolved character arcs. I structured this series to give each character a full book dedicated to their arc with just a few dangling threads to wrap up in later books, and you can see the ones that are complete (blue, red, and green) just get a quick check-in to show they're still tying up the loose ends. So most is focused on the rise and fall of events between the purple and yellow coded characters, and I tried to alternate what's happening for them, so when one is in a lull, the other is in a high stakes story point.
I hope that makes sense. I'm planning to make a video specifically about how I work out my character arcs and convert them to fit in my outlines, but it has to wait until I'm ready to outline a new book. I'm about 80% done writing this one, so hopefully soon! :)
Have you used Scrivener? You can do all this within the story and the research section . But it is a wonderful method.
I tried Scrivener years ago, but back then it had a weird compatibility conflict with the drivers for my Wacom tablet so the only way to use it would be uninstalling my tablet. Wasn't gonna happen. I'm sure they've fixed it by now, but this gives me freedom Scrivener wouldn't too, so it's nice :) I bounce around between writing on my laptop, my PC, my iPad, and my phone, so having my outline in my pocket or purse all the time is super convenient for me!
I don’t like the way Scrivener organizes this stuff, specifically because I need tactile and kinesthetic methods
❤thanks , thats lovely
Thanks! Very helpful!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
What do you write on your cards? Pov, setting, conflict, goal? Something else?
@@lexyprice4753 It’s primarily bullet points for story progression. Things like “Character A sends a letter to her sister. Character B is sent to deliver it. Character C feels overlooked for not being chosen for the errand.”
When I write stories with many POVs, I will rely on the color coding of the cards to dictate what POV a section should be in, but this series has only had two POVs at a time so it hasn’t been necessary to track.
I don’t find a need to plan out scene-by-scene motivation or goals for my characters; those things should be baked into the beats of what’s happening as their actions progress the story.
Is each notecard a chapter? Or just a scene? Could explain how you break this into chapters later? Also of your 5 characters in this example who get cards, do they each get POV chapters of their own?
I'd say it's less oriented on chapters or scenes and more "What needs to happen in this section of the book to move this character's arc forward?" So I make note of whatever major step a character is taking and what's happening in the background while they do it. For example, the first column's yellow cards are primarily detailing how that character is stepping into an unfamiliar role of authority, while listing the battles and obstacles the group deals with during that phase of growth. Each of those battles propels the overall story, but is a backdrop for the stages of growth she needs to experience.
I tend not to outline chapters strictly because they have a habit of growing when I'm not looking, and instead I break them up wherever it feels natural to have a pause, split, or switch to a different POV.
POV choices vary by series, book, and particular needs. For this series, book 1 had a single POV (portrayed here by the purple) while book 2 had purple and red characters only, book 3 was purple and blue only, and book 4 and 5 have been split between purple and yellow. Green has been a prevalent character but has never had a POV chapter of her own. I find don't always need to be in a character's POV to share their arcs, I just have to make sure they're present and in center view, which is what the blue, red, and green cards are for--reminding me not to lose those characters and that their story contribution should be the focus in those sections, even if they aren't the POV character!
@BethAlvarez gotcha, thanks! That was what I guessed. I appreciate the reply.
new writer here. thankyou
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Was up Quin
I wish I could do that, but if I would do that there wouldn't be much sense in writing something that already finished in my mind.
This would have been a lot more helpful if you'd used details of a book you weren't concerned with spoilers (be it one of your previous or some other popular novel). I can't say this was particularly helpful.