How to Plot Your Novel from Start to Finish

All right, so, you've got this terrific idea for a novel floating around somewhere in the nether reaches of your mind. You might be happily munching down on a PB&J when, suddenly, out of nowhere, your main character finds himself in an exciting chase through the dark alleys between your synapses. While standing around waiting for something interesting to happen at work, his spectral image walks up to you and engages you in a heartfelt conversation, showing feelings you didn't know he had. While waiting to pick up little Timmy from soccer practice, you catch him out of the corner of your eye stealing a kiss under the shade of an old oak tree with a woman you've never met. Sparks of inspiration pop up everywhere, but the trouble most people have lies in consolidating them into an actual complete work.

There are quite a few people who believe that plotting a novel before writing it stiffens the actual creative process, and for some reason everyone in the opposite camp can't just agree to disagree. The simple truth of the matter is that if you can make a decent novel using either method, then you've made a decent novel. End of story. However, most people, even creative geniuses, run into the problem that human beings are undeniably creatures of habit, and mechanizing a process (even a creative process) not only simplifies it but just makes it more agreeable in general. So, for you who aren't looking to get to the end of your novel and find out that you got there with your shoes untied and your zipper down, I present to you my method of plotting a novel with index cards.

Story Elements
The first thing you need, obviously, is index cards. I suggest a nicely sized stack of them cut from heavy-duty card stock, as you're going to be writing on both sides in various and sundry colors of ink. The next time your character visits you and says, "Hey, you know, just this afternoon I found out that my best friend is actually the guy who's been following me around every night," listen carefully to what he says. Write down the general idea on one side and then flesh it out a little on the other. Like this: