There are plenty of digital index cards available today that have replaced the paper card. I love to lay out my index cards on a corkboard in my office it keeps my story in front of me and top of mind. You can still use paper index cards if you are tactile, and like the physical feel of a paper card in front of you. Of course, just as technology has impressed itself on every aspect of our lives even the little old index card has not gone untouched by the digital world.
While index cards may seem a rather old-fashioned method for outlining it is with good reason it’s still around, it works. Once I have my story mapped out with my index cards, then I can begin to write my first draft. Check out my scene building cards that I designed just for family history writers. A creative nonfiction story is comprised of scenes and summaries and having those scenes carefully thought out in advance can help keep you organized and writing every day.
Each index card represents a scene or a summary. It eliminates sitting and staring at my computer screen in that deep dark hole known as writer’s block. It allows me to organize my story so that when I start to write I know exactly what I’m writing and where I’m going with the story. For me, it’s like creating a road map of a story from start to finish. This means I love to outline my stories in great detail before I begin to write.
