2.13 Step 8: Notate Your Scaffold Cards
Use your index cards to scaffold important details.
| Table 2-2H. The scaffolding steps covered so far in Chapter 2. | |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | Generate broad topics: Write each topic on the blank side of an index card |
| Step 2 | Organize and evaluate topics: Manipulate index cards into a plausible order |
| Step 3 | Enhance existing topic cards: Convert broad topics into finer detailed subtopics and write each subtopic on its own index card |
| Step 4 | Convert subtopic cards into paragraph topic cards: Each index card represents a paragraph?s topic |
| Step 5 | Organize your paragraph topics |
| Step 6 | Write a topic sentence for each paragraph topic: Write it on the reverse side of a paragraph topic?s index card |
| Step 7 | Write a concluding sentence for each paragraph topic: Write it on the reverse side of a paragraph topic?s index card |
| Step 8 | Notate and deck your index cards |
With Step 7 complete, you can now add important finishing touches to your scaffold before moving the scaffold into a word processing document. You have finished your most crucial outlining work, but some additional notes can make your future work proceed more smoothly.
Your earlier steps scaffolded your outline by laying index cards out on a two-dimensional surface. Arranging cards on a surface aided memory (you could see any card with a glance) and organizing (you could think about your project by repositioning your cards). However, any writing project must eventually become a paragraph chain. You need to convert your two-dimensional card display into a more conventional order.
In Step 8 (Table 2-2H) you remove index cards from your layout; you place them in order as a single deck. To preserve the narrative, you produced using earlier steps, you must ensure you keep your cards in order when you build your deck. As you construct your deck, I recommend writing a number on each card to indicate card order. (You might number the cards with pencil if you feel you might still revise card ordering!) Numbering your cards prevents problems when a cat knocks over your deck and you must put your index cards back in order.
After ordering your index cards, you perform one final notating step. You take each card in turn, flip the card over, and read the two sentences written on the card’s back. You deliberately left space between sentences (see Figure 2-6) to provide room for a few short notes. Soon you will write supporting sentences to complete each paragraph (Chapter 4). You can help create supporting sentences later by jotting down notes on each card to remind you about what your supporting sentences might say. You might list in point form what each supporting sentence will say. You might list some material you want to cite, or a figure or table you need to refer to. You don’t need to add notes to every card, but your notes can provide important reminders when you convert your outline into a draft.
With your numbered cards in a deck, with some notes written between topic and concluding sentences, you can move to your final step: moving your scaffold into a word processing document for developing your first draft.
