Re: Slave of an outline

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 3795

Posted by zeoli
2005-08-17 18:23:42

> How do you use outlines?

Peter,

I’ve had similar experiences to the one you describe. There are many times when I’ve had to chuck the outline and just write the damn thing. I’ve always felt whenever that has happened that all the time with the outlining helped prepare the way for the creative writing. I’ve also tried writing without doing the necessary thinking about the project and have found that to be futile also. Outlining helps me to think through my arguments, decide what information I’m still lacking, and basically gives me a foundation from which to write.

I’m willing to bet that your writing session would not have been as fruitful if you hadn’t done the outlining ahead of time, even though you may have discarded at the time of the writing.

Steve Z.

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