Writing And Outliners

Posted by Gary Carson
Jun 28, 2008 at 02:50 PM

Howdy. I was reading through some posts about the problems NoteMap has with displaying long notes that go past the bottom of the screen and they made me curious about how the writers out there are using these outliners to develop their material.

Personally, I occasionally use single-pane outliners (currently using NoteMap) for brainstorming and for working out problems of structure, but I do all the actual writing in Word 2003. I’ll print the outline for reference or display it on a second monitor while I write the piece. If I create an outline at all, it’s just for planning purposes.

I’ve never understood why a writer would want to transfer an outline into their word processor when they actually start writing copy. Outlines are for planning. Word processors are for writing. Are people actually writing rough drafts with their outliners and then transferring the copy into their word processors? If so, I’m not sure I see the point in it. Why do any actual writing in an outliner and then transfer it to a word processor? Why not just do the writing in the word processor in the first place?

Just curious. I’m always looking for ways to improve my working methods.