How Outlines Enhance Speed and Quality: The Outline Advantage
Would you attempt to build your house without blueprints? Probably not; any attempt would likely lead to chaos and lack of cohesion. The same principle holds true when writing; just like blueprints provide an organized framework for construction purposes, an outline serves as the keystone of writing success.
An outline is an effective and systematic method of structuring your thoughts, helping ensure they flow logically and cohesively. An outline can also assist with mapping out key points, selecting an effective presentation style, and maintaining focus during the writing process. By creating such an outline for your content you can help avoid common obstacles like writer’s block, disorganization and potentially overlooking key details.
In a previous post, I explained how the style inverted pyramid can help you create better press releases. This approach involves answering all of the reader’s questions upfront (whom, what, when, and where) while also forcing you to outline your writing before starting.
Do People Still Outline?
You must outline your writing at least once a year. I would guess that the majority of people in business don’t. There are two reasons why I believe most people no longer outline their writing:
- You can change things too easily – you no longer need whiteout and typewriters. It used to be that we wrote by hand, or on typewriters. You had to plan out your entire writing flow before you began.
- It’s too slow –I can finish my blog in less time than it would take to outline my post. So why bother? The speed of writing has indeed increased. We must write more content with less time. I would argue that if you outline twice as much time then write the article, it will be better.
- Fewer limits are in place –in years past, the word count and column inches were used to limit writers. There are very few restrictions on the length of content (apart from Twitter). This post can be extended by 500 more words if I wish. The outline helped writers to focus on the information they could convey in the time allotted.
- The average person has a short attention span –a great deal of today’s writing is short bursts with little to no story. Many writers use a more stream-of-consciousness voice or bullet lists (guilty).
Why am I blogging about Outlines?
Outlines can greatly boost productivity and expedite the writing process. They do this by providing a structured framework for you to operate within, making the writing process quicker and more efficient overall. With an outline in place, less time is spent worrying about what should come next; more can be spent crafting content – leading to significant time savings that allow projects to be completed more rapidly and with greater ease.
Well-organized writing can also be more engaging for readers. A coherent structure makes your arguments or narrative easier for the audience to follow, which in turn captures and maintains their attention more efficiently. When ideas are presented logically sequenced, readers are more likely to stay interested and absorb your message. As part of my experiment, I am outlining more articles to test this theory first-hand and demonstrate its benefits – not only improving the quality and speed of writing but also increasing reader engagement.
Here are two benefits that I believe come from using outlines.
- Outlines can help you plan your topic. You might already have an idea of what you want to write about but need to narrow it down. By creating an outline, one can decide how they would like the piece to be written. You can determine which areas require you to do research, obtain visuals, or interview an expert. You can also determine what information you should omit.
- Outlining is a great way to eliminate writer’s block. If you are having trouble getting started, an outline will help you break your topic down into manageable pieces. You can overcome writer’s block by putting your ideas on paper or screen.
- Outlines can save you time. It may seem counterintuitive but taking the time to outline before writing could save you a lot of time. You’re likely to have to spend a lot of your time editing and revising if you write straight through. If you have a good flow of information and organize it well, the editing will be much quicker.
- Outlines make you more effective communicators –When I write about a subject without first planning my writing, I often find that I do not communicate as much as I would have liked. Before, I have also missed the point completely. It’s easier to determine if you are communicating your message clearly by creating an outline. An outline is useful if you’re writing in a more story-like format. It can help you balance the various elements – introductions, rising actions, supporting facts and climaxes – instead of trying to figure it out on your own.
- Outlines are useful for planning future writing.I often write drafts in outline format of the posts I plan to write one day, and then add to it as I find new information or consider the details further. A working outline can help you to write more regularly by providing a repository of writing ideas.
Here are some great tips to make outline work for you
- There are no two writers who outline in the same manner. It’s not as important to use a specific method as it is the thought process.
- Each author must determine the level of detail they prefer. An author can benefit from an outline with a large picture that outlines the major plot events and their final outcome. One author uses an outline with details for each scene. It is important to find a balance between planning too much and getting enough details to write well.
- Use the outline to spark your creativity.
- You can explore many options by creating an outline. This will save you time. You can use the outline to explore different rabbit trails without having to write entire scenes that you later decide aren’t necessary.
- You may have been trying to follow the outline too closely. Allow yourself to disregard the outline. Try a new idea instead.
- Your outline, like your novel, can have several drafts. Your outline is open to revision at any time.
- A writer can determine more easily, using an outline as a map, which new ideas for scenes or characters will fit into the plot and which ones will derail it.
- The outline allows a writer to concentrate more on the subplots in the first draft because the plot has already been figured out.
