Ways To Gather Ideas For Writing: Outlines

Previously in Ways To Gather Ideas For Writing, we discussed Keeping an Idea Book and Writing In A Journal , Free Writing, Brainstorming, Mapping,
Using Incubation, Shaping Ideas and Grouping Ideas and Informal Outline

Knowing How To Outline

Many writers find outlining a useful planning strategy. If you are working from an outline and make changes in organization as you write, be sure to revise your outline at the end. An outline helps pull together the results of gathering and ordering ideas and preparing a statement. It also provides a visual guide and checklist. Some writers always use outlines, others prefer not to.

Writers who do like outlines use them at various points in the writing process. For example:

Before drafting
To arrange material
While revising
To check the logic of an early draft’s organization.

Outlines can clearly reveal flaws such as: missing information, undesirable repetitions, digressions from theme.

There are two distinct types of outlines: Informal and Formal.

Last time we discussed Informal Outlines, this time we will be discussing

Formal Outlines

A formal outline follows conventions concerning content and format. The conventions are designed to display material so that relationships among ideas are clear and so that the content is orderly. A formal outline can be a topic outline or a sentence outline. Each item in a topic outline is a word or phrase; each item in a sentence outline is a complete sentence.

Formal outlines never mix the two.

Many writers who use formal outlines find that a sentence outline brings them closer to drafting than a topic outline does. For example, a topic outline carries less information with the item “Gathering Information” than does sentence outline with the corresponding item “Gathering information is the first step to being well-prepared.”

I have included a summary of the conventions of formal outlining for you to observe:

Conventions Of Formal Outlines

Formal Outline Pattern

1. First main idea

A. First subdivision of the main idea

1. First reason or example

2. Second reason or example

a. First supporting detail

b. Second supporting detail

B. Second subdivision of the main idea

2. Second main idea

Formal Outline Guidelines

Numbers, letters, and indentations signal groupings and levels of importance
Each level has more than one entry
All subdivisions are at the same level of generality
Headings do not overlap
Entries are grammatically parallel
6. Only the first word of each entry is capitalized. (All proper nouns are also capitalized, of course)
Periods and each sentence in a sentence outline but not the items in a topic outline
The introductory and concluding paragraphs are omitted, but the thesis statement is usually given above the outline itself

Next time we will be discussing: Drafting and Revising

You can connect with me via social media sites at – Facebook – Twitter – LinkedIn – Hellotxt – Dipity.com and Stumble Upon. If you are not signed up…they are free…you will meet a lot of other marketers to communicate with and possibly JV with. Social Networking is on fire right now, so be sure to use it. Note: with Hellotxt.com and Dipity.com you can update all your social sites!

Be sure to leave a comment as doing so will link back to you!

Quick Penmanship