Using outlines

Train tracks en route to Banff from Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
Photo by Gail M. Pfeifer

I tend to avoid outlines when I write (I like to plunge right in and fix it later; see my October 22, 2010 post on that approach), but some people love them. Here are a few tips that I’ve gleaned over the years, mostly from my notes listening to Alan Richman and Robert Santelli (see my post of February 13, 2011), both of whom are writers who taught community education courses I attended at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, NJ, in the 1990s.

Tips: To begin an outline, start with the title or purpose, move to the lead, provide examples that amplify the lead, answer the question “What happens next?” then wrap it up with a conclusion that reconnects with your lead.

As you proceed through each step, remember to begin each subsequent paragraph with a “mini-lead.” And don’t forget to include transitions that help your reader move smoothly from one idea to the next; you may know a topic inside and out, but your reader needs to be lead by the hand to end up understanding the topic the way you do, from experience.

Call it a Train of Thought outline if you will: The snowplow, or lead, hits you first; the locomotive pulls you on track through each idea; the train cars, or mini-leads, support your theme; and the caboose wraps it up!