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TOPIC 2 |
| Name: |
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William |
| Date Posted: |
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Jun 13, 06 - 1:56 PM |
| Email: |
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butlerwm@hotmail.com |
| Message: |
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TOPIC 2 Outlines: Keeping your ideas in order
Over the years, the topic of outlines has come up for a number of reasons. Most often the question asked is, "Should I use an outline?" The answer of course depends upon your needs.
Most writers who use outlines, do so in order to keep their writing on track. This becomes more important with long fiction than with short stories and essays. The why of this is simple: long fiction normally takes a greater amount of time and contains more detailed information than short subjects. Even still, there are novel writers who have never used outlines.
One alternative to the outline is the use of a synopsis. Nearly any book-length submission to a publishing house will require a synopsis. It tends to be requisite. The reason is simple. A publisher needs to know what's in the longer work; otherwise they have no way of knowing they should bother reading the manuscript.
Okay, back to the purpose of this article. I use outlines extensively as a way to track the direction and flow of my stories. That applies to both short and long fiction. That doesn't mean that I wont deviate from the outline. Only that I use the outline so I'll know where I'm going.
EXERCISE
From a previously created writing, create a short outline that covers four points of the story or essay. Keep in mind, this is just a partial outline of a small portion of the entire work. We're doing this in the reverse order, just so you can see how the outline relates to the written work. Once you've completed the exercise, post both the outline and the writing it came from, on the forum and we'll review your work.
Keep in mind, there is no right or wrong way to do this. So don't worry about that aspect.
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