I hate outlining. There, I feel better having said that, but I hate the writing process without outlining even more than I hate doing them. The recent conversation about pen and paper making for better thinkers ties directly into the process I use for writing articles. The outline is critical for getting a jump on writing an article and I find them better and easier to do on the Tablet PC. Using ink on the slate is a much more natural process for doing a good outline. This article covers how I do them using the pen and slate.
A valid argument can be made that outlining using a pen and paper is just as good as using a pen and Tablet PC. They are similar "technologies" up to a point but it’s when you pass that point that the Tablet shines. I find that using a pen and inking my outlines stimulates the creative process and that I get my ideas down in a more fluid manner than if I use a keyboard. That is key for me to get the oulining process kicked off properly.
I find that once I start an outline that it is important for me to get as much of it down on "paper" as fast as possible. Writing on the slate I can get things down as ideas flow smoothly from my thoughts to the paper. If I do the same thing using a keyboard at the computer I get easily distracted, trying to get things in the proper outline order up front, wanting to correct misspellings, etc. It’s probably because I don’t like doing outlines in the first place that I let myself get sidetracked easily. That doesn’t happen with pen and slate, I just get my thoughts down quickly and fluidly. I find the thought processes kick into overdrive and I sometimes even surprise myself as new ideas jump out onto the slate.
To keep from getting distracted I break the outline process into two stages. The first is the "get it all down on paper" stage I described. I don’t worry about outline order or any niceties, I just get the stuff down on paper. This works on the Tablet PC just like it would on paper I admit. The process is exactly the same. The difference (and big advantage) comes during the second stage, the "outline organization" stage.
I start this phase when I have exhausted all ideas and gotten them down on paper. I sit for a bit and think about the article I am going to write which focuses me and I mentally start organizing the thoughts in the outline. Once I have a good feel for what I want to accomplish I start moving things around on the Tablet PC slate. This is the part I don’t like when using real paper because it involves a lot of scratching out, drawing many arrows to indicate moving ideas, and the thing I really hate which is rewriting things in new outline positions. The Tablet PC rendition of this organization phase is not tedious, it can be fun matter of fact. Whether I am using OneNote (I usually do) or MindManager the process is very similar.
The Tablet PC makes it a simple matter to grab a line of ink on the sheet and highlight it. Then I just drag it to the new place in the outline. It really is that simple and I find it also stimulates the creative process to see ideas move into their proper place in the outline. It often causes me to think of new things or approaches which I scribble right then. It is actually very cool to do and even after years and thousands of outlines it still gives me goose bumps.
I can drag whole sections around on the screen or individual lines, the process is the same. This method has proven to me to be the fastest way possible to finalize an outline. The reason this works so well for me is because the entire process is not only easy but it really keeps me thinking about the final objective. I find that the article I am going to write is already taking place in my little brain while doing this. It is really awesome to experience this process, it’s so hard for me to describe. It works so well that I find I can do a complicated outline very quickly whereas on paper it drags on forever.
Once the outline is complete I either leave the inked outline on the screen while I write the article or do what I usually do and that’s print it to real paper. I can constantly refer to my outline that way just as if it was written on that paper with a pen. It looks just like it was but we all know the truth, don’t we?




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