The Power of Outlining As a Revision Tool

Lesson #11

The door’s open, and the coffee’s hot! Come on in, pull up a chair, and let’s chat.

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Word of the Week

abecedarian

(noun): a person who is just learning something (a beginner or novice)

(adjective): arranged alphabetically

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Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Hello fellow writers, readers, and teachers! As you may have noticed, I did not publish a lesson last week. In case you missed it on Instagram, I shared that I’m going to start posting newsletter lessons bi-weekly, rather than weekly. I love writing these newsletters, but I love writing my novel too, so I need to make space for both. So, without further ado, here’s what I learned from devoting 10+ hours last weekend entirely to my novel!

The need for a forcing function

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll mention it again: I thrive on a deadline. Recently, a respected literary journal called CRAFT held an annual first chapters contest (I love them: they’ve given me really thoughtful feedback on my writing in the past). I decided to use this as a forcing function and get my first five thousand words in order (a fellow colleague and friend did the same, which was the final inspiration I needed). Fortunately, I had a rare weekend with no plans, so I decided to hunker down and put together a submission.

I am so glad that I did. I discovered a lot: not just about the novel itself, but my writing process. But in the spirit of brevity, here is the most powerful lesson I learned that you might want to try applying to your own writing process.

The power of outlining after

Outlining can be a powerful pre-writing tool, but I discovered how powerful it can be as a revision and rediscovery tool. My novel’s structure is complicated. I’ve made the decision (or, dare I say, my characters have made it for me?) to write from the omniscient point of view with several main characters. I also interweave what I call education “artifacts” or “found forms,” within the novel. And, because I’m heavily influenced by flash fiction, chapters consist of several interconnected flash-length scenes.

Huh. As I write this all out, I realize how much simpler writing from a first person point of view would have made this entire process, but simple never seems to be my style, so here we are.

At any rate, as I was rereading the beginning sections of my novel, I realized that I needed to keep track of what was going on to ensure the plot points were unfolding in the way I wanted them to. This led me to creating this a detailed outline as I read and reread and revised and rewrote the beginning chapters of my novel. Take a look.

A glimpse into the depths of my outlining neurosis.

The need for an outline legend became apparent, so I added one for tracking the artifacts, section titles, and foreshadowing (because I have a helluva lot of plot points: we will see which ones get relegated to book two because I’m 99% sure I’m writing a series). As I created this outline, I was simultaneously rearranging sections to see how it changed the feel and flow. And (bonus!) I discovered new scenes I wanted/needed to write, so I even did some generative writing while revising (the writing process really is a cyclical process, not a linear one).

Why was this all so eye-opening for me? It was a wonderful reminder that we can’t truly teach writing with fidelity until we are in the trenches with our students. That’s why this past weekend continues to resonate with me. I learned something new about the craft of writing through the raw experience of writing.

On being a novice

As I continue to venture into the world of novel writing, I’m oddly comforted by the self-imposed label of abecedarian. Novel writing is a nascent adventure for me, so mistakes are expected and encouraged. It takes the pressure off, and it opens the door to new discoveries about myself. It feels good to stave off stagnation. I encourage you to do the same, in any venture that calls to you!

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Writing Activity

Getting back to basics: our ABCs! I first heard the word abecedarian as a type of poem when I was participating in NaPoWriMo with my creative writing classes. One of the poems we wrote together is an Abecedarian poem. Here’s how to write one:

1. Start your poem with any word you want. It can start with an A, but it doesn’t have to.

2. Here’s where the challenge comes in. Every line after the first has to begin with a consecutive letter in the alphabet. If you start with B, the next line has to be a C, and so on.

3. You can make the poem as long as you like! If you want a challenge, try writing a poem with all 26 letters in the alphabet. Below is one I wrote eons ago (okay, eight years ago, but it feels like eons!). Enjoy, and happy writing!

Exhaustion
By Mrs. Keskes 😉

All-consuming, it

Burdens you,

Causing

Doubt,

Even

Fear, for who can withstand the

Guilt that comes with a job left

Half-finished?

I know I can't. While

Juggling life, Exhaustion is a

Kill-joy.

Let

Me just take a little

Nap

Or else risk Exhaustion

Pummels me too

Quickly.

Ready?

Set?

Time to

Unleash my

Volition, my greatest

Weapon. Let's

Xerox that energy

Youth seem to carry with

Zest.

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Love this Line

"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

~Toni Morrison

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Literary Trivia

Did you know…

Stephen King writes at least 2,000 words a day. The number of hours and words a writer completes in a day ranges widely, but what most seem to have in common is the setting of a goal and of making writing time an essential part of their daily routine.

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Exit Ticket

As always, please complete your exit ticket before you leave the lounge!

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Someone is sleepy from all this writing!