Writing 101: Outlines vs winging it

For me, outlines always used to be something I only used for work-related writing, whether it was essays in school or articles for newspapers and magazines. Outlines ensured the work at least got done on time—even if the end result wasn’t what I’d hoped for—but I could never imagine using them for fun, creative writing. How could I be creative if I was restricted by an outline?

Creative writing was where I did whatever I wanted, and then I’d impose some sort of order in the editing phase—cut out the fluff, enhance key themes that emerged from the word dump, and add anything that was missing. But that was when I actually had time to spend messing about with my writing, to work out all the garbage in my brain until I got to something coherent. Now that my free time is limited, I’m starting to see the value of outlines for creative writing too.

Advantages of using an outline to write:

·     The process of writing the outline helps organize your thoughts and “get the garbage out” faster than just trying to write out whatever thoughts come to mind

·     Having an idea of the structure in advance helps you to more easily see any flaws or missing pieces so you can correct them earlier on

·     Can help with writer’s block as all you need to do is fill in your outline, so you’ll at least have a finished piece to work with by the end

Disadvantages of using an outline to write:

·       Can cause a “sameness” to your work if you use the same or similar outlines for every piece you do

·       Can lock you into one way of thinking so you might miss another angle you could take

·       May just not work for the piece you are doing and you could end up spinning your wheels

·       Takes away the fun of just writing and letting the story take you wherever it wants to

When to use an outline for your writing

This is highly subjective, but apart from work pieces where I use outlines all the time, any writing I’m doing where I’m absolutely stuck and winging it is getting me nowhere is a good candidate for an outline. It gives me the chance to take a step back from my work and look at it from a big-picture perspective. From there, it’s easier to spot errors or problems with structure that may be holding the piece back.

With search engine optimization (SEO) top of mind in almost all online writing these days, you need an outline just to figure out how best to organize your article or blog around the key topic, sub-topics and key words people are searching for that relate to your subject. An outline will help add a logical structure to your article so it’s not a jumble of terms with the highest search volume. Generally, I try to think about the questions the average person would ask and use that as a rough outline for anything SEO-optimized I write.

When to wing it in writing

It may seem obvious, but any time you just want to have fun or be creative is a good time to ditch the outline. Apart from that, if you have time to burn to get all your thoughts out or if you’re not making any progress using an outline, it’s best to throw it out the window and wing it.

In general, any time using an outline makes the writing process harder or I get a better idea for the piece that takes me in an entirely new direction, and creating a new outline would take up more time, I usually resort to winging it. The more experience you have with writing, the more you’ll naturally add structure to your pieces anyway.

A useful outline for non-fiction writing

One outline that I learned in journalism school but have found useful for almost all other types of writing is the “1, 2, 3, 4” or “HIBO” format, with HIBO standing for Headline, Information, Background and Outlook.

Articles based on this outline are organized like this:

Headline: Includes the headline of the article as well as the lead (the main point or “hook” of your article). Usually comprised of the first one to two paragraphs.

Information: This includes all the key information a reader may ask. In journalism, this usually includes the five W’s (who, what, where, when, why) and sometimes the H (how?). Usually made up of two to four paragraphs.

Background: This section, which I feel shouldn’t be more than one to two paragraphs for a short article, includes any relevant background information on the topic. It answers questions such as, has the situation described in the article ever happened before, what are key statistics related to the topic, etc.? This information can also be sprinkled throughout the article rather than included in one large chunk that could slow the story down.

Outlook: This section should also only be one to three paragraphs at most in shorter articles and deals with what the future looks like for the topic you’re covering. What are the next steps? Where do the key trends seem to be going? It basically answers the question of “What happens next?”

This outline is meant for quickly putting together online news stories, but I’ve found that with a few tweaks it works well for longer pieces too.

Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, it’s OK if you don’t follow an outline exactly. Its whole purpose is just to get your thoughts organized before you begin so the writing process is smoother and faster and you end up with a complete, serviceable piece by the end. If you decide to throw your outline out halfway through writing, or entirely change the article in the editing process, that’s perfectly fine, as long as you end up with a piece that answers the key questions readers are asking and that you’re happy with.