I thoroughly agree with Boice on may of his points. Most of all when he describes his writers' aversions to outlining. There're many reasons why I've been averse to putting much down in a pre-writing draft, mostly because I felt stifled and constrained when I had a definite plan of what was going to be said and how. I really came around on this idea when on page 71, Boice talks about the fluidity and flexibility of the outline. Instead of this being THE PLAN, Boice places it in the context of pre-writing. This made much more sense to me and I can really see how this would inspire a greater sense of imagination, planning, rewriting, and thoughtfulness in the overall writing process.
Boice's example of his outline seemed like an outline that had been worked on a few times. However, his illustration still shows how outlining can encourage elaboration, thus making the process of 'writing' more enjoyable, productive, and stimulating.
One thing I learned during our BDS yesterday (or was it the day before) was that I often have much more to say about something than I think I do. With a regular practice of connecting, organizing, cataloging, and rearranging, I think I would have even more to say about how my ideas work into others' ideas. The other day, I set out to get a general outline of a book review I'm working on. And while I thought I was too early in the process to really have much to say about the review, I ended up filling an entire page with a (very loosely structured) outline. Boice's advice seems to all be working for me, and it makes me wonder if he's a genius, or if he's just really really really good at naming the unnamable. More on that in a later post.
***Author's Note***
During this blog-writing session I found that I was carrying a lot of tension in my face/jaw/mouth. I made a conscious effort to be mindful of my tongue position in my mouth. And while I found myself thinking about it a lot, repositioning my tongue actually allowed me to stay more connected to my writing. Yay for Mindfulness!
Maxwell, Boice is not a genius! Are you forgetting our talks about Gladwell?! Just kidding, but read my latest blog post. I think you'll get a kick out of it.
ReplyDeleteI can completely relate to the realization you had during BDS. I too have learned that I have much more to say about something than I think I do. I've practiced the habit of a standard outline for so long that I rarely include more than a sentence for each step I'm planning, which is a really terrific way to shut down imagination (and also a marvelous way to leave out things that could add substance to your paper).
Writing does become more enjoyable with a good outline by your side. The chances of sitting there, wasting time without anything to say are much less likely when you aren't forcing your brain to do more than it should be doing.