FREEDOM!!

Have you ever had the earth-shattering sense that something you thought was good and true was really false? This is how I feel about my eyes being opened in the area of outlines, although maybe not so dramatically.

The more I read of Murray's book, Write to Learn, the more I realize that I have been writing ineffectively and lifelessly for as long as I can remember. Why is it that my teachers insisted on teaching the most difficult way to possibly write? My teachers were not horrible people; in fact, I learned a lot of great things from them. For instance, I gained a love of writing from my Grade 12 English teacher when he made us write tons of short stories and poems. He also taught me a lot aboout developing my voice in writing. But for so long, structured and formulaic approaches to writing were drilled in my head. I believed that outlines were crucial, and they had to be painstakingly laid out and annoyingly specific. The standard five paragraph essay, perfectly structured, was the only way I was taught to write.

I always felt so guilty when I would make an "informal" outline - a bare sketch of my ideas with no development whatsoever. I was breaking the cardinal rule of outlines (or so I thought). But as Murray defines, "An outline is not a formal blueprint that has to be followed precisely... An outline is a sketch, a guess, a scribbled map that may lead to a treasure" (2005, pg. 81). What a revolutionary idea! I can gain freedom from the traditional outline. I can have a guilt-free writer's conscience. I can outline how I want and if I want. The outline could even be a stab at the dark at what I might write about. Phewf!

I maybe am overdramatizing my point, but I really was relieved to discover that great writers don't have to stick to the dull and boring outline. I really appreciated Murray's admonition to "[d]evelop your own system of outlining. Outline only if it helps you, and then outline in a way that provides that help" (2005, pg. 81).