Outlining is for me

Reading this chapter made me even more confident in my choice to outline every piece of work that I do. Murray explains that some writers do physically outline and some writers don't, but in every case, the writers that don't always outline, do it in their heads. Murray also brings up different options and ways in which people can outline, some of which I have personally tried out and can say that they have worked.

Outlining in high school was always a struggle for me. I always thought that I would be able to do a better job if I just laid all the topics on the table as they came into my head; of course all the papers I was doing were at the most 2 pages. Now in university, I think that I have finally grasped the idea of an outline. Like said in class, it is pretty hard to come up with a great piece of writing when in a crunch. Life is sometimes crazy, so what I normally do instead of writing the whole paper at one time, I do it in sections. I start by writing an outline the day that the assignment is handed out. Then when ever I have periods of time throughout the week, I build on the outline writing in point form what I want in the introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. Then when the due date comes, all of my ideas will already be on the page and I will just have to join them together. I find that this system is less of a boring outline format and less intimidating as I can continuously write down my ideas.

With all this being said, I do believe that Murray raises a good point in saying that outlining may not work for everyone. Every person learns and works differently and it is about finding a process that works best for the individual. Many people hate being forced to outline and feel restricted in their work. It is very hard to create good work if you are being forced to do it. I think that outlining is a great tool, but there is not one specific way to do it and everyone needs to find a process that works for them.