I thought this was an interesting piece in today's New York Times that discusses the writing process and outlining AFTER you have written the story. Granted, Hamburger is a professional writer who admits to beginning his writing career as a pre-writing 'outliner', but it can be useful in class to have students first write their essay, then go back and outline it, and then of course after finding all the missteps and gaps, go back and rewrite the essay filling in the missing pieces of the reverse outline they created.
Outlining in Reverse
I would also recommend John McPhee's recent piece in The New Yorker entitled 'Structure'. Unfortunately, it's part of the locked subscriber on-line content, but if you have access and enjoy non-fiction then it is the master (in my opinion) discussing his craft.
Note: Blair users can access the document at this link: "MCPhee" Google Drive Share
I've done similar things with partners, where one outlines another's paper. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI've added a .pdf of McPhee's "Structure" above... thanks, Proquest!
ReplyDeleteAs a student, I often outlined my work after writing a draft. Because writing has often been a tool for me to develop my own thoughts--not just a platform for presenting a polished argument--I often use journal-writing and brainstorming in class before discussions. For formal essays, I also encourage students to outline their work afterwards to test the structure of their argument. Thanks Eck and Jason for sharing this piece.
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