How to Use Skeleton Outlines to Write Faster

如何使用骨架提纲更快地写字

2020-09-26 03:00 Lingua Greca

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A fellow writer mentioned client projects sometimes took longer than they hoped, so they wanted to learn to write faster in order to avoid this. While there are plenty of ways you can increase your writing speed, one tip I gave them was to use "skeleton outlines." I worked through the beginning stages of of a skeleton outline while they watched to show how quick the process could be. Today I'd like to share the resulting example so you, too, can give this technique a try. Let's take a look at what skeleton outlines are, then we'll explore how they can help you get through writing projects faster. What Are Skeleton Outlines? A skeleton outline is a high-level breakdown of your content. In other words, it's the "bare bones" framework you'll use as a guide to later write the "meat" of your work. For instance, think about a nonfiction book's table of contents. The TOC might list the book's sections, chapter titles, and then it might even include major sub-sections or topics covered in each chapter. This works similarly to a skeleton outline for a new writing project in that it breaks down the content into smaller parts. Skeleton outlines can be used for any kind of writing. For example, I use skeleton outlines for press releases, white papers, blog posts, case studies, video scripts, podcast episodes, web copy, and even fiction. With fiction, The Snowflake Method would be another similar approach in that you start small and build outward as you flesh out your writing. How Can Skeleton Outlines Help You Write Faster? Skeleton outlines give you an overview of what you'll write before you draft the content itself. This can make the writing process faster in several ways. For example: You'll know exactly what research you need to conduct, so you don't waste time gathering unnecessary information. You can shuffle ideas around before you fully commit, therefore minimizing rewrites for the sake of maintaining your content's flow. When you have a skeleton outline breaking things down into smaller bits, you don't have to write in a linear fashion. For example, you can hop around between sections or tackle the easiest sections first to give you a motivational boost. Once you have the initial skeleton outline, you can start fleshing out the rest of your content. For me, that involves several passes where I build up each section in layers. While that sounds slow, those passes are quick to get through -- a minute or two for the first, and up to maybe five minutes for the last before I turn that into a full draft. For you, it might mean going from skeleton outline to full draft in one shot, using your outline as a simple road map. Fleshing Out a Skeleton Outline Let's look at an example of a skeleton outline for a blog post, and then see how I might flesh things out in a second pass. In this first example, you'll see the only actual content would be the post title and sub-headings. In this first pass, you're simply deciding what you want the content structure to look like. After that, I put in placeholder text for body copy, intros, transitions, and lists to give me that skeletal structure -- a frame I can flesh out. Here's what a bare-bones skeleton outline might look like: Tip Tip Tip Tip Tip In this next example you'll see a fleshed out version of the same post's outline. You'll notice some notes, or points I'd want to make in the post, were added in the first sub-section. I also listed the five tips I'd want to cover both as a short-form list for the "scanners" reading the blog, and then I transferred those tips to the sub-headings below where each can be covered in more detail. In this case, I went a step further by adding notes under those tip sub-headings (well, I did one of them for the sake of the example, but normally I would do the same for all). You could do that in this step or in another pass-through depending on what's more efficient for you. More billable hours More time off Less of a chance to procrastinate Faster turn-around, therefore happier clients and a competitive advantage Timers / Pomodoros Voice-to-Text Outlining / fleshing out from a skeleton outline Self-imposed deadlines Batching projects / tasks 25 minutes working 5 minute break 25 minutes working 5 minute break 25 minutes working 5 minute break 25 minutes working 15 minute break From the example above, you could move into your first full draft. Or you might choose to add another pass-through if it's a research-heavy (or media-heavy) post. In that case, after you've noted the key points you want to make, you can find supporting data, charts, illustrations, or whatever else you might need before fleshing out the writing itself any further. That's all there is to it. Skeleton outlines are a simple tool, and they should help you write faster by making sure you never feel "stuck" in the first place. What's great about skeleton outlines is they never leave you staring at a blank page wondering what comes next. In other words, you know what topics you're covering. You know what points you want to make before you write, and you know where you want to make them. You know how everything ties together. And, as a result, skeleton outlines can help you drastically improve your writing speed. This post was originally published on November 16, 2016 and has since been updated. Tweet Pin LinkedIn Author Recent Posts How to Use Skeleton Outlines to Write Faster - August 17, 2020 30 Queries in 30 Days – Freelance Writing Challenge - June 23, 2020 30 Blog Posts in 30 Days Blogging Challenge - June 22, 2020
一位同行提到客户项目有时花费的时间比他们希望的要长,所以他们想学着写得更快,以避免这种情况。虽然有很多方法可以提高写作速度,但我给他们的一个建议是使用“骨架提纲”。 我向他们介绍了提纲开始阶段怎么操作,他们也亲眼看到了这一操作的速度之快。今天,我想分享结果示例,这样您也可以尝试一下这种技术。 让我们来看看什么是骨架提纲,然后我们将继续探索它们如何帮助你更快地完成写作项目。 什么是骨架提纲? 骨架大纲是对内容的高层次分解。换句话说,它是“裸骨”框架,您将使用它作为指导,以便以后编写工作的“肉”。 例如,想想一本非小说类书籍的目录。 TOC可能列出书的章节,章节标题,甚至可能包括主要的子章节或每个章节所涵盖的主题。这类似于一个新写作项目的框架大纲,因为它将内容分解成更小的部分。 骨架提纲可以用于任何类型的写作。例如,我在新闻稿,白皮书,博客文章,案例研究,视频脚本,播客插曲,网络副本,甚至小说中使用骨架提纲。 对于小说,雪花法将是另一种类似的方法,你从小处开始,并在充实写作内容时向外构建。 骨架提纲如何帮助你写得更快? 在起草内容之前,框架提纲为您提供了一个关于将要编写的内容的概述。这可以使编写过程在许多方面更快。 例如: 你会清楚地知道你需要进行什么研究,这样你就不会浪费时间去收集不必要的信息。 你可以在完全投入之前把想法打乱,因此为了保持内容的流向,请尽量减少重写。 当你有了将所有内容分解为更小块的骨架轮廓时,就不必用线性方式编写。例如,你可以在不同的部分之间跳来跳去,或者先处理最容易的部分来给自己一个激励。 一旦你有了最初的骨架轮廓,你就可以开始充实你的其余内容。 对我来说,这涉及到几个步骤,每个步骤都是分层的。虽然这听起来很慢,但很快就能通过----第一个需要一到两分钟,最后一次可能需要五分钟,然后再将其转变为完整的草稿。对您来说,这可能意味着您只需将轮廓作为简单的路线图,即可从骨架轮廓过渡到完整草图。 充实骨骼轮廓 让我们看一个博客文章的框架大纲示例,然后看看我如何在第二遍中充实内容。 在第一个示例中,您将看到唯一的实际内容是帖子标题和子标题。在第一遍中,您只是决定您希望内容结构看起来是什么样子。 然后,我将占位符文本放入正文副本、介绍、过渡和列表中,以给我提供一个骨架结构--一个我可以充实的框架。 下面是一个最基本的轮廓: 提示 提示 提示 提示 提示 在下一个示例中,您将看到同一篇文章大纲的充实版本。 你会注意到,在第一小节中添加了一些注释,或者我想在帖子中提出的观点。 我还列出了我想要涵盖的五个技巧,作为阅读博客的“扫描者”的简短列表,然后我把这些技巧转移到下面的小标题中,在那里可以更详细地涵盖每一个技巧。 在本例中,我更进一步,在那些提示子标题下添加了注释(好吧,为了示例,我做了其中一个注释,但通常我会对所有人都做同样的事情)。您可以在这一步中或在另一个传递中这样做,这取决于哪一个对您更有效。 更多计费时间 更多休息时间 拖延的机会少了 更快的周转时间,更和睦的客户关系和竞争优势 定时器/番茄 语音转文本 勾勒/充实骨架轮廓 自行规定的截止时间 批处理项目/任务 25分钟工作 休息5分钟 25分钟工作 休息5分钟 25分钟工作 休息5分钟 25分钟工作 休息15分钟 从上面的例子中,您可以进入您的第一个完整草稿。或者,如果这是一篇研究性(或媒体性)很强的文章,你也可以选择添加另一篇文章。 在这种情况下,在你记下了你想要写的要点之后,你可以找到支持的数据,图表,插图,或者其他任何你可能需要的东西,然后再进一步充实你的写作本身。 这就是它的全部。 骨架提纲是一个简单的工具,它可以帮助你写得更快,确保你从不会觉得“卡住”在第一部分。 骨架提纲的伟大之处在于,它们从不让你盯着空白的一页,不知道接下来会发生什么。换句话说,你知道你所涵盖的主题。在你写作之前你知道你想要表达什么观点,你知道你想要在哪里表达它们。你知道一切都是怎么联系在一起的。因此,骨架提纲可以帮助你大幅提高写作速度。 本帖最初发布于2016年11月16日,此后不断更新。 推文 引脚 领英 作者 最近的帖子 如何使用骨架提纲更快地写作--2020年8月17日 30天30问-自由撰稿挑战-2020年6月23日 30天30篇博客挑战-2020年6月22日

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