Quick Web Writing Tip: Make an Easy Outline to Speed Productivity

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Need a simple way to speed up your writing that you can use each and every time? I did too. That's why I invented my own outline or template, modeled after the style I use most frequently. If you write for several venues, you may need a different basic outline for each.

Design your outline. Think about what you will need within all or most of your submissions and design an inclusive outline. Because I most often write informative how-to-type articles for Yahoo! Contributor Network and my own venues, I only needed to design one outline. I use it every time, unless I have a special assignment that requires a different style. For YCN, my outline needed a title, byline, introduction, 5 steps, and a section at the end linking to three related pieces. Because I only write for myself when I'm not writing for YCN, I can use that same format for everything, unless I am doing a quick tip or that outline style won't work for the piece.

Each time you have an article idea, fill in what you can before writing. This has been even more of a life saver than my outline itself. I fill in the title and each point before I start writing. I generally will go through and do this with all my planned articles for each day before beginning to write. Sometimes an article will start flowing while I'm in the middle of this process because once the main points are filled in, it's very simple to complete the process. So I'll stop and finish that article. Once you try it, I can almost guarantee that you will never write an article the 'regular' way again.

Below is a sample outline, followed by that same sample filled in with info needed to begin an article.

Sample outline:

Title
by Lyn Lomasi

intro

Tip sentence. text

Tip sentence. text

Tip sentence. text

Tip sentence. text

Tip sentence. text

More from Lyn:

link

link

link

(As you can see in the above outline, each area that needs bold or italic text is pre-formatted that way to keep it easy.)

Sample outline 2:

Guide to writing for the web
by Lyn Lomasi

intro

Gear your text toward people and search. text

Gain an audience with niche specialties. text

Keep your audience by being truthful. text

Use personal experience to gain trust. text

Publish often and be consistent. text

More from Lyn:

link

link

link

(As you can see in this second outline sample, it will be very easy for me to write and fill in the rest of the details because I have my main points. They just need to be explained.)

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