Making an outline in the traditional way, either as a
topic outline or sentence outline, is not as effective for
strategic planning as making a writing skeleton™.
The writing skeleton™ is a special
informal sentence outline constructed by making a simple addition
to a working thesis statement.
7 advantages of writing skeleton™
Making a writing skeleton™ has seven distinct advantages
over making an outline in traditional format. The advantages are
most obvious when novice and struggling writers attempt to gather
their thoughts for a writing assignment.
1. The writing skeleton™ links the thesis and the topic
sentences so the writer cannot easily lose track of the essay’s
point.
2. The writing skeleton™ can be prepared before a writer
does any research, thereby giving the writer key terms
to research. Moreover, students making a writing skeleton™
will not find as many sources that lend themselves to wholesale
copy and paste; they are forced to look for specific information.
3. The writing skeleton™ makes spotting overlapping ideas
easier than a sentence outline does. When overlap is eliminated
at the planning stage, writers save time in research, writing,
and revising later.
4. The writing skeleton™ is entirely mechanical; writers
don't need to invent a new format for each new essay or writing
assignment.
5. The writing skeleton™ adapts to any content organized
in a thesis-and-support pattern, the pattern we associate
with a persuasive essay.
6. The writing skeleton™ can be merged with the outline
template to eliminate the need to create a unique outline
for each new essay.
7. The writing skeleton™ is ideally suited to collaborative
writing because it assures that each writer is working to
develop the same thesis as the other writers.
Click
to read the first of several pages about making an outline in
writing skeleton™ format.
