Placing the Bones

How to structure writing in a way that works for your scholar

In school I never wrote outline. After researching or deciding upon what I was going to write, I let the words rush out. No apparent logic dictated the turns, no hand pushed the themes from one paragraph to the next – from one sentence to the next. All I had in mind was a vague page count that I was reaching for like a river rushing – or meandering – to the sea. I think this came from a romantic idea that writing was spontaneous, that what came raw from the mind to the page was blessed. (I still kind of believe this, but with more experience and time I understand that writers have a bit more control over this process than complete surrender.)

Then, somewhere in the middle, or towards the end of the pages the structure would begin to emerge. Structuring was done in the editing process. For the most part, I still write like this. It’s a pattern I have learned to love, and it works for me. But it requires time and many complete rewrites to find the correct structure for each piece. I believe that if I had had some more formal training in the art of structuring my thoughts before writing them I might have had an easier time and much more success as a student and early in my writing career.

So when I work with students I like to give them a lot of options and time to practice structuring thier pieces.

You know good writing when it feels alive.

I explain that outlines are like bones: the simplest version of our thoughts made into artifacts and assembled to create a being that will have to move. What I mean by ‘move’ is that each part is connected to the rest of the piece, echoing, expanding, or clarifying each portion. You can’t bring a piece to life without an idea of how it’s working as a whole.

Here are some structures I have my students use and practice with. These are not unique. You can find more about them, including amazing resources here for sandwich here for Venn diagram, here for man in a hole, and here for block outline.

Here are some ideas. Play with them!

The Building Blocks: