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Are we, outliners fans, just a bunch of outlined mind maniacs?
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Posted by Stephen Zeoli
May 8, 2013 at 08:12 PM
What I’m about to write is blindingly obvious, but for some reason had never bubbled up into my awareness until something in Alexander’s post triggered it, which is this:
The difference between an outline that has been hand-written or typed and an outline created in outlining software is the difference between having a picture of a hammer and having an actual hammer for getting work done. A hand-written outline, like the kind we created in school long ago, is a relic the minute you put pencil to paper. You can’t change it—not without starting over—so it only represents what it was at the moment you finished it, not what might be. (And, yes, you can erase, and cross out, write small for inserting and use arrows to show where a new idea fits, but then you’re losing the one thing a static outline is really good for, and that is clarity.)
An outline created in even the most crude outlining software is dynamic. At least if you want it to be. You can promote and demote until you are content. Need to add sub-topics to an item, no problem. Try doing that with a hand-written outline. Grow it, collapse it. Focus in on one branch (okay, you’re getting beyond the capability of a simple outliner now).
Anyway, it is no wonder we held outlining in contempt before software made it an ongoing process in which we could become genuinely engaged.
Steve Z.
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
May 8, 2013 at 09:29 PM
Yes, it’s the difference between writing with pen and paper or on a typewriter, and using a word processor. Correcting an oil painting, and working in contemporary drawing software. Planning the annual company budget on paper, and using Excel. Composing on a sheet and using a modern music notation program—not to mention the full virtual orchestra you can hook to it.
In theory it’s just an issue of convenience and speed. Yet from a scale onwards, these factors make all the difference in the world: I once read that if a young couple ever tried to make the necessary calculations to create the Mandelbrot set (probably the most famous fractal shape there is, based on a quite simple mathematical function) by hand, it would be several generations before it would be finished.
So a software outliner is not just a faster, more convenient way of doing outlines; it represents the reason you’d want to do them in the first place.
As obvious as it may have been, I also didn’t consider it within the context of this thread. Yet it is indeed very relevant.
Posted by Garland Coulson
Jun 1, 2013 at 01:46 AM
I use both mind mapping and outlining. I use mind mapping to take notes during coaching calls with clients. I find it is the fastest way to take notes and the visual aspect of it lets me quickly go from topic to topic. I also use it for short training sessions.
I use outlining to plan my courses, ebooks and presentations as it is a great way to plan out the linear steps to developing the course modules.
Both have their place in my toolbox. I use Xmind for mind maps and Noteliner for outling.
Posted by Hugh
Jun 1, 2013 at 10:23 AM
As I’ve written here before, I used to work in a business where outlining was essential. I worked in current affairs TV. This required our films (half an hour or more in length) to be timely, and therefore often prepared at short notice - frequently in less than a week. We ourselves put a premium on clarity, believing that the issues surrounding even technically complicated subjects in science, economics, social affairs, crime, politics and international relations can be made understandable for ordinary viewers without being distorted - indeed, they must be made understandable if democracy is to have meaning.
The drive to clarity required numerous script re-drafts. To accommodate the re-drafts in the time available - alongside researching, filming and editing - the only resort for the early drafts (apart from sleepless nights, relay-writing and secretarial assistance) was outlining, with each “node” necessarily very precisely expressed in order to communicate the intended meaning of each stage of the final script.
Sometimes writing briefly takes nearly as long as writing fully. But at least the outline told you quickly whether you had anything to say that was worth saying, and whether you truly understood it.
Posted by Dr Andus
Jun 5, 2013 at 03:48 PM
Garland Coulson wrote:
>I use mind mapping to take notes
>during coaching calls with clients. I find it is the fastest way to take
>notes and the visual aspect of it lets me quickly go from topic to
>topic. I also use it for short training sessions.
Recently I have also switched to taking reading notes in mind map format, either in iThoughtsHD on my iPad or in Freeplane on the PC. It’s easier to see both the notes and the overall logical structure of the reading.
Then the .mm or .opml file can be imported into an outliner for further processing (usually Natara Bonsai).