Reading Response To "Writing for Story" (Week 3)

For me, the most interesting idea was definitely the "Outline" chapter that Marin told us to read thoroughly. I read this chapter first, which made it even more interesting, because then I read from the beginning and really thought about the storyline and the process Franklin may have taken to write his chapters. Outlines begin the writing process--"the outline level is by far the most abstract of the three and yet, in a certain sense, the most straightforward" 101). In this section, the most important thing I noticed was the structure of outlining in general. Writing many papers before, my outlines have consisted of the usual: intro, paragraph 1, 2, 3, conclusion, etc. But after reading this chapter, I see the importance of relating the action with the resolution. With what Franklin was saying, we should be able to pick that "one word" (as we discussed in class) to sum up our writing. Devotion, or guilt, or personal growth--an outline should be clear enough to pick this one word and main focus. I had never thought of an outline like this before, and it will definitely help in future writings and editing.