How to use skeleton outlines to write faster Writing

Another writer mentioned that client projects sometimes took longer than hoped, so they wanted to learn to write faster to avoid this. While there are many ways you can increase your writing speed, one tip I gave you was to use “skeletal outlines”.

I worked through the initial stages of a skeletal outline while watching how quick the process can be. Today I want to share the resulting example so that you too can try this technique.

Let’s take a look at what skeletal outlines are, and then examine how they can help you write projects faster.

What are skeletal outlines?

A skeleton outline is a general breakdown of your content. In other words, it is the “bare bones” framework that you use as a guide to later write the “meat” of your work.

For example, think of the table of contents of a non-fiction book.

The table of contents may list the sections and chapter headings in the book, and then may even contain important subsections or topics that are covered in each chapter. This works similarly to a skeleton outline for a new writing project, as the content is broken down into smaller pieces.

Skeleton outlines can be used for any type of font. For example, I use skeletal outlines for press releases, white papers, blog posts, case studies, video scripts, podcast episodes, web copies, and even fiction.

With fiction The snowflake method Another similar approach would be to start small and build outward as you work out your writing.

How Can Skeleton Outlines Help You Write Faster?

Skeleton outlines give you an idea of ​​what you are going to write before designing the content yourself. This can speed up the writing process in several ways.

For example:

• They know exactly what research to do so you don’t waste time collecting unnecessary information.
• You can mix up ideas before you fully commit, minimizing rewriting to keep your content flowing.
• If you have a skeletal outline that breaks things down into smaller pieces, you don’t have to write linearly. For example, you can switch between sections or tackle the simplest sections first for a motivation boost.

Once you have the initial skeletal outline, it’s time to work out the rest of your content.

For me, this involves several passes in which I build up each section in layers. While this sounds slow, these passes come through quickly – a minute or two for the first and up to five minutes for the last before I turn it into a full draft. For you, this may mean going from the skeleton outline to the full draft in one shot and using your outline as a simple street map.

Work out a skeleton contour

Let’s look at an example skeletal outline for a blog post, and then see how I can work things out in a second pass.

In this first example you can see that the only actual content is the title of the post and the sub-headings. In this first pass, you simply decide what the content structure should look like.

After that, I added placeholder text for copies of text, intros, transitions, and lists to give me this skeletal structure – a framework that I can work out.

This is what a skeleton contour with bare bones could look like:

In this next example, you can see a detailed version of the outline of the same post.

You will notice that there were some notes or points added in the first subsection that I want to address in this post.

I’ve also listed the five tips that I’d like to cover as a shorthand list for the “scanners” reading the blog, and then translate those tips into the following sub-headings where each can be covered in more detail.

In this case, I’ve gone a step further by adding notes under these sub-headings (well, I made one of these for the example, but normally I would do the same for everyone). You can do this in this step or in another pass, whichever is more efficient for you.

You can move on to your first full draft from the example above. Or, you can add another pass-through if it’s a research (or media) intensive post.

In this case, after you have noted the main points you want to address, find supporting data, charts, figures, or whatever else you need before further elaborating the scripture yourself.

That’s all there is to it.

Skeleton outlines are a simple tool that will help you write faster by making sure you don’t feel “stuck” at all.

The great thing about Skeleton Outlines is that you never stare at a blank page wondering what’s next. In other words, you know what topics you are covering. You know what points to make before you write and you know where to do them. You know how it all goes together. As a result, skeletal outlines can help you improve your typing speed dramatically.

This post was originally published on November 16, 2016 and has been updated since then.

Jennifer Mattern is a professional blogger, freelance business journalistand indie writer. She runs numerous websites and blogs, including All Freelance Writing, NakedPR.com, and KissMyBiz.com.

Jenn has 19 years of writing experience for others, around 14 years of blogging experience, and over 11 years of indie e-book publishing experience. She is also an active member of the Horror Writers Association.

Subscribe to the All Freelance Writing Newsletter to receive personal updates from Jenn in your inbox.

Latest posts by Jennifer Mattern (See everything)