Here’s a Captain Obvious tip for writers: you can’t improve writing that doesn’t exist.
In order to HAVE some writing which to improve upon, you have to get that first draft done ASAP. Today I’m gonna teach you the simplest method to do so.
What makes me authorized to expend this advice? I’ll tell you. TONS of failure and overthinking and procrastination and self-doubt. That’s what. Need more proof than that? I didn’t think so either.
So today I’m gonna teach you how to get your thoughts on paper and outlined, so that you can get to the the exciting and rewarding part, the writing.
Steven Pressfield is one of my favorite writers. He’s shared a couple of his outlining methods. The first one of his methods, which I used for a while, is the “Foolscap Method” which he describes in-depth in this Youtube video. It’s where you take a yellow legal pad, draw a line in half, and then plot the major acts of your work on the left side. And then the more heady stuff goes on the right. This is a great method, but often even this method feels like too much work to get started.
So then I came across a second method he uses. He calls it the “Clothesline Method.” And that’s pretty much what it looks like.
You draw a straight line horizontally across any piece of paper. This is the line. Then, you hang parts of your writing on it, like you would hang clothes outside to dry.
Below you’ll see an actual outline for one of the episodes I posted recently.
The reason this works so well for me is: it’s visual. I’m a highly visual thinker, and I struggle with abstracts that I can’t picture. With this method I can imagine myself physically hanging the parts of my story on the line. This makes all the difference.
Another reason it works so well: it feels very playful. This takes the pressure off. It’s almost like drawing, something you do for fun. This let’s me move stuff around and cross stuff out. The order can, and does change, as you see from my markings in the pic above.
Below each article that you hang, you can add more points or elaborate on the main point.
This has made all the difference in my writing. Now I can get to work quicker, before the doubts start kicking in.
The Youtube channel Verbal To Visual made a nice little explainer video on the Clothesline Method. Check it out below:
