Outliners Why Outline? | * List of ideas | * Hierarchy | * Sub topic | * Key points only | | (Though this outline is an example, it is also a real outline for | part of the article). Writing Brainstorming | Writing and brainstorming use the same basic approach to outlining | in that the basic ideas are listed first, then expanded upon | (or rather, writing uses brainstorming) | | See the section on Outliners below. Revision Note taking | The average writing speed is slower than the average speaking speed | so it makes sense to only make note of the key words and ideas. | In revising, this reduces the amount that must be learned to the | core ideas, while also reinforcing the information in memory: | 1. The original text is read | 2. The key points are chosen | 3. The key points are typed or written | 4. The key points are then later used in study Outlining Software Outliners | Outliners were a type of tool which made outlining easy. Though | it's still possible to get outlining software, most word processors | and some of the more complicated text editors (such as Vim and | Emacs) have outliners available. | | Using an outliner of this type makes writing easy, because the | headings -- the ideas -- for the text can be laid out, and the | text added later. | Other ideas may be added; the outliner's ability to hide everything | but the headings means there is less movement about the body of the | text. Presentation software | Presentation software such as OOo Impress count as outliners in my | book because they serve to outline the main points behind a speech | -- a new slide for a new topic, and the keywords are listed as | bullet points. | This reduces confusion, even if the speaker is bad -- the points | are there to be read, regardless of the speaker's ability to convey | them in speech. | This reinforces the points of the presentation: the points are | first read by the audience, then the speaker elaborates. Vim Outliner Where? | http://bike-nomad.com/vim/vimoutliner.html | | Uses the code folding abilities in Vim 6 | Uses a simple text based format | Comes with conversion utilities OPML | http://www.opml.org/ | | XML based format for outlines | #http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.04/04.01/FormatDriver/index.html | Designed by Dave Winer, who has a long history of working with outliners Thinktank | http://www.outliners.com/thinkTank2Pc