on outlines

Today I received an interesting series of questions about my outlining method. I tried to answer them as best I could, but then realized it would be good to do a series of blog posts on the process. I’ve already live-blogged the writing of an entire book, so why not do it for an article or lecture?

Sure, I’ll do it. I can’t do it right now, because I have a book deadline, an art article due, and those six lectures coming up before mid-September. All of that is challenging enough that it would be too distracting to walk through the whole process in public.

But maybe my October McLuhan lecture in Brussels would be the right opportunity for that. McLuhan would probably be pleased by that anyway. That process will begin in late September or so, so if I think of it, I will live-blog the entire writing of that keynote lecture, starting with the very first basic outline and ending with the completed text.