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Guest Post
Because I need to organize my
chapters visually, I have found the best way to do that is on a whiteboard. The
whiteboard allows me to first put up the broad categories of the chapters, then
start to fill the points I want to make under each.
Although I could do it on a computer, the spaciousness of the whiteboard gives me a better feeling – more open to possibilities. It is easy to erase and move thoughts as they occur. It is also easy to note where certain references should go and to highlight areas where research is needed.
With a whiteboard, I can also stand back and look at the whole chapter and see if the order of the presentation works and if I need to move a section so the chapter flows more easily. Quotations and examples will move about until it looks right. I sometimes number sections to reorder them in the next draft, and sometimes will draw arrows connecting parts that should be combined. Occasionally a whiteboard outline will quite clearly show blank spaces in my train of thought.
After I finish a whiteboard draft, I take pictures with my phone, and am ready to sit down at the computer. That draft gets even more detailed to the point that I can plan daily writing assignments and focus my research.
I then break down the writing tasks into sections that either explain something, give an example or make a point. I make section folders containing notes, articles, references or drafts. And if I get stuck on the order, I go back to the whiteboard for a better perspective.
Overall, the whiteboard has proven more essential to my creativity than any other writing tool.
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