Lecture 10 | How to prepare an outline-03

5. Highlight Your Main Points. Now that you have determined main points of your essay and put them in order, this is time to add some relevant content to support each of your idea. The objective of this step is to extend your original idea (Your Thesis Statement). This will be greatly helpful for your readers in better understanding of your argument. Here you have got a better chance to add some more details such as examples, quotes, facts, theories and personal anecdotes etc. Theses all things will support the main idea. This step may seem boring and tiring but, bear in mind, your drafting depends on it. Therefore, it is essential to do. 

Your goal in this step is to expand upon your original ideas so that your reader has a better understanding of each point. You can add more detail to each concept by including examples, quotes, facts, theories or personal anecdotes. While this step may seem tedious, it will make your drafting process much easier. You’ll save time in the long run because your paper will be more logical and focused and your ideas will be fully developed.

In the previously done exercise, we put our ideas into order, add some more information after doing some brain storming and finally my outline looked like as follows:  

Outline: Fall of Pakistani TV Serials

I.   Intro

A.      Common Trends in Pakistani Serials

a.      Far from Reality

b.      Repetitive Themes

c.       Unnecessarily Lengthy

d.      Focus on Glamourisation instead of Art

e.      Adopting Indian trends

f.        Director should focus on presentation of reality in an artistic way.

II.    Body

A.      Themes

a.      Common themes

                                                 i. Romance, Divorce, Halala, Betrayal, domestic conspiracies etc.

                                             ii. Sister-in-law likes her brother-in-law, Rich boy and poor girl or vice verca

                                                 iii. Lack of portrayal of social issues

                                                 iv. Frustrating titles of TV serials

B.      Story/Script

a.      Script does not seem to be pre-determined

b.      Unnecessary length

c.      Watage of time in Title song (OST), Music, facial expressions etc.

d.      Give an example of drama ‘Khaani’

e.      Urdu saying “Kawwa chala Hans ki chaal”

C.      Glamourisation

a.      Make up, unbraided hair, wig, expensive clothes, jewelry

b.      Drama looks like a drama instead of representation of reality

c.      Impact of such things on poor people

                                                 i. Frustration, hopelessness etc.

d.      They are far from reality

D.     Indian impact on Pakistani Dramas

a.      Trends are taken from Indian media.

b.      Consequently, we have lost our individuality.

E.      Personal Nostalgia/Why do I feel those issues?

a.      Author still remembers of TV serials aired in 90s.

b.      PTV dramas were reality-based

c.       Presented an issue and finally ended it with proper conclusion.

F.       Today dramas have become market-driven.

G.     Comments of an expert

                                    a. Comments of Mr. Agha Rafique (A renowned playwright of Pakistan)

III.                Conclusion

H.     Importance of marketing-advertising for TV channels

a.      It’s true that it is utmost important

b.      Reality-based can get equal advertising

c.     Advertising can be got through presenting a reality-based drama as well.

                                               i. Examples Cheekh, Kaneez, Udaari etc. 

6. Review and Adjust. 

Still, it may not be the final outline. Many budding writers think at step five their outline is done. But this is not always so. Writing is not an act but a process instead. All writers continue reviewing their work even their outlines in order to find the best way to express themselves. There is always room for improvement. You can still make some shuffling in the above outline, make some amendments as well. An outline is just like a roadmap which guides and directs you throughout writing process. Once you revise and review your outline, the prewriting stage of your writing is over and now it's time to start second stage: drafting or writing. 

You just have to make sure that you have included all the points in your outline and you are in better position to make a connection of all selected points with main point (Thesis Statement). Outline may seem, and indeed it is, a lengthy and tiring process but it makes your writing easier and wonderful enough to accomplish in a day. With completion of outline, all the hard work is done and you are ready to put your words into sentences and develop a well-developed, well-thought and informed essay.

All the best 

Lecture 09 | How to prepare an Outline-02

3. List Main Ideas. In this step, you decide how will you support the thesis statement. Putting it simply, you support your main argument by dividing it into various sub arguments which eventually support your main argument. 

In this part of writing process a little brain storming is needed. The primary objective of this part is to raise some important ideas/questions which you plan to address in your essay. We may write those ideas in points or in the form of questions.  For instance, you may make the list in the form of arguments, points or questions whichever suits you the best. 

Regardless of your topic, this exercise provides you an opportunity to get all of ideas out of your mind and on the paper. The best and easiest way to do this exercise is developing few (12 to 15) questions about your topic and jot them down on a piece of paper. Look at those questions carefully and think about them seriously. If a question is repeated, remove it. 

here, I am presenting a list of main ideas which I developed while I intended to write a blog on "The Fall of Pakistani TV Serials".

            a. The standard of Pakistani TV serials has fallen drastically.

            b. They have highly been influenced by Indian TV serials.

            c. Glamourisation is strongly focused.

            d.  Most of the serials are not reality-based. 

            e. Most of TV serials really look like drama and fail to represent our society.

            f. Increased concentration of directors is found on glamourisation instead of raising                    any social issue. 

            g. Their main focus seems to be domestic conspiracies.

            h. Script is often poor and lengthy

            i. Few themes are repeated in almost every drama serial.

            j. Titles of serials are very frustrating.

            k. Why do I feel like this? Why other people don't think about them this way?

            l. Marketing has become main focus of Tv serials instead of art. 

            m. They have lost their identity of which they were known/popular for.

            n. Those far-from-reality scripts are having a greater negative impact on poor                              segments of society. 

            o. Which themes are commonly portrayed in Pakistani TV serials?

            p. Actresses are always wearing high-class costumes, jewelery with full make-up.

OR

You may also write those point in the form of questions as well For most of the students feel comfortable with questions. 

4. Organise Main Ideas. In third step, you keep your points in illogical order or in a sequence. In this way all the points are connected to your main point/thesis statement. As once I received an outline from one of my students. She had placed effects before causes in the outline. This is what  we plan to avoid in our writing piece. That's why we always prefer preparing an outline before we start writing. 

In this step, you arrange all your points or questions in sequence which may make sense of story line. Now that you listed all your main ideas in form of points or questions, it is time to arrange them in a proper and logical order. This exercise will make it easier for you to follow your storyline while writing your essay and guiding your readers while they read it. 

The main purpose of this exercise is to rearrange ideas which you wrote down in step 3. Putting it simply, your questions or points which you wrote at third step will be categorised and placed under category concerned. Once, this step is done, you are all set to develop the structure of your essay. 

For instance, I would like to extend the same example I have already given above. When we organise our idea, they will look like as follows: 

a. The standard of Pakistani TV serials has fallen drastically.

            c. Glamourisation is strongly focused.

            d.  Most of the serials are not reality-based. 

            e. Most of TV serials really look like drama and fail to represent our society.

f. Increased concentration of directors is found on glamourisation instead of raising any social issue. 

            g. Their main focus seems to be domestic conspiracies.

            h. Script is often poor and lengthy

            i. Few themes are repeated in almost every drama serial.

            j. Titles of serials are very frustrating.

            p. Actresses: high-class costumes, jewelery with full make-up.

o. Which themes are commonly portrayed in Pakistani TV serials?

b. They have highly been influenced by Indian TV serials.

            m. They have lost their identity of which they were known/popular for.

k. Why do I feel like this? Why other people don't think about them this way?

            l. Marketing has become main focus of Tv serials instead of art. 

n. Those scripts are having a greater negative impact on poor segments of society. 

 Now, it looks a little bit organised, it still needs to be worked upon.

Wait for my next blogpost. 

Lecture 08 | How to Prepare an Outline-01

So now we have chosen and narrowed down our topic. Another question arises what to do now? It's time to create an outline. Many young writer avoid outline because they think everything is clear in their minds. Believe me, this is not so. There is a great deal of difference between having a thought in your mind and having it jotted down on a piece of paper. Creating outline is as essential as memorising a speech in a debate competition. 

I know that the writing process is stressful especially when you have to submit it in the shape of an assignment to your teacher or instructor. You are required to write up to the expectations of university teacher. There are many dilemmas which are often faced by students in this regard. First dilemma is finding answer to the question: where to start? Don't worry, we will discuss it in the section of writing. 

I have repeatedly noticed many students of mine avoid preparing outline because it seems very difficult for them. And believe me it is not that difficult but requires some practice. As I always state, writing is less about writing and more about thinking. At the stage of prewriting you need to think more about your topic and do different exercises and experiences with writing.  

An outline is simply a framework where an author organises his main and supporting ideas in a presentable way. It greatly helps in putting ideas in their proper place avoiding any type of confusion and repetition. It is also greatly helpful for writers to guide their readers and helps in clearly translating your thoughts into words. Without outline, there is a greater probability that you will confuse your ideas with each other which will finally result in utter desperation and frustration.   

So here I am presenting few tips for developing an outline:

1. Choose Your Topic wisely. During your undergraduate studies, a greater number of people will keep telling and advising you about what  you should choose. Likewise, while writing on anything, many of your friends and class fellow will advise you the topics to be written upon. Don't listen to any one's advice in this regard. For you are the master of your own destiny. Always choose the topic where your own greater interest lies instead of acting upon someone's advice. 
For instance, I intend to write on "Pakistani Media". This is a good subject indeed. After doing some brain storming on my topic, I narrowed down it as "The Fall of Pakistani TV Dramas".

2. Establish Your Purpose. This refers to "Thesis Statement" or the purpose of your writing. Why do you want to write? WEhat point do you want to prove?. This is one of the most important aspect where you are supposed to ask yourself a few question such as :Why are you going to write on this specific topic? What are you going to include in your writing piece which has not been focused so far? What will be the focus of your writing piece? What do you intend to present for your readers? What do you want to convey about your topic?. These are tricky questions and definitely demand some time. 

A considerable number of new writers often struggle hard in defining focus of their writing. It is very difficult task to come up with a focused topic from a list of possibilities. However, equally important and even larger is to understand the purpose or focus of your writing. 

So, in order to find answer to this question, one should ask himself "What is your topic or thesis statement?" In other words what do you want to focus in your writing. For example, after watching few Pakistani TV serials I developed a thesis statement that "Contemporary Pakistani dramas have lost their charm due to marketing" or "Market-driven production has caused a fall in standard of Pakistani TV serials". So, I have to prepare an outline whose sub-points or sub-arguments directly support my thesis statement (main argument).

If you do not have a goal or objective in the mind at the stage of prewriting, you will keep wandering in a strange city without a map. Having a goal or objective in mind will be greatly helpful in determining your course of writing, selecting appropriate content of your essay and setting guidelines and limitations. 

It is not over yet. Stay connected to finish outline on abovementioned topic. 

Lecture 07 | What is an Outline?

1. What is an outline

Many people think of outline as a rough idea of your draft. However, I strongly disagree with them. It is not a rough idea. Outline is a planned, organised and focused structure of your writing.  Almost all the authors find it easier to prepare and follow the outline before they start on a blank page. Outline organises your thoughts, ideas and divides them into sub-ideas. It is one of the most important tools to organise your ideas in logical order which, combined all together, support your thesis statement. Summarily, outline makes your story line clearer and elaborate.   

2. Why to make an outline

Many students often ask when our ideas are clear in our mind why to make an outline. Well, this is an assumption. When you sit to write, you will come to realise that ideas are not as clear as you had thought them to be. many things become confused with each other and, finally, you end up with wastage of time and energy. In order to avoid this sort of frustration at the end, better one should spare some time in preparing a planned outlined. 

Outline helps in determining what arguments and sub-arguments to cover and in which order. It makes your writing piece easier for readers to read and follow. It enables you to guide your readers throughout your piece. It avoids confusions in your thoughts and ideas.  For instance, many of the writing pieces I receive from my students in the course of "Creative Writing" fail to guide the reader. Repetition of argument, illogical order of ideas are the common issues with such writing pieces. That's why I usually and mainly focus on students' outlines. 

3. When to prepare an outline

Outline is normally prepared during prewriting. It means you have to make it before you start writing. For, as it is already stated, that an outline puts all the ideas and sub-ideas in their proper place with a logical order. Therefore, a well planned outlined helps a great deal in determining the story line the author is going to follow while writing.

It's not over yet. We still need to discuss about outline. Stay connected.