The Simple, 5-Step Outlining Strategy That Won Two Pulitzer Prizes

It’s still one of the greatest sources of contention among writers: to outline, or not to outline? Yes, that is the question. Some people hate it, some people love it, and others — the more enlightened, perhaps — accept it as a necessary step to story success.

Yeah — sorry. It’s bad news for the outline-haters out there, but if you make it through this article, you might also come to appreciate how learning to outline (the right way) can make your writing a thousand times better (and easier!).

In this article, I’m going to take you through Jon Franklin’s foolproof outline method. If you’ve never heard the name, that needs to change. Jon Franklin is a journalist of the creative, long-form kind, and he’s also a genius. He’s won two Pulitzer prizes; one for feature writing and one for explanatory reporting. His approach to non-fiction storytelling is clean, accessible, and downright heart-stopping.

In 1986, Franklin wrote a book about writing — specifically, about how to write creative nonfiction. The book is instructive gold, so if you haven’t read it yet, pause your reading, type Writing for Story into your bookstore of choice, and BUY it. Out of all the books I’ve read on writing, it’s got to be in the top three.