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A lil’ trial & error never hurts anyone
During my 1st semester in college, I was presented with a writing assignment. As soon as I looked over it, I had thought immediately, “I can do it.”
You see, having graduated from high school months before and having gotten a 95% in an essay there, I was confident that I could do it again.
The assignment that I was covering now was divided in 3: outline, draft, and final grade. But I didn’t like this.
I was so used to writing right-through and getting all those things done at once that I felt it was unnecessary. I didn’t need it, but since it was graded I had to just sigh & get to work. I took a few days for the outline, which I then submitted and waited to get back.
I was so confident that I was going to get another 95% that I didn’t think that the opposite could happen.
When I logged onto my student portal the next morning, I stared at the screen. I got my first ever 50%! I was stunned, why?
I read the notes from the instructor who mentioned that my points were all jumbled and disorganized. I pondered over what better I could have done, and realized,
“They just want a straight, simple 1-sentence outline.”
I had poured so much detail into the outline I submitted, that I didn’t think anything of that point.
Soon I realized that I was behind schedule, so I took a late night of 2 hrs scramming to get it done. I changed the topic (because I couldn’t get a fresh mindset) and crammed it in for grading.
I was sure that I would get another bad grade, but I was counting on getting at least a grade of 70%.
After waiting a few days, I see the notification on my dashboard which I click and see…
100%
I was SHOCKED.
How did I get this?
I realized something important from then on, simple and clear goes a long way — and outlines are the structure that keeps a story on-track.
I also realized the clear difference between a story outline and a logical organization outline. For a story outline, it’s fine to write your story straight-through without an outline! But for an article that argues a point with evidence, having logical organization with an outline is what keeps your writing in shape.
After this period in college, I’ve realized that a lil’ trial & error never hurt anyone. In fact, it’s part of practice!
Now when writing these Medium articles, I incorporate both methods by organizing them into Obsidian & putting it all together into the final draft.
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I’ve never felt more confident in my writing!
This story was different than my usual, but since it was sitting in my Drafts I just had to finish it. Especially since I would never be on Medium now if not for this important lesson I learned!
Have you had a similar experience or one that helped you start writing?