Creating your Outline

To write your awesome Autobiography!

Getting Started

So, you finished brainstorming your life events. You listed the events and completed the organizer with the appropriate sensory details. Now what?, you ask.

The Next Step

Now is the time to put those ideas into an outline. An outline is a road map that you will follow so you don’t get lost as you write.

Begin at the Beginning

When you are writing an autobiographical narrative, you need to start with the earliest event and move chronologically from there.

The Outline Format

The outline will be a simple thing to construct. First, start with a Roman Numeral to indicate your topic paragraph:I. The day I started School

Outline basics, con’t:

Next, you use a lower case alphabet letter to indicate what your feelings/experiences were during that event:I The day I started School– a things I felt– b things I did– c things others did for/with me

Organization

The trick is to continue doing this, chronologically, of course, until all of your events are listed in the same way.Now your road map is complete.

Where do I go from here?

That is a good question. The best thing about a narrative is that you are telling your readers a story, and an autobiographical story is all about you!

Your story

In media res…One way to begin your story is using what is called in media res, or begin in the middle of the action. This requires good writing skills and the ability to use flashback. For an example, look at the next slide.

In Media Res…Example

The sound of the piano calmed my fears and made me feel secure. Until that point, I was a trembling mass of frightened Jello, alone in a sea of unfamiliar faces and left in the care of a total stranger. But when that stranger began to play the piano, those fears flew out the window and I became a part of the group.

Catchy Hooks

A good lead in is called a hook. You want to “hook” your audience with something that will hold their interest. When writing an autobiographical narrative, the hook is called a DRAMATIC QUESTION.

Dramatic Question

Starting your story with a question that forces the reader to continue reading to find the answer is how you use this technique.Look at a few samples on the next slide!

Dramatic Questions

Why do things like this always seem to happen to me?

Did you ever fall for a person and later, had your heart stomped on?I can’t believe she would betray me like this, can you?Did you ever have one of those days when you wish that there was a rewind and delete button on your life?

The rest is easy!

Now that you have your ideas for a strong beginning, the rest is a piece of cake!

Remember….

Don’t forget to use figurative language in your narrative to make your writing more interesting and colorful!

Revise…

No one writes the perfect paper the first time! Remember to revise it and edit it so it shines even brighter. Revise it a day or two after you write the initial rough draft, then you will be able to see more clearly.

Editing

Make sure your grammar, spelling and punctuation are correct before turning in the final paper. Correct form is very important to any narrative!

Now, you try…

Create your outlineSend it to your teacherMake any changes that your teacher recommendsResubmit the final outline to the drop box.