“Key Word Outlining” is the foundational writing skill that students first learn in the IEW method and Writing to Learn classes. As we progress through the different types of writing in the three levels, the way students choose the information for the key word outline (kwo) changes. Nevertheless, the kwo is always the catalyst for the writing process.
Key Word Outlining is an efficient note-taking method which also helps make writing original. When the “rules” are followed, students are freed from the wording of the original source. Students who learn to key word outline will never need to plagiarize, “copy and paste,” or use Artificial Intelligence to produce a paper. Key Word Outlining trains them to minimally note the information, leaving them free to write in their own words.
Saying things in one’s own way is completely natural. Think of hearing someone relate a story or an interesting news item. No one would use the exact words of the original speaker when repeating the information. People tend to remember the facts that they think are the most important or most interesting and repeat them in their own words.
Unfortunately, words on a page are not so easily escaped. The challenge in writing from written sources is to separate oneself from the original source. That allows the writer to write freely in their own original words. Key Word Outlining is the easiest way to escape the trap of repeating a source.
Here are the “rules” we use in PREP-1 and Level 1 when we first start key word outlining:
After students master the basics of key word outlining, they are ready to advance to the next kwo stage: taking notes from multiple paragraphs, then multiple sources to create a “fused outline” for research papers. Later comes story kwos, then “writing from the brain” kwos, and essay kwos. All of the advanced models build on the simple, effective, basic Key Word Outlines. The results are remarkable.
For a demonstration of basic Key Word Outlining, see the video below from a recent PREP-1 class. A pdf of the “Sea Turtles” paragraph and a list of Key Word Outlining symbols and abbreviations can also be downloaded below.
I have a question about KWO and complex sentences. I recently learned about KWO because I started teaching it at a hybrid school, and I’ve started implementing it for my studies. I’m a PhD archaeology student and am at the dissertation stage. I read and take a lot of notes. I’ve been able to implement three words KWO for short sentences, but for longer sentences, have been very difficult to pick only three words. Do you divide the KW by clauses? Do I pick out the pertinent facts? But what I’m reading is very data-driven, and the sentences are dense. I would appreciate any advice you could share. Example Sentence: “The agoras in these newly created urban spaces were expressions of the regional identity of the societies in question and were modeled on these communities’ self-understanding as urban societies within their regional and imperial context.” I picked:
Agoras, new, spaces, expression, regional ID, create self-understanding, in regional & imperial context. Way more than three words, but that sentence is jam-packed with important information. As a Ph.D. student, I like KWO, and I wish I had learned it as a (much) younger student. It has revolutionized how I take notes and approach sources. Thank you for the model. Thanks,
Rebekah R.
Rebekah, that is so exciting that you have discovered the value of key word outlining! I was in my 40’s when I first started to learn it, and I had the same reaction: Why didn’t anyone ever teach this to me? It is so simple, yet so effective and useful. You have learned the basic idea and skill of key word outlining and now you can expand it for more complex notetaking, which is what I teach beginning in the 3rd session of my Level 1 class. You are right. It is not practical to write just three words from every sentence in an academic article or a book. That would be far too unwieldy. Therefore, for complex sources, you must use a more advanced note-taking method for key word outlines. At your stage of notetaking, think of taking notes of IDEAS and FACTS, not sentence by sentence; instead of paragraphs>sentences, break your outlines into topics>facts & ideas. For very complex sentences that contain more than one fact/idea, you certainly can and must have an outline point for EACH. You will note each idea or fact using up to FOUR key words now, plus numbers, symbols, and abbreviations. If there are details you don’t need, just leave them out. You don’t have to key word outline every sentence; only notate ideas and facts that you want to remember. The point of key word outlining is to put down the bare information about a fact or idea without copying the original source. Assuming you understand the ideas and information, it is completely natural to put ideas/information in your own words. These stripped-down notes will allow you to formulate your own unique expression of them without being hampered by the original wording of the source. I’m a retired homeschool mom. When one of my sons was taking a difficult chemistry course and not doing very well, I required him to start key word outlining every chapter. He was really mad. 🙂 But I told him, “You don’t have to go sentence by sentence, but I want you to note the main idea and facts of each paragraph.” It didn’t take long for him to tell me that he was reading and understanding it better, and not long after that, his grade started to improve. He ultimately earned a B in that class, and we both were thrilled. Key word outlining helps the reader to focus on the MOST IMPORTANT. It’s so simple and so beautiful, isn’t it? My most accomplished students continue to use key word outlining into college and beyond. If you want some handouts about this, I can send them to you if you let me know through my Contact tab! I never tire of discussing it!