Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>> Trouble is, I write the outline, start writing the body text, and then
>>> discover that this is actually a bad order, due to some dependency I
>>> hadn't thought of.
>>
>> Then you stop writing and you go back and fix the outline. It means your
>> outline wasn't detailed enough to start with.
> 
> OK. But once you change the outline, you have to rewrite the entire 
> document. (Because otherwise you'll have chapter 3 thinking that X has 
> already been explained, when now it's actually in chapter 7 instead...)

Sometimes. Eventually you learn how to make the outline detailed enough that 
you don't crap all over yourself that way.  Just like programming.

>> What you need to learn is what's called "lies to children."
> Yeah, Knuth did a lot of this in The TeX Book...

I don't think many people accuse Knuth of being unable to organize complex 
interrelated pieces of technical information. :-)

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
  "How did he die?"   "He got shot in the hand."
     "That was fatal?"
          "He was holding a live grenade at the time."

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