How do Pirates say AWESOME?

I looked up a Pirate-English dictionary online, trying to find out how to say "AWESOME" in Pirate. No luck. They don't have a word for it. Scurvy bilge rats! Can't they ever think POSITIVE?

I'm a scribbler, not a pirate, but I wanted to apply some pirate epithets this morning as I worked on the outline for my new novel. Outlining gives me a HEADACHE! But I want my story to be awesome, so I'm haulin' away at it.

If I had only a few things to think about, like eating, sleeping, and writing, I could get by without an outline. In my early days, when my children were small, I had nearly no time to write and plenty of time to think. I would work out stories in my head, memorize the prose just the way I wanted it, and then sit down at the computer and pour it all out.

Now my brain is too busy for that. I've got two teenagers, three elementary school kids, and twenty-odd college algebra students to take care of. When a thought comes into my brain I have to put it down on paper or it goes flying out the window.

That's why I've got this big tack board in the cove half-covered with note cards. Those are all the thoughts I've pinned down so they don't fly away. I'll fill up the board, then arrange the cards in quasi-logical order and use them to create my best book ever.

At least that's the plan.

And there's one thing I've discovered about outlining that I never suspected. The first time I write an outline it goes on and on, a long grocery-list of character realizations, important events, red herrings, decision points, and thrilling scenes I've dreamed up just for the fun of it. But then when I sit down to write the book, that long string of tiny pieces begins to twist and loop together, sort of like a protein strand curling up as it comes off the ribosome assembly line, and I see where I can put realizations, events, and decision points together ALL IN THE SAME THRILLING SCENE! Hoo hoo! This does wonders for my pacing, and it doesn't happen unless I outline first.

So viva la outline!