Outlining: Creating An Outline
Outlining: Creating An Outline
Outlining: Creating An Outline
Outlining is a tool used in the writing process to help you organize the ideas
into a logical order, visualize your paper’s potential structure, and to further
flesh out and develop points. It is a way for you to demonstrate the main
argument (thesis), main points (topic sentences), and main pieces of
evidence you are going to present in a paper before actually writing the
paper. Additionally, one of the essential purposes of an outline is to clearly
convey the connection between the thesis and each of the topic sentences.
Creating an Outline
Before you start creating an outline, you need to have a clear thesis
statement, or clear purpose or arguments.
Organize your outline in whatever format fits into the structure needed
for the type of paper you are writing. One common outline format uses
Roman numerals, letters, and numbers. Other outlines can use bullet
points or other symbols.
After creating your outline, you may decide to reorganize your ideas by
putting them in a different order. Furthermore, as you are writing you
might make some discoveries and you can always adjust or deviate
from the outline as needed.
Steps in Outlining
Types of Outlining
1. Topic Outline - In this outline, you list the main idea to be covered in
your writing. These ideas are stated in words or phrases rather than in
sentence. It is useful for short essays.
Examples of an Outline
6. The Freytag Model - This model is similar to the hero’s journey, and the
three-act structure. It gives the writer some structure to guide their
organization, but leaves the specifics up to the writer.
7. Draft Zero - The draft before the draft. This is the anti-outline, and some
people find it liberating, creatively engaging, and hectic.
The point of this method is to just write. Ramble your story, and don’t worry
about mistakes. They will be fixed later.While using this method, feel free to use
symbols, cross-outs, drawings, notes, and whatever other short-hand devices you
might know. The point is to just get the story onto paper.