An outline is a general plan of writing material that you will present within your paper. The outline helps you in presenting various things through a proper order. It also helps a writer in describing relative importance of the essay topic. It also helps him show a relationship between various parts of the essay. It will help you in various other ways too. Outlining can play an important role when you are constructing, and organising your ideas. If you want to submit a good piece of writing, you should organise your ideas into logical patterns. In this regard, you can use a standard outline format. It will help you in making important decisions about the main points of your essay. Apart from this, it will help you in considering important information and arguments. Such information will help you in supporting those points. This article aims to discuss the art of outlining that every writer should know. Let’s discuss its related aspects in detail;
General Approach:
Making an outline for your essay might be an uphill task for you if you don’t know how to write an outline. There are two general approaches that can help you in drafting a good outline. Those two approaches are that of topic, and sentence outline.
Topic Outline:
In this type of approach, you can write your outline in short phrases. It will help you in writing an outline when you are dealing with various issues. Especially within a single topic. These short phrases will help arrange your ideas in several ways. They will also help you in adding more content to your outline. It is a useful technique as compared to adding simple sentences within your outline. These short phrases will help you in developing a good image of your paper. This is something you can also use within your essay.
Sentence Outline:
This is a type of approach where the writer will use full sentences while making an outline. This approach is always helpful when you are dealing with complex issues within your essay. Apart from this, it is a useful technique as sentences can carry good information. You can use this information in detail while writing your paper. At the same time, it will make your outline short, and precise. Hence this outline technique is quite effective as well.
Steps for Making an Outline:
According to an assignment help firm, it is the key responsibility of a writer to add enough details within the outline. As a writer, you should consider topics, as well as sub-topics in your outline. After that, you should organise these points. Based on these points, you can build arguments. Later on, these arguments will lead you towards a conclusion that is argument-based. An outline will always focus on the topic and details to support your stance. It will avoid unnecessary details and tangents. An outline will also avoid logical fallacies and any undeveloped arguments. In this regard, several other aspects can help you in developing a good outline. These aspects are highlighted as follows;
Identifying the Research Problem:
When you are outlining, you need to identify the research problem. It is the point where you can start your outline. In this regard, you need to sum up the whole research problem in a single sentence. At the same time, it can be helpful if you divide the topic into different parts.
Identifying the Main Categories:
The next aspect is identifying the main categories involved. In this part, you can analyse the nature of your topic. It will help you in adding the main points within your outline. Usually, it is the introductory part of your outline. The introduction will help you in addressing main points of your topic. In the rest of your paper, you will develop, and work on those points.
Creating the First Category:
In this aspect, you will write the first point that you are willing to cover. If you are addressing a complicated issue, your first point should be the definition for it. If you are addressing a theory, you should provide its background as your first category.
Creating Subcategories:
The next step is to create subcategories. You will create these under each main point to support your arguments. In this regard, you should remember one thing. This key factor is that you can create as many categories depending upon the amount of information you have.
Conclusion:
A conclusion is the last element of your outline. In this part, you need to provide a summary of your whole writing. Apart from this, you can restate your research problem in this part. You can also summarise the ideas you discussed within your writing.
Other Important Things to Consider:
There are some other things that you should remember while outlining. These are highlighted as follows;
- There is fixed such rule that will help you in writing a good outline. You can choose either type of general approach for outlining based on your topic.
- You need to follow the format while outlining your topic.
- You need to organise your main points in a chronological order.
- If you are writing a paper based on 15-20 pages, make sure your outline does not exceed more than two pages.
Conclusion
An outline is a general plan that helps you plan your writing. It helps your reader too. This is about the sequence you will write your paper in. It will help you in developing a relationship between the research problems and arguments. It will help you in organising your ideas as well. There are two general approaches for outlining. These include topic, and sentence outlining. You can use either of these types, as per your topic. There are some other important aspects for outlining too. You have to identify a research problem and the main categories. At the same time, you need to create subcategories. At the end, you should include the conclusion part within your outline. There are some general instructions too. These will help in managing the aspect of outlining. You should follow the format and guidelines, and ensure that the outline does not exceed more than two pages.
