How to write an outline

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Ever got stuck on a piece of writing with no idea what to say? Chances are you got straight to it without making an outline. Writing without an outline is like dancing to no music: it takes away your sense of direction and makes the whole thing a garbled mess. You don’t need an outline for every piece of writing, but it’s a good habit to get into. For starters, an outline can help you:

  • Make sense out of multiple ideas
  • Present your thoughts in a logical order
  • Avoid straying from your main idea
  • Divide the project into manageable writing tasks
  • Keep your writing smooth and sensible

Outline writing can take up one to three hours of your time, depending on the length and coverage of your project. But this is time well spent. With a good outline, you can cut down your writing down by half and save yourself a good deal of stress. Think of it as an investment of time—with a very promising payoff.

So how do I write an outline?

-Read up. Research is the first and most important step in outline writing. You can’t write an outline without at least a basic idea of your subject. The amount of research you need depends on the project itself. As a general rule, you should have enough information to determine your audience and write one or two main ideas. Once you know who you’re writing for, you can easily organize your ideas to suit them.

  • Choose your main points. Next, decide on the main categories of your project. These are the key points around which the rest of your ideas will evolve. If you’re not sure about them yet, just make a few careful guesses—you can edit your entries anytime.
  • Organize your ideas. When you’ve your main points down, the next step is to put them in order. Generally, the broadest and/or most important categories should come first. However, each topic is unique and requires its own treatment. Use your judgment to find a logical order for your ideas.
  • Research some more. Now it’s time to fill in your headings with actual information. In most cases, you’ll have to put the outline aside to take your research further. Find relevant information on each category and put them under appropriate subheadings. Sometimes you’ll need to add subheads within subheads—just label them properly so you don’t lose track. Write down your sources so you can get back to them when you actually write your paper.
  • Revise your outline. By now, you should have enough information to put your outline in context. Go over your work and move ideas around as necessary. You may also spot gaps in the research. If you do, make a note in the margins so you can fill them in later on.

What makes a good outline?

According to the OWL guide at Purdue, an outline should satisfy four main criteria. These are parallelism, coordination, subordination, and division.

  • Parallelism means that all components or ideas follow the same grammatical structure. If Section A is called “Introduction to the Music Industry,” the subsequent sections should be presented in the same manner. A good Section B would be another noun-phrase such as “Music Industry Trends,” as opposed to a question like “What’s Up in the Music Industry?”
  • Coordination is a type of parallelism that concerns the scope of each idea. Each heading should be of equal depth and scope. A heading called “Popular Musical Instruments” may appear on the same level as “Popular Musicians,” but one called “Bass Guitars” would be better off as a subcategory.
  • Subordination is where you divide your ideas into even smaller chunks within each heading. For example, the heading “Music Genres” may be divided into subheads like “Rock,” “Pop,” and “Classical.”
  • Division simply means chopping up your sections into more specific parts. Here you will take each idea and put it into an appropriate category. You should have done at least a bit of research beforehand so you’ll know what you’re working with.

What type of outline do I need?

Outlines are classified according to the way the headings are presented. The two main types are the topic outline and the sentence outline. A topic outline presents each heading in a short phrase, while a sentence outline explains them in a complete sentence. Topic outlines usually work when you’re still in the planning stage of a large project, such as a graduate thesis. For short papers and essays, where your ideas are more concrete, a sentence outline may be more appropriate.

How do I label my headings?

Each subject has its own rules on outline formatting, so it’s best to check with your school or professor for specific requirements. However, most outlines follow this basic format:

  • Main headings: uppercase Roman numerals (I, II, III)
  • Subheadings: uppercase letters (A, B, C)
  • Third-level headings: lowercase letters (a,b,c)
  • Fourth-level headings: lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii)
  • Other headings: bullets, a different kind for each sublevel

You only need to worry about this if you’re submitting the outline as part of the project. If you’re using it as a personal guide, just go with what you’re comfortable with—but keep the rules in mind in case you need them for future projects.