Essay Editing & Writing - The Power of the Outline

A body with no skeleton would look kind of funny. As would a car with no frame. Or a building with no steel. Just as these things need a good base to function properly, so does an essay. Whether you are writing a school paper, a newspaper article, or a business white paper, it’s important to come up with a general outline to act as the framework for your finished product.

Surprisingly, very few people utilize the outline. Those who do, however, tend to be professional writers who understand the importance of an outline. They know that you cannot jump into an article haphazardly and hope that you will be able to make all your points clearly and convincingly.

Fiction writers in particular use outlines. They establish the characters, setting, and general timeline of a plot. The outline helps them guide the story so it is logical and able to be understood by the reader. This small step of outlining a story typically separates many professional writers from amateur writers.

Renowned horror writer Stephen King is a proponent of outlines. While a writer may never know where his story will lead, the outline still serves as a guide, or a roadmap, to that unknown ending. Without it, characters may come and go, it may be hard to keep track of time, and other story elements can get lost.

Article writers who work for newspapers, magazines, and Web sites also utilize outlines. These serve as the basic skeleton of the article, allow them to flesh out their ideas chronologically, and also detail when and where they will insert certain facts and figures.

So, what should be included in an outline? For the standard essay, you will want to create main headings, with subheadings beneath each:

  • Intro
    • Make notes on how you will "hook" your reader.
    • Give yourself several options of "hooks" and choose the best, once the essay is complete.
  • Body
    • Note which themes or subjects you will address.
    • Provide research or arguments to support the theme.
    • Perhaps include anecdotes or success stories as proof.
  • Conclusion
    • Encapsulate your theme.
    • Tie the conclusion back to your intro.

Writers who fail to use outlines often spend quite a bit of time revising their work. They will read the finished product and realize they missed a point or that the flow was not quite right. And if you are working with an editor or teacher, these mistakes will be very evident to them.

Outlines also allow writers to avoid redundancy. That is, once a point is made, it needn't be made over and over again within the piece. The outline will clearly identify your main points, or plot elements, allowing you the creativity to expand upon your ideas.

It sounds strange, but outlines actually allow a writer more creativity than writing free-form. For example, if in your outline, you refer to "a road leading to a castle," you can then focus on the smells and sounds of the trip, rather than worry about which way the road will lead.

Overall, the time it takes to make an outline is minimal, but the time it saves you in the long run is astronomical.

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