Essay Writing Series: How to Make an Outline

It’s that time of year again – like Spring, Tax Day, and the end of the school year, exam season is upon us. We all know what exams mean – essays. Nothing can be more infuriating than writing a good timed essay, but with a little practice essay writing can become much less painful. However, one of the most frustrating aspects of writing a timed essay comes from that racing-against-the-clock feeling that overrides almost all rational thought. With that in mind, we at Wordsmiths have decided to start a series aimed at helping you tackle the daunting task of writing a timed essay.

And what better to write our first article about than outlining? Outlining is almost like a lost art form; outlines that are done well are invaluable to good writing. Unfortunately, outlines seem to be one of those things that everyone has heard about but no one has really understood. Many seem to know what they’re for but not how to use them to their advantage – and this is a problem, especially when writing an essay.

Outlines are great for timed essays especially for a few reasons:

• They give a framework that you can work from as you write, which prevents you from rambling or straying into different topics.
• They help you organize an essay and create a natural flow.
• You can write out ideas so you don’t forget them later.
• They give you a place to write down important facts, terms, or topics that you want to cover.

There are many other uses for outlines, but the basics are the same. When you make an outline, you need to keep the following in mind:

1.       Outlines are for big picture ideas – don’t get caught up in details.

Outlines are supposed to function as bare-bones skeletons for the actual essay you need to write – and as such, you don’t need to write complete sentences. Outlines are meant to give you a guideline that you can expand into an actual essay – so don’t try to write out your whole essay when you outline.

2.       Write out key points only.

You don’t need to plot out every sentence of every paragraph of your essay when you outline. If you try to get too specific, you’ll only bog yourself down and waste time. Stick to broad ideas (for example, “Paragraph 2 – Social Aspects of the American Revolution”) and topics that you know you want to cover in that paragraph. Don’t try to micromanage your essays – you’re just using up valuable time that you could be using to write your essay. Similarly,

3.       Plan paragraphs from the top down.

What I mean when I say ‘from the top down’ is that you should start broad and narrow down from there. Don’t cloud your outline with “mention the year 1866!” and “1787 = Constitutional Convention”. It’s much easier to go from broad to more specific details – for example, “The US Constitution”, “Influences”, “John Locke”, etc.

 4.       It’s okay to use your outline as a place to write down information you know you will forget.

This is doubly true if you’re taking a test in a subject such as IB Psychology or AP US History. Outlines are a great place to write out lists of information that you know you might forget in your nervousness: studies, dates, terms, people, quotes, page numbers, etc. The point of an outline is to make writing your essay easier – so it’s perfectly acceptable to use it as a ‘knowledge bank’ of sorts that you can refer to throughout your essay.

5.       Outlines can and should be used to tweak the organization and flow of your essay.

The great thing about outlines is that they show you your essay in the abstract, without any of the actual writing to weigh your argument down and distract you from looking at the organization/flow of what you want to write and determining if it makes sense. The best part about doing this tweaking at the outline stage rather than while you write is that you can make major changes to your essay with little to no hassle (for example, deciding to switch the position of paragraphs 1 and 4). This is especially great for disorganized writers (like myself) who tend to give up organization in exchange for other aspects of the essay. However, this exchange doesn’t need to be made when one can simply use an outline to fix any major organization problems before they even start.

6. How you organize your outline depends on the subject you’re writing a paper for.

 

Generally, I would organize essays thematically (so, in a history essay I would break up the political, social, economic, and international aspects of my argument into different paragraphs). However, there are many different ways to organize essays that all work in one way or another. History essays can also be written chronologically, while psychology essays can be broken up according to perspective or any of a number of different criteria. The key here is how your essay flows together: the organization that you’ve chosen works if your progression of ideas flows smoothly and understandably.

7.       There is no wrong way to do an outline.

Everyone has different outlining methods. Some people like to draw crazy mind-maps, others like to make simple lists, while still others are satisfied with covering a piece of paper with clouds of ideas. The point of outlines is that they help you – so don’t do the kind of outlines that you’ve been taught if they don’t work for you. Finding the right kind of outline can be tricky, and the only way to really find the perfect type is to try a lot of them, but once you find one that works, stick with it.

 8.       Make an outline.

I hear the same old story every time exam season rolls around: “I didn’t make an outline so I could have more time to write.” This is the writing equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot because you think it will make you run a race faster. Outlines are valuable in that they give you some time to collect your thoughts and put them together in a way that makes sense – don’t just start writing the second you’re done reading your prompt. When you start writing with no idea where you’re going, you will end up with an essay that’s disorganized, confusing, and nearly unreadable.

9.       Don’t spend too much time writing your outline.

Outlines are meant to be quick – so don’t torture yourself by spending 20 minutes working on an outline. Remember, outlines are meant to be expanded – so don’t waste time making them incredibly detailed.