An essay outline is a manner of planning the overall structure of your write-up before you start pouring down your thoughts on paper. It generally involves writing down the points that you need to include in the article. This way, you can get a picture of how you should approach the essay. But, is it really the only benefit of working up an essay outline before you start writing? Well, no, not really. Creating a structure before you begin explaining them can be helpful in more than one way. And each of them will benefit you in the end. So, let’s learn more about them.
Why Should You Make A Structure Before Writing?
If you follow any popular writing service, like Fresh Essays, closely, you’ll see that every one of them creates a structure before writing. Here’s why.
Benefit – 1: Develop Your Ideas Efficiently.
Staring at a blank page before writing can be quite intimidating. However, if you start making a structure, it can help you develop a new idea every time you jot down something. Also, it can get you out of writer’s block, as you can keep brainstorming whatever you have written previously. It might also help add more supporting details to your article. And, from a reader’s perspective, it’ll certainly be quite enticing.
Benefit – 2: Identify Weaknesses.
You should always create the structure of your essay at least one week prior to starting writing. This way, it’ll be easier for you to reevaluate everything and identify mistakes. And, as you’ve given yourself a little bit of time, it’ll be even easier for you to find out a new supporting detail, too. So, all-in-all, your article will look much better than before.
Benefit – 3: Save Your Precious Time.
Creating a structure before writing can also save a lot of your precious time. With it, you can easily remember why you wrote a specific point under a heading. Therefore, there’s no need to brainstorm anymore. Besides, as you’ll be writing a summary of the point already, you can easily take it from anywhere and complete it quickly.
Benefit – 4: Keep Everything Well-Organized.
Finally, when you’re making a structure, you’ll do it organizedly. So, when you actually start writing, you’ll follow the same thing that you implemented before. It, in turn, can make the article appear more organized and reader-friendly.
Besides, it can also ensure that you’re missing out or misplacing any supportive document at all. And, there’s no risk of going off-track, as you’ve already made the structure before. Also, it will be easier to revise your article, as you can go through the article based on the outline.
How To Write An Essay Outline?
Writing an essay outline can consist of two different parts. Each of them has a subsection of its own. Please keep reading to know more about it.
Step – 1: Organizing The Material.
Your ideas will not fully blossom during the initial stage of writing an essay outline. Hence, while working, you should only focus on doing some preliminary research and finding the right resource for your article. And, then, begin working on the following –
- Firstly, you should start working on creating a category. Look over any information, idea, or quote you can find about your article, and write it on paper. Now, divide and specify all of them in certain categories.
- Secondly, decide on the tone of the article. You can certainly follow an informative or serious tone of writing. However, adding a little bit of humor every now and then can help you get into your teacher’s heart as well.
- Thirdly, create an order of each piece of information you have written down, and organize them properly. For example, your essay must always begin with an introduction. And it has to end with a conclusion. Now, whatever you’re doing in the body is up to you.
While you’re organizing the material, you should also ask yourself a question or a few while creating an order for your material.
- Is there any subject available out there that can help you transition your article from one topic to another seamlessly?
- Can you find an obvious point for starting your argument?
- Do you need to set a point or two by discussing the previous pointers first? Or, will it be possible to talk about it only after you have written everything else separately?
Once you find the answers to the aforementioned, it’ll be much easier for you to determine a proper outline of your article accordingly.
Step – 2: Presenting The Outline Of The Essay.
The core outline of an essay should be simple and easy to understand. For example, a point of the same should have at least –
- One paragraph, which is offering the required information.
- Another one, explaining it from your viewpoint.
- And, the fine one, presenting a point of evidence to prove your argument.
Additionally, when you’re making the outline of an essay, you should always ensure that the heading is different from the sub-heading. You can do so –
- By making the word size of the heading a little bigger than your usual font.
- Adding a number in front of the same.
- Changing the color of the heading and subheading while ensuring a sound outlook.
That’s all, really. Once you’re done with adding each and every point, you might start writing whenever you want. Just ensure that you’re maintaining that formation, and you’ll be fine.
The Bottom Line
Honestly speaking, there’s no need to create an outline if you’re writing a 100- or 200-word article. There’s no point in doing it, literally. However, if you’re working on a large article, you should always make sure that the outline of the same is ready.
Or else, you might end up losing out on the topic or idea you’re writing on. And, in some cases, it might not be possible for you to move forward with the essay as well, as you’ve forgotten what you were supposed to write on.
Anyway, that’ll be all for this blog. Thanks for reading till the end. Hope you have a great day ahead!