| ve heard that we need to outline our content first | | | | when it comes to helping me work in a fast and |
| before we are going to write something about the | | | | organized manner. |
| given topic. Yes, it is really true that we need to create | | | | The type of outline you produce will generally depend |
| an outline first before writing. It helps you a lot. Most | | | | on many factors, including: |
| writers are grateful with the essence of outlining their | | | | •How long the target piece is? |
| contents. | | | | •How much flexibility you require during the |
| But we also encountered a lot of writers who | | | | writing process? |
| don’t outlined their writings first. So | | | | •How much time you can allot to doing the |
| what’s the difference? Maybe you are used | | | | outline? |
| writing without outlines but to tell you honestly, outlining | | | | There are only two general types of outlines – a |
| your contents helps you to manage your writings well | | | | rough one or a formal one. I personally prefer the |
| and make your writing task an effective and easy | | | | “rough” variety, as it requires less effort |
| one. | | | | to put together. For longer, more complicated pieces, |
| If you haven’t heard about it or you are just | | | | though, it’s tough to get by without going the |
| trying to ignore it then think again. Outlines are very | | | | more formal route. |
| important in writing. You need to organize all the | | | | Rough Outlines |
| information about your topic first and what comes | | | | In this type of outline, the goal is to list down major |
| next. You have to plan how you furnish your content | | | | supporting ideas in the order that you want to develop |
| more and how it will appear to the public. | | | | them. The aim is to have functional guideposts that |
| Although it requires a lot of effort and a lot of planning | | | | you can follow while putting the actual piece together, |
| but with this step, you can write your text easily | | | | rather than trying to draw them from memory. Most of |
| without getting into troubles like loss of words to write, | | | | the time, they take a format of a bulleted or numbered |
| mental blocked, no ideas to write on, inappropriate | | | | list. |
| content and a lot of writing errors to make. | | | | Formal Outlines |
| All people encountered these problems and you | | | | The more formal kind of outlines, on the other hand, |
| don’t want to experience it anymore. It will only | | | | tend to offer more detail. Rather than a guide as to |
| consume most of your time and will end you up like | | | | where ideas should be presented, they include actual |
| crazy dealing with your topic and what to write. | | | | supporting arguments, allowing them to replace most |
| Do you outline? Some writers I know can’t live | | | | of your research notes during the writing process. |
| without outlining, while some restrict its use to larger, | | | | They tend to look more complex in presentation, often |
| more complex writing tasks. I belong with the former | | | | using nested lists to facilitate the amount of details |
| group, as outlining has proven to be an indispensable | | | | included. |
| task (as much as my English writing software, actually) | | | | |