How to Write an Outline: 4 Ways to Organize Your Thoughts

When I was a novice writer, I chafed at the idea of using an outline. I was certain organizing my thoughts in advance would stifle my creativity and make my writing stiff and uninspired. After all, how can serendipity happen if you’ve got everything planned?

But then I started creating content for a living, and I needed to turn out several polished articles every week. I write at least 240,000 words per year to earn my keep. That’s only about half of War and Peace, but it still feels like a lot. I try to write quickly so I’m not still awake toiling away at the keyboard at 1 a.m. with a cup of tea and a couple of graham crackers. (1 a.m. graham cracker calories do seem to count, by the way.)

I discovered that it was taking me a long time to finish my articles because, when my creative mind was unfettered, I had a tendency to ramble in a chaotic stream of consciousness that I would then have to go back and structure in order for it to make sense. Not only that, but I would over-research. I’d wind up with a thousand words before I realized I was only one third of the way through my article. I’d have to go back, refocus, trim down, and sometimes even start over.

And so, I started outlining. And it saved me. Not only from sleep deprivation, but from graham-cracker weight gain. Here’s my step-by-step process. And it works!

1 Do some reconnaissance reading.

Unless I know my topic inside and out, I start with a little reconnaissance reading. I head to Google and look at what others have written on my topic. I try to think of new and interesting ways to address it. I look for an angle.

The easiest way to find an angle is to look for knowledge gaps in the articles you scan. Let’s use this article as an example. I searched to see what others had written on the topic of how to write an outline. I found a lot on the basics of structure, but not much about how to actually use outlines to improve the organization of your writing. Voila! An angle!

As you’re reading, take notes when you see interesting research or quotes you might want to share. Note the URLs, too, so you can reference them with links in your article. I keep my notes in a Google Doc on the same page where I’m eventually going to create my outline and write my article. Having all the information in one place will allow you to write faster when the time comes.

Here’s a tip: Don’t go too far down the research rabbit hole! Remember, you’re just doing a little reconnaissance reading. It’s easy to over-research, which wastes valuable writing time. Plan to write first, and then add research later.

2 Write down your objective.

Now that you’ve figured out an angle, it’s helpful to write down an objective. What do you want the reader to understand by the end of this article? Put some thought into your objective and see if you can write it in one sentence. My objective for this article was:

At the end of this article, readers will understand why outlines are useful and how to use them to organize their writing.

Everything you write should support your objective. An objective will help you stay focused and prevent you from drifting off on tangents.

Here’s a tip: Academic papers often include a thesis statement. A thesis states a premise or theory that your paper will go on to prove. It’s different from an objective. If you need more specific help with writing a thesis statement, try checking with any university writing center.

3 Create a list of all the main points you want to make.

I often begin this step while I’m doing my recon reading and ideas are popping into my head. This can be a quick brainstorming process. Don’t invest a lot of energy in organizing just yet. You’ll get to that in the next step.

4 Organize, revise, and eliminate.

Now it’s time to organize the list of points. Figure out the structure of your article. Will it work well as numbered how-to steps? A listicle? In standard essay format?

Take a look at the points you’ve jotted down and begin putting them into a logical order. Cross-check each point to make certain that it’s relevant to your objective. If you’ve strayed off the path and included extra information that doesn’t really fit the scope of your article, eliminate it.

Here’s a tip: Save things that don’t make it into your article—information that was extraneous to the article you’re working on now but may be interesting enough to pursue in a separate article some other time. I keep an idea file that I store as a Google Doc. Reference your file when you need a little article inspiration.

You may come across a few things that don’t quite fit into your article as their own sections, but seem important to mention nonetheless. Those elements make great sidebars. In this article, you’ll see them used as tips. Pretty nifty, huh?

As you revise, start putting your outline into a standard format. You don’t have to be too formal about this process, just organize everything into a bulleted or numbered list. (If you want to be traditional, use Roman numerals. I think they make my outlines look fancy.) Include topic segments. Under each topic segment, indent and include the points you’ll discuss in each paragraph. You don’t have to get too granular here—all you’re looking for is enough information to help you remember where you’re going and keep you organized and on track. My outline for this article looked like this:

I. Intro

A. I didn’t used to outline

B. Becoming a professional writer made me change my tune

C. Outlining brings structure to chaos

II. Do some recon reading

A. Look for angle, ways the topic has not been covered

1. Look for knowledge gaps

B. Take notes while you’re reading/record URLs

C. Don’t go too far down the research rabbit hole

III. Make a quick list of the points you want to make

IV. Organize the list into a formal outline

A. Get rid of anything that doesn’t support objective

1. Save extra stuff in a clip file for future use

B. Some extra stuff is worth keeping as tips/sidebars

C. Demonstrate standard outline format

An outline isn’t a prison—it’s there to guide you, not control you. You can take conscious detours, or change things around as you write. Outlines are just guidelines, so they shouldn’t feel restrictive. And yet, you’ll be surprised how the simple act of creating one will give your articles more structure and keep them focused and on-point. You’ll write with more clarity, and you’ll do it all faster and more efficiently. Outlines for the win!

Reddit Politics Writing Breakdown: The Right and Left Are Closer Than You Think

When it comes to language, it turns out that conservatives and liberals are more alike than you might think. The intrepid Grammarly team delved into the unfiltered political maelstrom on Reddit to get a look at how the Trump and Clinton subreddit communities write when they discuss the 2016 U.S. presidential election online. We used the Grammarly app’s powerful algorithms and new political correctness checks to find out not only how many spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors each camp made but also how often the software flagged their language as politically incorrect.

#NoFilter

In 2015, we took a lighthearted look at the presidential primaries, ranking the leading candidates by how well their supporters wrote about them on the candidates’ official Facebook pages. Now that Clinton and Trump have been officially nominated by their respective parties, we decided to peer into a less moderated community where the members, not the campaigns, direct the conversation. The differences were stark. For one thing, Redditors write significantly better than Facebook users. On Facebook, Hillary Clinton’s supporters made 6.3 errors per 100 words; Trump’s were twice as error-prone at 12.6. By contrast, Clinton’s Reddit supporters made just 1.82 errors per 100 words with Trump’s following close behind at 2.10.

In an unfiltered setting, Trump supporters weren’t daunted by having to add a dollar to the virtual swear jar. They used profanity 135% more often than Clinton’s supporters. Grammarly’s soon-to-be-released political correctness checks for people who want to make their writing more inclusive also got a workout in r/The_Donald. These checks analyze text for language that may be considered sexist, racist, ableist, or non-inclusive in other ways. Trump’s supporters used politically incorrect terms 88% more often than Clinton’s.

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Trump’s and Clinton’s Reddit Supporters Are More Alike Than Different

As we analyzed the data, one surprising discovery emerged—Trump and Clinton supporters share much in common. Not only do both sides write well, but they also care about similar issues. Foreign policy ranked as the number one topic for the Clinton subreddit and came in at number two for Trump. Both sides frequently asked the question “Who’s supporting him/her?” and both thought that the other candidate could bring about “America’s demise.” Clinton supporters see Trump’s campaign as “shameful” and “offensive,” while Trump supporters believe Clinton to be “crooked” and “corrupt.”

Trump supporters were unique in one aspect: they’ve created their own lingo. “Cuck-” was an oft-used prefix (Cuckington Post, Cuckbook, CuckKaine). MAGA (an acronym for Trump’s ubiquitous “Make America Great Again” slogan) was the fourth most commonly repeated bit of jargon. Even Pokemon played a role. Coming in third was Trigglypuff, a play on the slumber-inducing Pokemon, Jigglypuff, and the word “trigger,” used in the context of something with the potential to cause anxiety. (Example: “She should pick Trigglypuff as running mate. Quality attracts quality.”)

Commonly Confused Words

Redditors stumbled on some common English language mistakes, mixing up words like then and than and using the wrong form of too or to. They struggled with frequently confused compound words like everyday/every day and anymore/any more. The Grammarly blog could help them (or anyone else) amp up their writing skills. Here are just a few recommendations:

• Apostrophe Mistakes
• Then / Than
• Too / To
• Everyday / Every Day
• Anymore / Any More

Although our study is a playful take on the language people use in discussion forums like Reddit, written communication skills will always be essential to how we understand each other in the online world. Clear communication is even more important when the political stakes are high, as they are in an election year. By keeping their writing mistakes to a minimum, Redditors seem to be on the right track.

Technology That Can Help You Write Better

Writing is a creative and magical process. There’s no telling when inspiration will strike—or what unique conditions will help us access our creativity.

Over the centuries, writers have discovered what worked best for them—no matter how unusual. Agatha Christie penned her murder mysteries in the bathtub while eating apples and drinking tea. Gertrude Stein was known for writing on the go, sitting in her Model T with a pencil and notepad while her wife drove her around running errands.

As writers we’re always hunting for better ways to bust through writer’s block and channel our inner muse. So today we’re highlighting some of the wonderful ways modern technology can make your unique writing process quicker, easier, and more productive.

Capturing Ideas

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Do your best ideas come to you far from your computer—like in the shower, walking the dog, or driving to work? With a voice dictation app on your smartphone you’ll have an easy, hands-free way to record your ideas no matter where you get them. Simply speak into your phone and watch your words instantly appear as text. Check out Dragon Dictation for iPhone or Android.

Dictating your words, instead of typing them, can also be a great way to speed up your writing process and turn off your inner critic. Writing through dictation allows you to keep flowing with an idea and not overthink or fixate on specific words. If you’re ready to finally make it through your first draft, check out Dragon Naturally Speaking or the accurate (and free!) Google Docs Voice Recognition.

Conquering the Blank Page

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Still waiting for your next brilliant idea? Staring down a blank page can induce terror and despair in the heart of any writer. Sometimes you need a little kickstart to get your words and inspiration flowing again.

Through the miracle of technology, you can now spark your creativity with writing prompts delivered straight to your smartphone or browser. Download Writing Prompts (Android) or Prompts – Beat Writers Block (iPhone) and get unstuck from the mire of the blank page!

And if you’re a creative writer feeling stuck in your short story or novel? Check out The Brainstormer—an interactive wheel for generating themes and plot lines. You’ll have your heroine back on her journey in no time. (Click here for Android or iPhone).

Staying Focused

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Once you finally sit down to write, why is it so difficult to stay writing? Distractions abound, especially when your writing device is also connected to the Internet.

The struggle is real. Lucky for you there’s a whole arsenal of distraction-fighting apps right at your fingertips.

Need a writing interface that’s free of distractions? Calmly gives you a blank canvas to pour out your thoughts.

Want to stay on task with the Pomodoro Technique? Check out Tomato Timer, a simple Pomodoro timer you can pause and reset, with preset timers for your “short” and “long” breaks.

For those of us who need more extreme motivation, there’s the writing interface Write or Die, whose infamous “Consequence Mode” triggers spine-chilling noises and a blood red screen whenever you stop typing. (You’ll get back to work just to make it stop!)

And if you need to escape the plague of app and Internet notifications . . . there’s an app for that too. Sign up for Freedom and block the Internet while you work.

Staying Ergonomic

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Maybe your best work happens while sitting in a chair, or perhaps it’s while you’re standing (like Virginia Woolf), or lying down (like Truman Capote).

Whatever your peak position is, it’s important to make sure you’re comfortable. (If your chair is causing you crazy back pain, you won’t be writing for very long!) Fortunately, with the rise of office workers there’s been much advancement in ergonomic technology.

Ready to hop on the standing desk bandwagon? Here’s a roundup from inexpensive to fancy, or you can always DIY it with a stack of books or the latest IKEA hack.

For writing in bed or on your chaise lounge, stop trying to balance your laptop or notebook on a pillow and just get a lap desk.

And for those who love to sit: you can browse options for (affordable) ergonomic chairs here.

Organizing Your Writing

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J.K. Rowling mapped out the plots of the Harry Potter books with elaborate diagrams. William Faulkner outlined the plot of The Fable directly on his office walls (don’t try this at home, kids).

Whether you’re weaving together the plot lines of your new novel, or sorting through ideas for your next blog post, your writing could probably benefit from some organization.

Organize your writing (and possibly your life) with Evernote, the ultimate app for organizing, well, everything. Or if you want templates and proven formulas for your next Facebook post or sales page, be sure to check out Airstory.

Getting Your Grammar in Tip-Top Shape

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Okay, real talk: how could we write about tech to improve your writing and not mention Grammarly?!

With Grammarly as your editor, you can go with the flow of your creativity and let your inner muse run free. Let go of the paranoia that your writing will be littered with errors. Grammarly catches the errors and makes great suggestions for improving your writing.

And have you upgraded to Grammarly Premium yet? It includes vocabulary enhancement suggestions, genre-specific writing style checks, even more grammar and spelling checks, and a plagiarism detector that checks more than 8 billion web pages. Click here to supercharge your writing process.

We want to know: what are your favorite tech gadgets that make the writing process easier? Share in the comments section below!

4 Fictional Families We Wish We Were Born Into

Our favorite authors create worlds, characters, and relationships that feel real to us. Here are four groups of siblings from literature we wish we were related to:

The March sisters in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March show us what true sisterhood is all about. They make up each other’s worlds, acting as playmates, enemies, counselors, and friends. Like many sisters, they could be arguing over a pair of shoes one minute and bonding over a family tragedy the next. I’d act out a play in the attic with the March sisters any day.

The Weasley siblings in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, and Bill weren’t always on the best terms (ahem, Percy’s stint in the Ministry of Magic), but in the end, they have each other’s backs. Rowling paints a noisy, cozy picture of the Weasley household in the Harry Potter series, with Fred and George teasing their siblings constantly and Mrs. Weasley riding the line between total exasperation and complete control. The Weasleys are wild, but in a fight against Voldemort, you couldn’t ask for anyone better on your team.

Marianne and Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen In matters of the heart, Marianne and Elinor don’t always see eye to eye. In a way, their very different perspectives end up bringing them closer together. Marianne and Elinor’s relationship mirrors what many siblings go through as they grow up together: establishing an understanding of who your siblings are and respecting them, even if they’re very different from the way you want them to be. If I had to move to a cozy cottage in the country, I’d want the Dashwood sisters with me to add both sense and sensibility.

The Alden siblings in the Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden know how to sniff out a mystery…and how to solve it, too. Adopted by their kind, wealthy grandfather, the Alden siblings are free to solve mysteries, have adventures, and generally explore the world to their hearts’ content. If you slid open the door of an abandoned boxcar and found these kids, it would be a pleasant surprise.

Who are your favorite siblings from literature? Let us know in the comments!

Grammarly: An ESL Writer’s Best Friend

Guest post by Erik Bowitz

Grammarly is widely known in the United States as an extremely useful tool for writers looking to quickly and easily write error-free prose. However, there is an even larger, and much less talked about group of writers who are equally enthusiastic about the opportunities Grammarly’s automated proofreader provides: English as a Second Language (ESL) writers.

ESL writers are hungry for writing assistance.

There has always been a large demand for ESL services, mostly revolving around speaking and listening education, but also including reading and writing. While speaking and listening is more easily practiced in a classroom or on the street, it is very much a group-focused activity that happens over the course of daily life. Perfecting writing skills, on the other hand, is a solitary activity that can be very difficult without the right learning aids.

Enter Englist.tw, an organization I founded to provide creative, technical, and English editing services to the island of Taiwan, my second home for the last five years. Being an American living in Taipei, I find myself constantly helping friends and colleagues with small English-related questions – from simple phrasing to more involved grammar correction. This was the catalyst behind starting a full-service English writing service.

Still, for some of those little questions, a contract-based human English editor really isn’t necessary, and that is why I have been a happy affiliate of Grammarly’s this year.

Without native-English speaking friends, many Taiwanese are at a loss as to how to improve their writing quality without spending large amounts of money for professional editors. Microsoft Office doesn’t cut it, and looking up individual words in a dictionary takes forever. So, when people contact Englist.tw looking help with small editing and proofreading tasks I usually recommend them to Grammarly because I know it is a quicker and more financially prudent option for them.

Grammarly works perfectly for ESL writers because it can accompany them everywhere online, from writing papers, editing and sending emails, and even updating their English Facebook statuses (Taiwan has the highest per capita Facebook usage in the world). Because of it’s cross-platform functionality, Grammarly quickly becomes an ESL writer’s constant companion – or at least from what I’ve observed in Taiwan.

In the end, I’ve found that when I recommend Grammarly’s services, everyone wins. Besides receiving generous affiliate commissions from Grammarly referrals, my company builds its reputation in the Taiwanese market as a thoughtful and solutions-oriented service – thanks largely in part to the effectiveness of Grammarly’s tools and the satisfaction of its ESL users.

About the Author

Erik Bowitz is the founder of Englist.tw, Taiwan’s leading provider of flexible professional writing services. In addition to running Englist.tw Erik enjoys immersing himself in Haruki Murakami novels and cycling.