Outlining an essay.

Outlines are a great way to get yourself going when you are struggling. That probably sounds like total BS, since most writers loathe them. Many students hate outlines not because of what outlines are, but because of how they are taught and graded. This isn’t a post about how to get an A on your outline, this is a post about how to use an outline to motivate yourself, organize your essay, and ultimately write the best paper that you can.

Always make the introduction, body, conclusion, and sources, as your main sections. You can add more and break the body down into various sections, if you know what you want to do. If you don’t, those are the place to start.

Your thesis goes in the introduction section, but if you are struggling to figure out your thesis, that is ok. Start doing research, entering your sources into the bibliography section as you go (do not save it for later). Make notes about interesting or important things that you read in the body of the outline and include a correct citation.

As you go along, you will be learning more and you will start to see sections form in the body. If not, look at the notes you have made and look for relationships between different pieces of information. If you can’t see anything, start going slowly through your notes and expanding each note as much as possible.

As you make the effort to more completely see the relationships between various elements. Once you see that relationship, include it in the paper. Describe how elements are related, or not, and what those relationships reveal.

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