Why Outlines are your Best Friends

It is hard to imagine too many assignments that cause the rolling of the eyes more than having to write an outline. All right, I'm exaggerating, but the point is still valid. No one wants to write an outline before writing their term paper, and I mean No One. It's boring, it's tedious, and it's a waste of time. Well, my friends, I am here to tell you that while it can be boring, and yes, definitely tedious at times, the reality is that making an effective outline is your best use of time because of how much time it will save you in the long run.

Think about setting off on a long trip, going somewhere you have never been before. In a car. In the summertime. With no air conditioning. You get the picture. You're in for a good 13-14 hours as it is, even if you make limited stops and don't get lost, but that's all right. Now picture yourself in hour 19, wondering why the hell you didn't bother to map out your route before you got started. That extra half hour felt onerous at the time, especially because you were sure you knew the way; but it surely couldn't have felt worse than these extra several hours do in the hot car wandering about lost.

The analogy is quite clear. You sit down to write your paper and you are so sure that you know exactly what you are going to say, that writing that outline will be a major waste of your time. But then you get just a little past the introduction, and too many thoughts and ideas start to crowd into your mind. Before you know it, you're off on tangent after tangent, everything you want to say getting jumbled, nothing flowing in an orderly fashion from one section to another. Disorganization is a key reason why teachers mark students down for papers.

And for good reason! Taking a few minutes to create a good outline will make your paper or essay so much better, you can't afford not to do it! It's a no-brainer, just like getting directions before setting out on a long trip. Organize your paper into sections, making sure one thing flows naturally into the next; it's much easier to do in outline form than in full-blown paper or essay form. Once you have the outline, all you have to do is fill it out. You will be shocked at how much time you save, as well as how much your grades improve.

Give it a try and let me know if I'm right.