Outlines

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Before you begin to write any paper, it is a good idea to organize your thoughts by writing an outline. An outline simply a written method of organizing information so that you can determine what you are going to include in your paper, where you are going to include it, and what details you need to communicate about it, in other words outlines help you, the writer, determine the relative importance, order, and details for the different topics you wish to communicate. In terms of format, you can write an outline using key words, phrases, complete sentences and/or any mix thereof that works best for you. The most frequently used outline system uses Roman numerals, e.g., I, II, III, etc. to identify major points. These usually become the topic sentences when you turn the outline into paragraphs. Minor points that provide supporting evidence for the major points are designated using capital letters such as A, B, C, etc. If you need to include details about a minor point then these are identified underneath the relevant minor point by Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.). An example outline showing one approach to an outline for this section is illustrated below:

The outline need not be perfect but the more time and thought you put into it the easier you will find it to write your paper. In fact that is the whole point. If you take the time to create a good outline, when you actually sit down to write your paper, you will be able to concentrate on how to say what you want to say effectively, i.e., writing, rather than worrying about content.