I believe in the importance of outlining. If you trust me about anything, trust me on this: Outlining will make you a better writer. It can mean the difference between babbling away in a random and disorganized stream of consciousness and writing something clear, structured, and engaging.
Unless your goal is to confuse and drive away your readers, outlines are your new best friend.
3 reasons why outlining is essential
My dad has been known to get into some heated debates over family dinners. Whenever he struggled to make his case, and no one was quite pickin’ up what he was layin’ down, he’d storm out of the room in frustration. His parting shot was usually something like, “You just don’t understand what I’m saying.”
But then, minutes later, he’d stomp back in, waving his finger, and say, “And another thing!” This became so on-brand for my dad (and maybe your dad, too) that we all giggled about it. Mostly when he was out of earshot.
Looking back, I can see why the situation was frustrating for him. He had a brilliant position on the topic, and yet, the way he conveyed it meant the nuances were lost on us. He felt misunderstood, so he’d walk away to stew for a while. Then he’d remember some crucial point he’d forgotten to make, so he’d circle back to the argument in a vain attempt to clarify. By that time, though, we’d all moved on from the argument, so his attempt to clarify seemed kinda lame. I mean, give it up already, Dad!
And that’s why writers should outline. The “And another thing” approach didn’t work for my dad. It won’t work for your writing, either, and that’s true whether you craft a blog post, a presentation, or even an important email.
You need an outline because outlining helps you:
- Identify your main points
- Identify related sub-topics, and
- Organize them in an effective and logical sequence
Outlining helps you write faster
There’s another unexpected benefit to outlining—it boosts your writing speed.
When I was a neophyte writer, I would roll an article topic around in my head for a moment and then just start writing. Outlines? We don’t need no steenking outlines! (Shout out to every classic film lover who gets the Treasure of the Sierra Madre reference.)
I eventually realized that although writing was my superpower, giving my writing good structure required finesse. I often spent way too much time circling back (“And another thing!”) to add something I’d left out. Or, worse, I’d drop an “And another thing” at the end of my piece, where it felt superfluous or out of place. Sometimes, I’d find that I’d written something tangential that didn’t fit with the overall theme of the article, and I’d have to eliminate blocks of text I’d spent time and energy writing
So I started taking a few minutes to organize my thoughts before I started writing, and that’s when I learned that outlining is everything. Once I’d done my brain dump, organized it, added anything missing, and eliminated anything extraneous, my writing sails unfurled and I could glide right through my article, riding the fair winds of structure to the shores of clarity.
Alas, outlining probably won’t help me stop conjuring lame metaphors. But I digress. (Intentionally. The digression was literally in my outline!)
Outlining helps you connect with your audience
You can’t write just to see yourself write. You may have things to say, sure, but are they actually interesting to your audience? Why should your reader care
Outlining can help you get into your reader’s head, so start every writing project by empathizing. If you’re writing something to help solve a problem for your reader, start your outline by stating the problem. If you’re trying to persuade, then start by writing down your argument. From there, you can organize your thoughts around solving the problem or supporting your argument and defending your ideas.
I like to think of good writing as akin to sitting down with a friend over coffee and excitedly telling them about some cool facts you’ve discovered or some interesting ideas you have. Your conversation won’t be very effective if you have to keep circling back to explain something you missed, or you accidentally leave out important information, or your friend lacks the necessary context to help make sense of what you’re telling them.
Outlining is easier than you think
If you’re anything like I used to be, you have memories of having to write formal outlines for school papers. But you don’t need a fancy format — keep it simple.
Here’s how I do it. I’ll use this post as an example.
I’ll start with the question my reader has, the very thing that probably brought you to this page.
QUESTION: Why do I need an outline?
Now, I’ll jot down points that answer the question.
- Why it’s important to have an outline
- Creates structure and avoids “And another thing”
- Helps you identify main points and sub-topics
- Helps you organize everything in a logical way
- Outlining helps you write faster
- Personal experience with outlining (before and after)
- Helps you spot anything missing
- Helps you eliminate anything extra
- Outlining helps you connect with your audience
- Identify your reader’s “why”
- In persuasive writing, clearly state your argument and then support it
- You’re not writing for yourself; you’re writing to someone
- Example of a simple outline
I create my outline right at the top of the page when I begin writing. Then, everything else flows smoothly.
Remember, an outline isn’t a rigid box that confines you. It’s more like a lighthouse beam to guide you through the fog. If you have to make a change, of course, that’s fine. But starting with clarity of purpose and intent is a whole lot easier than wading through your stream of consciousness after the fact and trying to fish out a few salient points.
