Why write an outline?

Many students start writing papers or a thesis without first constructing an outline. You might then find yourself in a similar situation as if you started to build a house without an architectural plan. You might end up with a house with four walls but the house is unlikely to have an overarching design or fulfill all the basic functions a house should provide. Similar to an architectural plan, an outline provides the plan and the basic structure of your thesis.

Writing an outline is a time-consuming process, which you may feel you do not have time for. It will, however, save you time in the long run, and will help avoid wasting time writing content that you will never use in your thesis. It is also a valuable tool to recognize what information is relevant to include in your thesis and an outlines helps you to organize information into chapters and paragraphs. Once you have an outline in place, the rest of the writing process will be much easier and faster. The following video will go into more details on how to write an outline for your thesis.

Organize your information

Many students only write about their intentions in an outline without including any actual information or research. This results in a list of topics, which does not contribute much to a cohesive paper or thesis. Once you start the actual writing, your thesis will probably end up looking completely different from the list of topics you planned on writing in your outline. If you did not do your research, while writing an outline, you might even find that some of the topics you planned to write about, you could not find any information about. Writing an outline then has little purpose. An outline is only useful if you include information you plan to use into your paper or thesis.

A detailed outline should include the information you actually plan to present in your thesis, but in short bullet points. When you have read an interesting article with information you plan to use, summarize the main points briefly in your outline in short incomplete sentences. Also, include the reference in your outline, so when you start writing your first draft and feel you need to revisit the article, you know exactly where to look. Even noting down exact page numbers on where you found your information might be a smart idea. By continuously updating your outline as you are doing your research, you are creating the structure of your thesis.

Once you have your basic outline done, you can start to organize it into chapters and paragraphs by grouping information together, and start planning transitions between the different parts of the thesis. Which information could you present at the end of the paragraph to fluently lead to the next topic? Make sure the information you present flows logically and that it is easy to create transitions between the different topics and paragraphs. Always think what the reader needs to understand first, in order to understand the next piece of information or argument you are presenting. If you cannot easily create transitions between topics, maybe the information should be moved somewhere else. Most likely you will discover that some of the information you planned to use does not fit into your thesis. It is much easier to remove these parts in an outline than when you have spent considerable time writing whole pages about it.

Remember the IMRaD structure when you are writing your outline and try to organize your topics and paragraphs into this structure. Revisit module 4 for more information about the IMRaD structure.

Develop your outline throughout the entire research process.Organize your ideas and link information and read articles to these ideas, and continue this process as long as you are still including and finding new information. A strong outline makes writing much easier and less time-consuming. Outlines act as roadmaps and help you avoid writer's’ block because you have a well-constructed outline to follow when you write.

Related resources

Why and how to write an outline

Types of outlines

Example of an outline