Always outline your essays (or other writing assignments) before you write them. The purpose of the outline is to ensure that your essay touches on all of the important points and presents them in a logical order. If your instructor gave these points to you as part of the assignment, your task is easier. If you are expected to organize your essay (or other written assignment) on your own, take the time to compose a good outline.

Points to consider when creating an outline:

• The outline should reflect all of the most useful information that you discovered while doing your research.

• Be sure to organize your outline so that it covers all parts of the assignment.
• Make certain that your outline matches the length of your assignment. An outline with twenty points cannot be covered in an essay that has a limit of five pages.
• Your outline should guide your writing, but it is sometimes necessary to change an outline as you write. If, as you progress, you find that parts of your outline are unworkable, or if you uncover additional topics that need to be covered, don’t hesitate to modify your outline accordingly by deleting and adding points.

See also Creating a Research Outline.

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