When you have an outline for your essay, you’ll find it easy to organize your arguments and the information you collected. The entire writing process will be much smoother and more effective.
Why Is It Important to Learn How to Write an Essay Outline?
Here at Xpert Writers, we’re always stressing out the importance of outlining. Most students don’t bother composing an essay outline, thinking it’s a waste of time. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Outlining, in fact, saves you time.
The outline will give you a rough idea on what the entire essay will look like.
It will keep your arguments focused. Without an outline, it’s easy to start making digressions. When you base the essay on an outline, you will present focused content to the reader.
The outline prevents the common phenomenon known as a writer’s block. You may read all guides on writing a 5-paragraph essay. You may know how to write a conclusion for an essay perfectly. If you skip the outlining process, you’ll probably stare at that blank page for hours without any idea how to start.
The Steps to Writing Outline for Essay
Following an essay outline example helps you understand what this is all about. We’ll give you that, along with practical tips on how to tackle the outlining challenge.
- Understand the Guidelines
If you’re confused, ask your professor or your classmates to make the guidelines clearer for you.
You have to know how long the paper will be. More importantly, you have to know what type of essay it will be.
Should you write an argumentative, compare and contrast, or narrative essay? It makes a difference.
- Brainstorm
If your professor didn’t assign a precise topic for this essay, you’ll have to come up with one.
List all ideas you have in mind. Don’t be judgmental; these are just ideas. Write all of them down.
Once you have several potential subjects on paper, it’s time to question them. If necessary, conduct a brief research to see if there are enough facts and resources to support your favorite idea.
- Write the Thesis Statement
The thesis statement should expose an arguable claim regarding the topic. It’s a single sentence that grasps the essence of your whole paper.
- Understand the Essay’s Structure
These are the main elements your outline should contain:
Introduction
You need an attention-grabbing opening. You may provide background information on the topic. Finish the introduction with the thesis statement.
Body
A 5-paragraph essay has 3 body paragraphs. Each of them contains the main argument related to the thesis statement.
Conclusion
You’ll restate the thesis statement and make a concluding statement.
Now that You Know How to Write an Outline for an Essay, It’s Easier to Tackle the Challenge
That essay outline format looked like an entire essay, didn’t it? There’s a catch: you’ll only write your main ideas in the outline. What do you plan to write in each section? When you have these ideas, it will be really easy to fill in the gaps. You’ll have your paper ready before you know it.
The tips above should help you write the outline for any 5-paragraph essay. If it’s not easy for you, we can help! The professionals at XpertWriters.com can support you throughout all stages of the planning, research, and writing process.