How to Create an Effective Outline

From fiction to essays, learn how to map out your writing so you don’t get lost.

Photo by Dan Dimmock on Unsplash

Writing is hard. Shocking, I know, I’ll wait for you to catch your breath after that massive revelation. It’s hard for a lot of reasons, but the writing pitfall that tends to grab me is, once you have an idea, how do you move it from your head to your paper? One of the best ways I’ve found to do that is by creating an outline.

Outlines are the sparse notes you use to structure and develop a piece from an idea to a finished story. They come in a huge number of formats and can be adjusted for nearly every genre.

Now, some writers will say that outlines aren’t necessary, but I’d like to argue that a typical outline isn’t necessary. A dedicated, informed, and effective outline, on the other hand, definitely is.

Here’s how to create an effective outline that will help to keep you from floundering in writer’s block hell.

Why use an outline?

When you’re building a house, it’s not the best idea to go at it without a plan, is it? Having blueprints lets you know where the supporting beams need to go, how big the foundation is, what that foundation is made of, and how the space over and around it is used. You can add all the paint and decor you want, but if you’re building without establishing how you’re going to proceed, you might end up with rubble rather than real estate.

The same is true for writing. To create effective stories, whether they’re fiction or nonfiction, you need an outline. Outlines provide the basic shape of a piece before you add in the content — it lets you know what the article is going to say before you say it. They’re a tool you can use to guide you through murky details and struggling scenes so that you always make it to the conclusion.

This is especially useful if you’re writing pieces over a longer period of time — who knows if you’ll remember what you were going to say in that next sentence if you don’t come back to your draft for a week or two? It’s also good for more complex topics like full-length book reviews and educational pieces (like this one!) where there are lots of little details to remember and the concepts are…