When you are faced with starting an academic paper, the most important part of researching and writing is organization! If you are not organized, it will take considerably more time to write the paper. Outlining is one of the most effective organization methods as it forces you to come up with a framework for your paper before you start writing. Outlines don’t have to be fancy, formal documents; all you basically need to do is sketch out your main ideas in a logical order. Below are some tips to get you started!
1. Research
You certainly don’t need to conduct all of your research before you start your outline. At the very least, however, you should do enough to come up with a tentative thesis statement and to have a grasp of the broad main points that will be required to support your thesis. Once you have these, you can then fill in the rest of the outline as you do your research.
As you research, you should keep a running list of all of the sources you have consulted with a one or two sentence synopsis of each source. It is also helpful and time-saving to compile all of the bibliographical information you will need for your reference page as you research. If you are printing from the Internet, it is also wise to set up the browser to print the URL and date of access for every page as you will need that later as well. This prevents the arduous task of locating all of the information at the end!
It is also helpful to categorize your research as you go. This does not have to a formal process; I find it helpful to just put all of my research on a similar topic or sub-topic in the same pile and then clip it together and label it with a sticky note.
2. Developing a General Thesis Statement
The main purpose of a thesis statement is to help the reader identify the main idea of your paper. Another purpose of a thesis statement is to help you develop a plan for the writing of your paper.
Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper. Most writers will revise their thesis at least once during the course of writing a paper!
At the end, however, your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.
3. Creating an Outline
Outlines are a great way for organizing your research and your writing. An outline breaks down the parts of your thesis in a clear, organized fashion. Most students find that writing an outline before beginning the paper is most helpful in organizing one's thoughts. The better your outline, the easier your paper should be to write.
Outlines don’t have to fit the kind of formula (heading, sub-heading, sub-sub-heading) that you learned in eighth grade. An outline is basically an organized list of your main points that serves as a blueprint of how you want to construct your argument. How much detail you place in your outline is really up to you! Some writers cannot start writing until they have a detailed outline that sets forth every point and sub point; others just need to sketch out all of their main ideas and the order in which they will be addressed.
Regardless of the level of details, your outline should at least contain an INTRODUCTION, a BODY, and a CONCLUSION. These often serve as the main headings (i.e. I, II and III) of the outline. The Introduction contains background information, states the thesis and sets the objectives of the paper, while also sparking the reader’s interest. The Body contains paragraphs that support and develop the thesis--one point per paragraph, introduced by a topic sentence. The Conclusion restates the thesis, summarized the main points and expresses a personal view, if appropriate. Your subheadings and sub-sub headings, if any, will serve as the main ideas for the paragraphs of your paper.
4. Organizing Your Notes and Sources
At this point, you should analyze, synthesize, sort and digest all of the information you have gathered. First, go through each source thoroughly and make notes of the important points stated in each source. Next, organize all the information you have gathered according to your outline. Mark each note or source clearly with your outline code or reference, e.g., IB2a or IIC, etc. If you have categorized and labeled your research along the way, this will be a less difficult process. Either way, you should review and critically analyze all of your research data. Use only the best available sources, check for accuracy and verify that the information is factual, up-to-date and correct. Do not include any information that is not relevant to your topic, and do not include any information that you do not understand.
5. Starting the Writing Process
It is finally time to start writing! Start with the first topic in your outline. Review all of the relevant notes and sources you have gathered that have been marked, e.g. with the capital Roman numeral I.
Summarize, paraphrase or quote directly for each idea you plan to use in your essay. Use a technique that suits you, e.g. write summaries, paraphrases or quotations on note cards, or separate sheets of lined paper. I prefer to use a word processor to compile all of my notes so that I can easily cut and paste them into my outline, which will ultimately become my first draft! Before you know it, you have a well organized term paper that is completed exactly as outlined.
As described above, outlining can provide you with the building blocks for a well-structured paper. Regardless of the method used, writers should always devote time to organization because it is invaluable to writing a persuasive and logical paper.
