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Outlining and Drafting

Author: Sophia

what's covered
In this lesson, you will learn how to use an outline to move into the drafting stage of the writing process with control and intent. You will also further strengthen your productivity skill by learning how to effectively draft a writing project from an outline. Specifically, this lesson will cover:

Table of Contents

1. Outlines and Drafts in the Writing Process

As you may know, a draft is an individual iteration of an essay or other piece of writing. One thing that experienced writers assume about their writing process is that multiple drafts are a fact of life, at least if they want to get anywhere close to meeting their potential.

Thus, writers tend to view an outline as the beginning of a longer and more productive process, as well as a transition into the drafting stage.

hint
Think of the outline as a map telling you where to go next. If you have a map, it's harder to get lost, and it's less likely that you'll be delayed by an obstacle like writer's block.

However, it's important not to think of your outline as set in stone. It's not a contract, but more like a mental guide. As with everything else in the writing process, you're in charge of the outline. If you ever feel the need to add, cut, or rearrange something in your outline, do it.

Remember that your outline, as well as later drafts of the essay itself, should always be driven by the working thesis, which itself can be changed throughout the writing process.

terms to know
Outline
The prewritten plan for an essay or other piece of writing that generally includes a working thesis, the primary ideas to be discussed, and the planned structural organization.
Drafting
The act of composing a piece of writing.


2. Using an Outline

Now that we're a little more clear about what an outline is, let's look at how using one can help you proceed through the writing process, through drafting and revision.

IN CONTEXT

Suppose you are working on an essay about workplace safety. For the purpose of this hypothetical essay, let's say your argument is going to be that all workplaces should have designated employees who help manage safety protocols. A bare bones outline of this essay might look something like this:

  1. Designated safety managers necessary in all workplaces
    1. Some office settings do not have specific employees who enforce safety measures
    2. Safety precautions are essential in all workplaces, not just those involving obvious risks like large equipment or dangerous chemicals
  2. Types of situations where safety managers are needed
    1. Fire drills, nature disaster procedures, power outages
    2. Include legal issues around safety violations, or no?
  3. Conclusion: Make safety a priority in the workplace, not an afterthought
    1. Appeal to be proactive rather than reactive

What do you notice? Besides the fact that it's necessarily brief and doesn't use complete sentences, it looks like a fairly thorough set of notes, right? It's a map for where you want to go with the essay, including the three main points you want to make. It begins with the thesis about how workplace safety managers are essential, followed by some examples to make the topic real for your readers.

Next is an exploration into the most common situations in which these safety managers would be needed. There is also a note in this section, asking whether or not to include a discussion about legal issues related to safety violations.

hint
Not all writers do this, but sometimes when writing an outline, it's helpful to include material like this—subjects or side arguments that you're not completely sure are necessary for your argument, but that you don't want to forget. As you're writing, you may find a good way to include this piece of information, or you may not. Remember that this is your outline, not something you absolutely have to follow. Therefore, it's fine to include options like this.

Finally, the last planned section includes a call to action for people to be proactive about safety rather than only reacting when a crisis occurs.

The chances are very good that as you actually begin to write your first draft, you'll find that, for instance, you need to do much more work in the first section in order to convince your intended audience that designated safety managers are really that important, and that they're worth writing and reading about. Therefore, one thing you might end up doing is borrowing some of the material you'd intended to use at the end in order to front-load your argument about why this matters—the whole part about making safety a priority instead of an afterthought, and how that is ultimately a much bigger argument that stretches far beyond the need for designated safety managers in the workplace.

This is absolutely fine. Just because you write an outline one way doesn't mean it is set in stone. After all, part of the reason you take a map on a journey is so you'll have multiple options when it comes to reaching your destination!

Productivity: Apply Your Skill
Imagine that you work for a snack company and you have an idea for a new product. You’re writing a short description for the leadership team. By using an outline, you have already organized the information in a way that makes sense. You can now focus on making the writing engaging to meet your goal of showing the readers why the product is a good idea. Your writing process will be much faster than it would without an outline, making you a more productive worker.


3. Preventing Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a subject that you're likely familiar with, at least vaguely. In an academic context, plagiarism involves presenting someone else's ideas or writing as your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Regardless of the intention, this behavior is considered unethical, and sometimes even illegal. Intentional, or deliberate, plagiarism generally incurs some punitive reaction from a teacher or educational institution. Unintentional plagiarism comes about when a careless writer fails to give credit to whoever first came up with the idea or work that's been taken.

It's important to address plagiarism in this discussion because having an original outline and original working thesis will help prevent both types of plagiarism.

If students, or any writers for that matter, have an outline and a working thesis, they will have already clearly expressed and organized their ideas in their own words, and will therefore be less likely to unintentionally take another's ideas or words as their own.

Also, if writers have done their due diligence in the prewriting stage, there will generally be less incentive to take another's ideas or words intentionally. After all, they'll have already done half the work, right?

term to know
Plagiarism
The presentation of another person's ideas or writing as your own, either intentionally or unintentionally.

summary
In this lesson, you learned about the relationship between outlines and drafts in the writing process. Outlines provide direction and structure for an essay, so writers can benefit from using an outline to move into early and later drafts. You also learned how using an outline can help prevent plagiarism, both intentional and unintentional. Because outlines encourage writers to put their ideas in their own words early on, plagiarism may be less likely to occur later in the writing process. Finally, you discovered how using an outline to draft a paper improves your productivity skill.

Best of luck in your learning!

Terms to Know
Drafting

The act of composing a piece of writing.

Outline

The prewritten plan for an essay or other piece of writing that generally includes a working thesis, the primary ideas to be discussed, and the planned structural organization.

Plagiarism

The presentation of another person's ideas or writing as your own, either intentionally or unintentionally.