School has really been tough for me. I just finished an in class essay test for my English class. It was our first essay for the class and worth fifty points. Our teacher allowed us to print out an outline and to use our phone this time. I didn’t use my phone for my essay as I knew it would distract me and make me stay later to finish my essay. However, I did make an outline which I thought was pretty good for a quick one done the night before. Which is why I’m sharing with you guys the best way to make an outline. Not only will this help you during an essay exam if they’re allowed, they make sure you hit the important topics or details when you’re writing. 

If the essay is open subject, pick something you know. You’re already familiar with it and know where to get more relevant information. If the essay isn’t open subject, make a quick search online. Use google scholar to get to the more relevant articles and cut through the junk.

Whenever you can, write out your outline in sentences. That way you have a general idea of what you want to say and you can add, take away, or alter it when you start writing. If you have to make a more visual appealing outline, use subheadings and bullet points. It’ll be easier to rearrange if you can see the small chunks instead of just huge balloons of text. 

My outline only had the basics. As I started to write, I added in little details that I remember as those were what I thought were important to know since they came to me when I was writing. If it’s something that can’t be forgotten, write into your outline. If you’re iffy about it, leave it out. Once you get writing, you’ll realize what you need to add as you go along.

Okay, so I had a page limit on my outline. However, I realized I didn’t need that many paragraphs for my essay. See if you can cut down on irrelevant information. You don’t really need a conclusion on your outline since you have the opening paragraph written out. Just reword it and hash out the topic sentences of each body paragraph. If your opening paragraph is too long, cut it down. Your body paragraphs are the meat of the essay and should reflect that.

I thought my essay was pretty good. Of course, it was a process analysis essay and I just needed to tell people how to do something instead of arguing with them.