Writing articles is a task most of us avoid. But many of us enjoy writing articles. Why? Because we‘re prepared, we write articles methodically. Our secret? We create an outline first.

It’s the outline for our articles that makes us prepared. It contains the idea of what to do first and a plan for succeeding steps, making the job easier, faster, and more organized,

An outline is the design or blueprint for our articles. It guides us in creating the introduction, body and conclusion. It’s filled with ideas and sentences that will look good in our article, focal points that make it creative, interesting and appealing to a reader.

Here are some tips and guidelines in how to create an outline for your articles.

First, do all your research and information searching. Then designate a time frame to write down the ideas for your articles. Do some brainstorming and randomly jot down your brilliant ideas first. Provide a first sentence for your article, one that immediately grabs the attention of your reader. Think of ways to attract the interest of your reader. Review and reread your ideas and notes. Master your topic so that writing the article will be easy.

The next step is to discover your sub topic and sub titles. As you created a first sentence for your article, do the same for your sub topics. Put down all the facts that will support and go against your point.

These are the frames or skeleton of your article, now it’s time to add the flesh of your article. You will need to connect all your paragraphs and sub topics. This will form the body of your Article. While the introduction will usher in the ideas of your paragraph, you will need a conclusion. The conclusion will wrap up your points and drive in what you are saying in your article.

Now use your outline to write a draft. This usually takes more than one attempt, but it is called a draft for a reason. Your outline shall be perfected as each draft is written and since this draft is meant for your eyes only, there’s no reason to feel ashamed. As you go on, you will clearly see the bigger picture and write an article that will perfectly suit what is demanded of it.

Read and reread what you’ve written. Refer to your outline so you won’t drift. It’s not hard to be caught in the moment and get lost in a writing frenzy. An outline will help you keep on track. Time spent in outlining will not be wasted. It will serve as a guide. Rely on your outline; it will be a helpful tool in writing all of your articles.

 

A closing thought. There’s a famous saying, especially applicable to writing articles:

In the first paragraph, tell them what you are going to tell them.

In the following paragraphs, tell them.

In the last paragraph, tell them what you told them.