Planning Your Document
• Establish the document’s purpose
- What do I want this document to do? Inform? Instruct? Persuade? Explain? Other? A combination?
• Determine content and scope
- What do I know? What do I need to find out? Where will I find the information?
- What do I need to include? Leave out?
• Identify the reader and assess the reader’s needs
• Consider constraints
- Length: How much of my reader's time do I have?
- Time: What is the schedule?
- Subject content and format: What does my reader expect?
- Social/tone: What does my reader prefer?
- Collaborative: Who else is involved? Who is in charge?
- Availability of information: Which resources are available to me? Which are not?
• Determine design
- Which design features will reinforce the purpose of the document? Which visuals?
- Which features will appeal to my reader?
Developing Your Outline
1. Review planning
Before you start creating your outline, make sure you have gone through the steps in planning your document (above).
2. Generate ideas
Once you have thoroughly considered your purpose, reader, content and scope, and document design, you are ready to generate ideas by any of the following methods:
- brainstorming
- mind mapping
- word webs
- free writing
- enumeration
3. Organize
Now start to organize your ideas, grouping together ideas that are related to each other. These will form the sections and subsections of your document.
4. Order
Divide this material into groups according to an appropriate organizational pattern (for example, from the general to the specific, or from abstract to concrete).
5. Label
Create main and subtopic headings and write coordinate levels in parallel form.
6. Evaluate and revise
Outlines are rarely ready on first try. Keep at it until you are satisfied with the way the way you have arranged your topics into headings and subheadings. You may have to reorganize and reorder in several different ways before you are satisfied with your outline.
Some Principles of Outlining
An outline has a balanced structure that reflects the principles of
• Parallelism
Nouns are made parallel with nouns, verb forms with verb forms, adjectives with adjectives, and so on (e.g.: nouns: computers, programs, users; verbs: computing, programming, using; adjectives: home computers, new programs, experienced users.) Although parallel structure is preferable, never sacrifice logic and clarity simply to maintain parallelism.
Example:
• Creating a New Document
• Entering Text
• Saving a Document
• Coordination
Items that are of equal significance are at the same level; an A is equal a B, a 1 to a 2, an a to a b, etc.
Correct coordination:
A. Word processing software
B. Database software
C. Layout software
Incorrect coordination:
A. Word processing software
B. MS Word
C. WordPerfect
• Subordination
An outline uses major and minor headings to indicate different levels of significance. As you order your ideas, consider which ideas are subheadings of other, higher level, ideas.
Correct subordination
A. Word processing software
1. MS Word
2. WordPerfect
B. Browsers
1. Firefox
2. Safari
Faulty subordination
A. Word processing software
1. MS Word
2. Advantages
3. Disadvantages
• Division
To divide, you need at least two parts; there can never be an A without a B, a 1 without a 2, an a without a b, etc. Usually there is more than one way to divide parts; choose only one basis of division at each rank and make the basis of division as sharp as possible.
A. Hardware
1. Types
2. Cost
3. Maintenance
B. Software
1. Types
2. Cost
3. Maintenance
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