Is it Necessary to Write an Essay Outline Before Starting the Essay?

Many tips on how to write an essay and other websites that offer guidelines and help with essay writing often recommend the use of an outline prior to writing the text for the essay. Is it really necessary to write an essay outline before starting on the essay itself?

Well, as far as other students claim, outlining one’s thoughts before writing any piece of text – be it an essay, a short story, a thesis, a term paper, a reaction paper, or what not, can definitely help.

Here are some of the benefits you can get if you outline your essay before writing it:

• Outlining allows you to organise your thoughts. When outlining your essay, you list down all the important ideas you wish to include in your essay, this includes what you intend to write for your thesis statement, your introduction, the arguments you wish to include in support of your thesis statement, any information in support of your arguments, and of course, the conclusion you wish to make.
• Outlining the essay allows you to put together your essay properly and ensure that all the important points you wish to make are included. Outlining these thoughts will allow you to put them on paper in their simplest form, giving you a chance to move them around to come up with the best possible flow starting from the introduction down to the conclusion – something very important when writing an essay.
• Outlining ensures that you stick to the focal point of your essay – the thesis statement. The outline allows you to get an overall view of the entire piece. This helps in making sure that all the points you include are directed towards or contribute towards the establishment of your thesis statement.
• Outlining allows you to see the meat of your essay, ensuring that all the arguments you include in the text point towards the conclusion you intend to make.