Outlining

• Outlining

  • process of organizing one's ideas in a logical way. In writing, it helps the writer to include and not to include.
• Common Outline Patterns

  • IBC Format (Intro, Body, Conclusion)
  • IMRD Format (Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion)
• General Principles of Outlining

  1. Parallelism
  2. Subordination
  3. Coordination
  4. Division
• Parallelism

  • nouns should be made parallel with nouns, and verbs with verbs; this will enable the reader to recognize similarity and its function.
• Subordination

  • A writer should distinguish major and minor components of the outline.
• Coordination

  • Items of equal significance in the same category or label (Headings = Roman Numerals; subheadings = Arabic letters).
• Division

  • Two or more parts and this division should be based on rank/level/category.
• General Rules

  1. Format
  2. Capitalization of first letters
  3. Two subpoints are the minimum per-point
  4. Use either the sentence or phrase for each point.
  5. Be consistent