How to write an outline
An outline is the simplest way to trade writer’s block for momentum, before you waste time drafting.
A common difficulty of writing is what many refer to as writer's block; a state in which the writer reaches a wall - a mental block that doesn't allow their brain to continue further in their writing. Writer's block occurs for most type of writing, be it an academic essay, fictional writing or even journals. While there are many remedies for getting past writer's block, the simplest being to take a pause and go for a walk, there are also precautions one can take before the actual writing, to avoid getting stuck throughout your writing - one of which is creating an outline.
What is an outline in writing?
An outline, in its simplest form, is a structured plan for a piece of writing. Be it an essay, novel or academic research - laying out an outline is an incredibly beneficial practice that helps in many ways:
It shapes your initial idea of the text.
It challenges your preconception of what you are about to write, helping you see the overall picture of the piece, rather than a chapter-by-chapter waterfall.
It reveals gaps, redundancies, or weak connections between ideas before you commit to writing them out.
It provides a sense of momentum, making the writing process feel guided instead of overwhelming.
This is not to say that an outline determines the final structure of your text. It is merely an initial "blueprint" that helps you gain an superficial overview and path for your writing. Outlines can also be useful beyond the act of writing itself. By presenting the structure of a piece to other people, an outline can communicate intent, direction, and scope without requiring a fully written draft. This makes it an effective way to share early ideas, gather feedback, or align expectations.
How to write an outline
It is important to note that there is not a "one size fits all" method for writing an outline, and it largely depends on how they benefit the individual person. While, as we previously talked about, outlines can help present initial structure to other people, an outline is mostly to help the writer themselves, hence making it a subjective act.
That said, there are a few general principles that tend to make outlines more useful and effective:
Avoid making outlines too thorough. Over-specifying structure or content can make the outline rigid and harder to adapt as ideas evolve during writing.
Treat the outline as malleable. An outline should be easy to revise, reorder, or discard as your understanding of the text deepens.
Include brief summaries, keywords, or intentions. Instead of full prose, short notes can capture what each section or chapter is meant to achieve.
Focus on flow rather than polish. The outline should help you reason about progression and relationships between ideas, not sentence-level quality.
These principles naturally lead into the question of what an outline should actually contain, and which elements are worth defining upfront.
What should an outline include
As stated, there is not a single source of truth for what an outline needs to include - it depends on what provides value for the writer (and possibly anyone who may be presented the outline). Rather than adhering to a rigid "template", an effective outline captures just enough structure and intent to guide the writing forward once the actual writing starts.
Though, at a minimum, most outlines benefit from a clear structure of sections or chapters, giving the text a visible shape (usually including heading hierarchy of chapters and subchapters). Beyond that, outlines may include short descriptions of each section's purpose, key arguments or themes, and notes on how different parts connect to one another. This can be as simple as a bulleted list of keywords or rough ideas of what a chapter or section may come to include.
Ultimately, the outline should function as a tool for initial reflection rather than a set-in-stone plan. If a section exists only as a title, that may be enough. If another requires a few bullet points or keywords to clarify its role, that's equally valid.
To draw a perspective, I recently wrote an article on how to take good notes, and similarly to writing good notes, a good outline does not need to be extensive or beautifully formatted - as long as it provides value to the writer through the process of its own creation, while conveying the rough idea of what is about to be written.
Tools and methods for writing an outline
Outlining doesn't have to follow a single rigid process. Over time, writers have developed a variety of tools and methods to help shape ideas, explore structure, and reduce the friction of getting started. Some approaches are highly manual and reflective, while others lean more on frameworks or technology to accelerate the process.
What is the snowflake method
The Snowflake Method is an outlining approach that builds structure incrementally. You start with a single sentence that captures the core idea, then gradually expand it into paragraphs, sections, and sub-sections. Rather than designing a full outline upfront, the structure emerges through small, deliberate refinements.
This method works well because it keeps you engaged in the outlining process, helping you clarify your thinking step by step while maintaining a clear sense of direction as the outline grows. If you want a smaller-scale adaptation, where the expansion stays closer to thesis, reasons, and paragraph-level intent, I wrote a short follow-up on how to use snowflake method for essay that treats the same idea with essay constraints in mind.
Using AI for outlines
There's an increasing trend toward using artificial intelligence (AI) to help write outlines, and while this can be a valid use case, it's important to keep some of the earlier points from this post in mind. Much of the value of outlining comes from the act of creating the outline itself - it forces you to think through structure and form a mental picture of what you're about to write. Fully outsourcing this step to an LLM can short-circuit that process.
How to use AI to create an outline
Used intentionally, however, AI can still be helpful. The key is to treat it as a starting point, not a final authority. Letting it suggest a rough structure or surface angles you may not have considered and then revising the outline in your own words can help with your outlining process. Here, you can reorder sections, rename headings and add your own perspective. Keep in mind that the process is just as important as the outcome of your outline.
If the approach of using an LLM for your initial outline draft resonates, we've built an outline generator designed around this idea: it helps you explore structure, but still requires you to actively shape the outline by using your own words for the initial draft.
Final thoughts
Outlines are not about locking yourself into a rigid plan, they’re about reducing uncertainty before you start writing. Whether you prefer a loose list of headings, an incremental method like the Snowflake Method, or a lightly assisted AI draft, the value of an outline lies in how it helps you think. The act of outlining forces you to confront structure, intent, and flow before you’re deep in prose.
The most effective outlines are the ones that match your way of working. Some writers benefit from minimal structure, others from gradual refinement, and some from external prompts that help them get unstuck. What matters is that the outline remains a tool for your thinking, not a replacement for it.
If you approach outlining as a flexible, exploratory process—one that you revisit and revise as your understanding evolves—you’ll often find that writing becomes less about pushing through blocks, and more about following a path you’ve already taken the time to map out.