Alternatives to Essay Outlines

While some students prefer to create essay outlines, it’s not everyone’s first choice. If you’re not a fan of the standard outline, try one of these alternatives on your next paper. You might discover a new, helpful way to prepare your essays!

Flowcharts

A flowchart provides a visual representation of all of your thoughts and ideas feeding into one another seamlessly. To make a flowchart, simply draw shapes large enough to write in. You can do top to bottom, left to right or any way that works best for you. Start with a large shape and write your main topic. Then, branch out to display the main ideas or points you are discussing in your essay. There are typically three main ideas for a standard paper, but that number can vary. Then, those main ideas or points will branch out to show specific details and examples you’ll be talking about for each one. This is a great tool to use if you often find yourself going on tangents, discussing ideas that might not be relevant or have a difficult time making your essay sound cohesive. 

Flashcards

Though this is a common tactic for things like vocabulary study or test prep, flashcards can also be your answer to preparing an essay. Start by writing down any ideas you can brainstorm. You can organize them by color coding; use the same color for similar ideas and different colors for different ideas. Now that you have everything together, you can rearrange them in any order you want until you decide on a collection of concepts and points that flow well. Once you’re done, you have an outline! This works great for people who struggle with organizing their thoughts, because with this method, you don’t have to completely start over if something isn’t working. 

One-on-One Discussion

Some students just do better talking their ideas through. Find some time to sit down with a teacher, tutor or classmate to discuss the project. You can bounce ideas off of each other, get clarity on the subject or even come up with an amazing idea you wouldn’t have thought of on your own. During the session, write everything down! Go in with a template and prepare to work hard. Have a category for main topics, body paragraph points, examples and things to research. Organize this however you like; as long as it makes sense to you, that’s all that matters. This method can be excellent for students who have a difficult time just getting started and need an extra push to get those creative juices flowing. 

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