HolisticWisdom.org web site
Linda Diane Feldt
RPP, NCTMB, Holistic Health Practitioner and Herbalist
The Ann Arbor Center for Holistic Health and Traditional Wisdom
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The simplest outline is to have three sections -- beginning, middle and end. Use three index cards, divide a page into three, use three separate ages, or using a word processing program start with those three headings and add material under each one. Simply list ideas, phrases, or thoughts for each of these three sections. Order the ideas within the sections, and you have an outline.
People learn and organize differently. Highly visual people may prefer to draw circles and other shapes and link them together with lines or arrows. The size and shape of the objects may help you to structure what you will then write.
The introduction of word processing helped many writers who do best by writing pieces of material and then going back later to organize them in to the beginning, middle and end.
Traditional outlining uses a hierarchical structure -- there are good examples of this in the links below. This works for most people, but for some writing is never hierarchical but more relational.
The most important thing is to know the key concepts and ideas you will include in your writing, develop a flow or order for those ideas, and create the beginning, middle and end of the paper.
These are helpful web sites for more detailed information on creating an outline:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_outlin.html
http://www.rscc.cc.tn.us/owl&writingcenter/OWL/HowtoBegin.html
