Picture this: You’re working on a write-up that requires you to dive deeply into complex topics and themes, and use the insights you learned to write a coherent and easy-to-read article.
You did your research, covered all your bases, and came up with a solid gameplan on how you will discuss everything you’ve just learned.
Armed with a gameplan and the insights you’ve gathered, you begin writing your article with confidence and elation.
However, once you finished drafting your article, you noticed a problem:
Every sentence and paragraph you’ve written just doesn’t flow well. Your messaging is muddled, the ideas you present scattered, and the overall article just looks unpolished and incoherent.
Oh no…
Puzzled, you take a pause and thoroughly examine the steps you took before you wrote the first draft.
Eventually, you realized that you missed a crucial step: Writing an outline!
The situation we just described has played out many times before, that’s why for today’s “Write with the Pen of the Masters,” we’re going to take a deep dive on the importance of outlines!
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In a world where you can churn out a rough draft with just a few intentional and well-thought out prompts, the ability to write an outline and the importance placed on it have become diminished.
After all, why spend time outlining when you can just use an AI tool to write your first draft for you?
We get it, doing that just makes too much sense because it’s efficient and enables you to spend time on other writing tasks.
However, spending the time to craft an outline is still a valuable step in the writing process as it enables you to map out and organize your thoughts long before you write a draft.
Instead of getting overwhelmed with so much information at your fingertips, you’re able to come up with a structured and intentionally-crafted write-up because you mapped out how you were going to draft it in the first place.
… and one of the best things about outlining?
You can add or trim parts of your write-up before you even start writing it, helping you save more time in the drafting process.
So, how exactly do you go about writing an outline? What are the elements that can be typically found in them?
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Identify your intent.
You can’t write an outline nor a draft if you don’t know what your purpose is in the first place.
Everything you write starts out with an intent, so ask yourself:
Am I writing an ad copy?
Am I writing a blog post on a highly technical subject?
Am I writing a copy that’s meant to persuade readers to act on a call-to-action (CTA)?
You’ll be able to determine what you’ll do and which information you need to look for by asking yourself what the goal of your write-up is.
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Do your research.
Once you’ve identified the purpose of the write-up you’re supposed to draft, then it’s time to do your research.
This is crucial, especially when you’re working on an unfamiliar topic because this allows you to identify which aspects of the topic to cover and find evidence to support your claims and primary message.
Once you know your intent and have done your research, here are the typical elements found in the outline that you’ll be writing:
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Headline/Working title
This doesn’t have to be final (you’ll probably end up with multiple iterations), but it’s important that you have a working title that encapsulates what your write-up will contain and one that will grab your readers’ attention.
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Main sections/heading
Headings provide you with a clear content structure. Typically, these represent each different aspect that’s related to the main theme of your write-up.
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Subsections
Inside each main section or heading is a subsection that further divides the content and information you have into more focused topics.
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Key Points
Important points that will be discussed in the draft will be contained in each main section or subsection. Typically, bullet points are used to highlight relevant and crucial information.
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Supporting evidence
This refers to evidence, data, or insights that back up each of the key points.
Including supporting evidence isn’t just for organization. Practicing this allows you to add supporting evidence and establish credibility well before you come up with the first draft of your write-up.
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References/Bibliography
Usually included at the end of an outline is a list of sources consulted and utilized in crafting the outline and the article.
Having this list enables writers and editors to retrieve information and fact check sources or external links.
Bonus tip: You can speed up your outline creation process by leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity to make one for you.
Once you get an initial draft, you can make adjustments based on the research you’ve conducted and the intent for your write-up.
Remember: AI tools can hallucinate, so make sure to double check AI-generated outputs.
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Killer write-ups and attention-grabbing copies are often structured, coherent, and clearly articulated.
That’s why if you want to craft articles, blog posts, social media captions, newsletters, and the likes, you need to write them in a clear, organized, and coherent manner.
We hope you learned a lot from today’s topic!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Wednesdays: Write with the Pen of the Masters”
Who doesn’t find content writing to be a skill that requires a lot of practice and effort?
In fact, many people may even find copywriting very intimidating.
However, you can be a good writer as long as you have the right tools. You won’t always get things right the first time, but with enough time and practice, you’ll get the hang of it!
When you write copy for any brand or for your company, your aim is to make an impact and…
… to get people to remember.
Getting people to remember means getting consumers to buy your product or avail of your service.
… and when you get your content to deliver the results you want, THAT is great copy!
Every Wednesday, we publish content based on tips and insights from the masters of content writing, copywriting, and storytelling.
Become more familiar with ways to write great copy that helps you gain ROI from your efforts, drive profitability, and achieve your business goals.
Learn time-tested tactics that better capture the attention of your target audience, and maximize the benefits of great copywriting.
Hope you find this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Wednesday’s “Write with the Pen of the Masters!”
Cheers,
Dyane Diasanta
Senior Content Writer
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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