How to write an outline template for your essay.

An essay outline template can help you organize your thoughts, plan your arguments, and write more effectively.

We’ve all been there — it’s time to start your essay, and you find yourself staring at a blank page, not sure where to begin. An essay outline template is a great tool for making essay writing feel less daunting. It breaks down your essay into smaller, more approachable steps so you can organize your thoughts and map out your content to make sure it flows logically.

Follow along to write a new essay outline template or customize an existing one to suit your needs.

3 ways a template helps with essay writing.

1. Essay outline templates give you a starting point. Even if you don’t have all the details gathered yet, you at least have a place to begin.
2. A template encourages focused thinking. Taking on one section at a time helps you feel like you’re making progress.
3. A template with prompts can spark ideas you may not have thought of otherwise.

What makes a good essay outline template?

Whether you’re writing an essay for school, personal, or business purposes, a well-structured outline is helpful for any type of writing where clarity and organization are key. Here are some tips for how to write an outline template for your paper:

• Brainstorm ideas: Before starting your template, jot down all the ideas you want to convey, and then group related ideas together.
• Create a clear structure: This is the foundation for organizing your thoughts. Include main sections for an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, as well as subsections that list out what goes in each — things like your main points and supporting details.
• Include transitions: Adding transitions throughout the body of your outline template will help guide a logical flow of ideas throughout your essay.
• Add prompts to guide your writing: An essay template with blank sections is not much better than starting with a blank page. Include prompts to help you think critically and combat writer’s block. For example, in the body paragraph, it could say, “What evidence supports your argument?” and “How does this tie back to your thesis?”
• List your sources: It’s important to keep track of your sources from the get-go. Include a bibliography or works cited section to document all the sources you’ll use in your essay. Initially, this can be a rough list that you can organize and refine as you get closer to completing your essay.

Sample essay outline template.

Use this sample basic format as a guide for creating your outline template.

1. Introduction
   1. Hook: Grab your reader’s attention with an interesting fact, quote, or question.
   2. Background information: Briefly add context about your topic.
   3. Thesis statement: Clearly and concisely state your argument. Then outline how you’ll present and support it in the following paragraphs.
   4. Transition.
2. Body Paragraph 1
   1. Topic: The main idea of the paragraph.
   2. Supporting evidence: Facts that support your main idea.
   3. Explanation: How your evidence supports your main idea.
   4. Transition: Connect the idea from this paragraph to the idea in the next paragraph.
3. Additional Body Paragraphs
   1. Follow the same structure as Body Paragraph 1.
4. Conclusion
   1. Summarize the main points you made in your body paragraphs, and draw conclusions based on the connection of main ideas.
   2. Restate your thesis statement in a new way to reinforce your argument.
   3. Present a call to action.

Managing your essay outline templates.

Once you’ve created your template, you may want to share it or repurpose it in different formats.

If you have a template saved as a PDF and want to make changes, such as adding sections or adjusting formatting, you can use an online converter to turn your PDF into a Word document. Once you’ve made your changes, convert your Word document back to a PDF before sharing to retain formatting.

If you want to make quick updates, like annotations or text changes, without converting back and forth to Word, you can use a free online PDF editor.

Follow the steps, tips, and best practices outlined in this article to create an essay outline template that will help you organize your thoughts, develop your argument, and manage your time.

Discover more about how Adobe Acrobat can help you keep all your document needs organized and on track today.

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