Academic Writing Tips: a Basic Essay Outline Template

In order to write a proper academic essay, a few rules of thumb need to automatically be followed. Unless a professor deviates from the standard rules of academic writing, the following steps should be taken when writing a basic essay outline:

Subject

Every paper that has ever been written since the beginning of time has served a purpose. This brief synopsis has a purpose: how to write a basic essay outline. Take the time and fully develop the concept being supported on this paper. Ensure enough resources exist to support the main idea of the essay.

Details

In order to explain the main idea of a paper, details must be provided as a way of reinforce the main idea. The more details that are written out in a bullet point format, such as this paper allow for the writer to have more paragraphs which in turn means more research to support an argument or discussion point.

Support

All details need supporting arguments in order to win over a reader. If the main idea of the paper is the importance of nutrition in young adults, some of the details would include: the benefit of a well balanced diet, the aging process when it comes to nutrition, childhood obesity and what specifically is considered proper nutrition per age group. In order to speak on childhood obesity, the supporting arguments would discuss diabetes and other heart diseases/medical conditions, activity rates in children and social peer ridicule, amongst others.

Summary

Once the writer is finished writing all of these ideas down whether in bullet point format, a bubble chart or a graph they must work on the summary. The summary is a conclusion of thoughts that allows the writer to summarize what was written in their paper. It reiterates their main idea and offers suggestions for how to fix the problem, if one is being addressed in the writing.

Personal Opinion

Papers, especially in academia, are better read when someone offers some personal insight or opinion to their piece. A writer can plug and chug statistical analysis into their article all day to prove that their point is valid. However, an essay is more likely to be interesting and well received if the author draws from personal experience (being obese as a child or seeing someone be teased for being so) as long as they are made in good taste and from an intellectual standpoint.

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