1d. Drafting a plan

1dDraft a plan.

Many writers draft a plan as part of the early process of drafting a paper. Listing and organizing supporting ideas can help a writer figure out how to flesh out the thesis. Creating outlines, whether informal or formal, can help you make sure your writing is focused and logical and can help you identify any gaps in your support.

When to use an informal outline

You might want to sketch an informal outline to see how you will support your thesis and to figure out a tentative structure for your ideas. Informal outlines can take many forms. Perhaps the most common is simply the thesis followed by a list of major ideas.

Working thesis: Television advertising should be regulated to help prevent childhood obesity.

  • Children watch more television than ever.
  • Snacks marketed to children are often unhealthy and fattening.
  • Childhood obesity can cause sleep disorders and other health problems.
  • Addressing these health problems costs taxpayers billions of dollars.
  • Therefore, these ads are actually costing the public money.
  • If advertising is free speech, do we have the right to regulate it?
  • We regulate alcohol and cigarette ads on television, so why not advertisements for soda and junk food?

If you began by jotting down a list of ideas (see 1b), you can turn the list into a rough outline by crossing out some ideas, adding others, and putting the ideas in a logical order.

When to use a formal outline

Early in the writing process, rough outlines have certain advantages: They can be produced quickly, they are obviously tentative, and they can be revised easily. However, a formal outline may be useful later in the writing process, after you have written a rough draft, especially if your topic is complex. It can help you see whether the parts of your essay work together and whether your essay’s structure is logical.

The following formal outline brought order to the research paper in 57b, on Internet surveillance in the workplace. The student’s thesis statement is an important part of the outline. Everything else in the outline supports it, either directly or indirectly.

Thesis: Although companies often have legitimate concerns that lead them to monitor employees’ Internet usage—from expensive security breaches to reduced productivity—the benefits of electronic surveillance are outweighed by its costs to employees’ privacy and autonomy.

  1. Although employers have always monitored employees, electronic surveillance is more efficient than other methods.
    1. Employers can gather data in large quantities.
    2. Electronic surveillance can be continuous.
    3. Electronic surveillance can be conducted secretly, with keystroke logging programs.
  2. Some experts argue that employers have legitimate reasons to monitor employees’ Internet usage.
    1. Unmonitored employees could accidentally breach security.
    2. Companies are legally accountable for the online actions of employees.
  3. Despite valid concerns, employers should value employee morale and autonomy and avoid creating an atmosphere of distrust.
    1. Setting the boundaries for employee autonomy is difficult in the wired workplace.
      1. Using the Internet is the most popular way of wasting time at work.
      2. Employers can’t easily determine if employees are working or surfing the Web.
    2. Surveillance can create resentment among employees.
      1. Web surfing can relieve stress, and restricting it can generate tension between managers and workers.
      2. Enforcing Internet usage can seem arbitrary.
  4. Surveillance may not increase employee productivity, and trust may benefit productivity.
    1. A company shouldn’t care how many hours salaried employees work as long as they get the job done.
    2. Casual Internet use can actually benefit companies.
      1. The Internet may spark business ideas.
      2. The Internet may suggest ideas about how to operate more efficiently.
  5. Employees’ rights to privacy are not well defined by the law.
    1. Few federal guidelines on electronic surveillance exist.
    2. Employers and employees are negotiating the boundaries without legal guidance.
    3. As technological capabilities increase, the need to define boundaries will also increase.

Planning with headings

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR HANDBOOK

Headings can help writers plan and readers understand a document.

image Using parallel form for headings: 9a

image Papers organized with headings: 62b, 63f

When drafting a research paper or a business document, consider using headings to guide your planning and to help your readers follow the organization of your final draft. While drafting, you can insert your working thesis, experiment with possible headings, and type chunks of text beneath each heading. You may need to try grouping your ideas in a few different ways to suit your purpose and audience.