Model Outlines by Robert Hays . . .
Abstract:
"Model outlines can serve both the novice and the skilled writer.
A tested model outline can offer a starting point for adaptation and a
guideline for further writing. Whatever the model chosen, it should present
the main idea early and the details later and in logical order. This article
sketches eleven models for typical writing tasks and suggests ways to introduce
and use the models for on-the-job writing, for teaching technical writing,
and for requiring students to write lab reports."
Information on this page both taken from Hayes, Robert. "Model Outlines Can Make Routine Writing Easier." Technical Communication 29.1 (1982): 4-8. [Quotation marks indicate passages quoted directly.]
On this page, you'll find information about seven advantages of models, general principles for model outlines, and model outlines. Novice and even skilled writers sometimes share concerns about beginning a writing task. When surveyed, writers indicate that they view "organization and planning as significant problems in writing . . . . Many, perhaps most, skilled writers make some type of plan for writing . . . . Of course, writers may argue about how to outline and how many levels and details an outline should contain . . . . But surely most writers agree that an outline would help in preparing almost any report."
"Industrial and business writing often aims at about a dozen common problems; thus a set of model outlines should reduce much of the planning of reports to a routine. . . . Some writers would ask, 'But how can a model fit all situations? What if the company practice deviates from a model? What if the boss has his or her own 'hang-ups' about arrangement of ideas in a report? Won't reports based on models seem 'canned,' the products of a cookbook approach?'"
"First, no model could apply to every situation. The model outlines discussed later are only general guidelines. These models do not prescribe detailed approaches; instead they stress principles. Therefore, the writer who adopts them must also adapt them to fit a given task."
"Second, in using these model outlines, a writer must indeed not violate any clear limits. Any model should yield to directions from the boss or client, company policy, requirements of a request for proposal, or questions listed by an inquiry. Thus if a request for proposal calls for placing a personnel chart earlier than the summary of approach, the proposal must follow that RFP, regardless of any model."
"Third, the fear that following a model may lead to dull, canned writing has some validity. A report must offer more than mere cookbook paragraphs garnished with recipe headings, but a recipe could save an amateur cook or could guide even a trained chef who tries a new dish. Likewise, a model outline suggests a full plan for an unskilled writer. A skilled writer can always alter the model as needed."
Seven Advantages of Models . . .
- "It saves the writer's time, it starts the writer's planning, and it then frees writer to translate ideas into sentences.
- If tested and adapted as needed, it ensures a sound organization.
- It helps in grouping ideas (logical order) and in arranging those ideas to meet a reader's needs (psychological order).
- It helps in checking for inclusion of vital parts. For example, an outline should call for any required 'boilerplate' such as Affirmative Action Plan in a proposal.
- It suggests headings for ease of reading and location of material.
- It offers a good plan for preparation of a table of contents, abstracting, and computerized assembly of prewritten sections.
- If adopted as a standard, it ensures comparability of data in reports from several writers (as in progress reports). Likewise, a model outline aids in synchronizing group writing."
General Principles for Model Outlines . . .
1. Placement of the main idea early.
A report should compress ideas into a package readily opened. Thus the first section of each model offers some type of overview. That first section usually answers three questions for the reader:
- 'Why did I get this piece of paper?'
- 'What did the writer learn and decide?'
- 'What does the writer want me to do, know, or approve?'
. . . . "A reader without time or interest to pursue all details or with enough confidence in the writer to skip the details wants to seize the main idea. Even if some reader demands full details, the 'up-front' part will signal what to expect."
Putting the main idea up front also makes writing easier by focusing the writer's attention on what he or she must prove. Putting the main idea early also forces the writer to make sure that the main idea really does appear. In fact, a writer can check a report quickly by reading to the point where a reader will have grasped the main idea. The writer should move not farther than two paragraphs into a short report or a page into a long report."
"One exception to this principle may arise if a report carries bad news or an idea that a reader may reject. Perhaps the best strategy then would be to delay the main idea until after a buffer paragraph — to allay hostility. even here, however, the main idea should come early."
2. Logical arrangement of later parts.
After a capsule main idea, the rest of the report should flow logically. 'Logical order' means 'items grouped into sections by common topics.' Thus, the sections may be arranged according to
- Space or place — as in a report on a plant tour or site visit
- Timing of events — typical of process explanations, job instructions, and training manuals.
- Decreasing order of importance — sometimes used in job descriptions
- Logical reasoning — as in a review of a problem with recommendations for solution
- Conventional order — as in MIL Standards or CSI specs (which themselves follow a general order of time)
- Topical order — as in minutes of meetings or comments on specifications or contracts."
3. Use of headings.
Headings, those cheap ways to suggest
logical order, force a writer to group ideas properly. At the outline stage,
almost any system will work, so long as headings of the same rank are treated
alike and are definitive enough to aid in writing."
4. Details placed in attachments.
Some readers ignore the details. Other readers can still find in the attachments most notes, long tables, visual aids, calculations, and data. (This system of putting details into the attachments also aids in production of long reports. Some detailed material may be ready before the writer starts to draft the text. The writer can send attachments for reproduction; all cross-referencing while writing will then be easy.) As a general principle, any data sheets or visuals longer than one page can become attachments."
5. Needed action set forth clearly.
Any report that asks a reader to act should clearly state what the reader must do. Calling for action provokes readers' questions: 'Who?' 'When?' 'Where?' 'What?'
Model Outlines . . .
"These models cover the most common on-the-job writing and the assignments typical of many technical writing courses. (The models omit 'boilerplate' materials, such as 'Date,' 'To,' 'From,' and 'Subject,' which vary with organization policy.)"
Any organization convinced of the need for model outlines should plan their introduction. Starting points for adoption could include
- orientation of new staff, supervisory, and technical people
- examples in employee handbooks and style manuals
- standard operating procedures
- in-house training programs
Higher management can best promote the use of models by suggesting such use to subordinates and by commending people who write in the style of the models.
Conclusion
"Of course, any move to adopt model outlines
should include the warnings given earlier in this article. Instructors
in technical writing courses must especially stress the warning that a
model is only a typical approach — description but not prescription. Since
no set of models could cover all situations, writers must adapt models
to tasks. Finally, a model outline should save time and make writing easier.
It should never stifle creativity, distort ideas, or violate rigid policy."