I’m a professional writer (academic grants, pop history, and fiction).

Writing is a practice rather than a static thing. Everyone does it a little differently, and not everyone outlines (I don’t) or outlines in the same way. It’s worth researching and experimenting to see what you enjoy.

I don’t typically use an outline for anything I’m writing. For me, part of the pleasure of writing is finding the connections and leitmotifs organically. Outlining takes away the fun (for me, ymmv). Usually, though, I have an idea to explore at the start of the process and have figured out where I’m going by the middle, and can bring it all home at the end. There’s a rule in fiction that a problem in the 3rd act is actually a problem in Act 1, and it’s true of nonfiction too. If you’re at the end and have no conclusion it’s because you didn’t marshal your material in the first part.

My process: For academic papers and pop history articles I start with two or three sentences that encapsulate the heart of the project (Most recently: “Many Canadians don’t know the police are only about as old as photography. Current discourse about the role of police in society can be improved by a better understanding of the origins of modern policing in Britain and in Canada”) and then bring every paragraph back to this thesis/theme.

When writing an article I usually borrow the three act structure familiar to fiction to make things flow easily for the reader, and I use a lot of fiction-based tricks like simile to encourage the reader to become invested in the work. Pop nonfiction has a lot of leeway for that, but with grants and papers you’ll have to be a little more judicious.

For pop articles I’ll pull in a human element such as a person who has experienced the thing in question. For academic work, I’ll tie in the literature and have the sources sort of “converse” with each other, as in a lit review.

Fiction is a whole other ball game, but for me it provides the foundation for writing engaging work.

Finally, my emphasis is always on enjoying myself as I write. If I am struggling, my readers are going to struggle too.

A suggestion: Find some writers in your field whose works you enjoy reading. You absorb style and voice as you read, so if you’re reading intractable academic papers you will also be writing them. Read something you enjoy and you’ll find your writing is more of a pleasure too.

Oh, and DM me if you’d like some links to my work. I’m happy to share!

Oh, edit to add:

The Screenwriter’s Workbook by Syd Field is a great way to learn how to write engagingly and to very strict targets and guidelines.

I am a cultural anthropologist but have also worked in art history.

I can only tell you how I write, but perhaps it will help.

Outlines don’t work for me at all — or at least not at the beginning of a piece of work, because I work very much from details to a bigger picture, rather than from an outline to the details.

First, I take a ton of notes—maybe 100 pages’ worth—on a particular subject—Navajo belief systems, for example.

But I don’t start with much of an idea of what I’m looking for — I just write down what seems interesting.

Then I go back through my notes and start seeing key ideas/phrases/connections, and I code these: [baptism], [visions], [speaking in tongues], etc.

Then I have maybe 50 codes and I start trying to see how they’re related.

What I end up with is a code sheet which is also an outline.

Then I go back to my source materials and start taking more notes with my codes in mind.

The new material makes me rethink some of my codes and their connections, and I rework my code sheet/outline as I go along.

And as I go along, I’m writing paragraphs and sections that may or may not go into the final work. And I code those sections too.

So when I come to write about visions, I just search and pull out everything coded [visions] into a new document and then see how all the pieces fit together.

Hope this helps!

When in school I would write the entire essay then do the outline because I can't write to them. It feels robotic and my brain gets derailed by the "Outline Rules". I did end up with more time to refine my essays as a result. Out of school it matters a lot less. Yes as a fantasy writer I am asked about an outline by my publisher but I usually have a finished manuscript and a beginning draft of the next thing so this is sort of the same way. One of the literary rules that is often forgotten or not taught? Write in the manner that works for you.

One approach for non-fiction that has worked for me is using note cards. I was taught this in high school and I wish I'd had the good sense to use it when I was in college.

When I start a project I get a bunch of 3x5 or 4x6 note cards and start putting them in a box. When I find something in my research I want to use, I put it on a card along with a brief reference to the source. When I think of a point I want to make, I put it on another card. Basically anything that I think might go into the project goes onto a note card.

When I feel I have enough material for a piece or for a chapter, I go through the note cards, discard or move anything that isn't relevant, and put them in order. Then I start writing.

The advantage to me is that I can use the order of the note cards to give me structure, yet it's flexible enough that I can move it around on a whim. It also doesn't take a lot of time, as I'm making the note cards while I research.

Having said that, there is no perfect system and I change my system slightly every time I write a new piece.