Outlining

Before you start writing anything, make an outline of what you are going to include in your message. It may be brief (as for a short press release) or comprehensive (as for a large booklet). You will probably modify it as you gather information, but an outline will help to keep your thinking in order.

In the simplest terms, an outline is a list of topics to be written about in the order in which they will be presented. Usually an outline has major topics, and within each major topic there are minor topics.