Power Tools: Finding, Narrowing, Outlining Topics

The following section was originally part of Power Tools for Technical Writing, published by Harcourt, but taken out because of length considerations. This section was part of a chapter made up of the following: Finding topics—provides strategies for finding topics for technical-writing projects. Narrowing topics—provides strategies for focusing a writing project on a specific, manageable topic, for reducing a hopelessly large topic to something that can be done in a reasonable or required amount of time. Outlining writing projects—provides techniques and guidelines for developing outlines for writing projects.

How Do You Create an Outline?

The following provides a review of creating and finetuning outlines as well as essential format and style guidelines.

Outlining Basics. Creating an outline as essentially a process of sorting, subgrouping, and sequencing, as the following steps show:

1. Generate an outline-brainstorming list. To get started, brainstorm as many related topics and subtopics as you can. This provides you some "raw material" to start outlining with. If you have trouble thinking of topics and subtopics, see "What to Say—What to Write About?" in Chapter 22.

   Outline brainstorming list Jot down as many topics as you think of, not worrying about order, sequence, grouping, or subordination.
   Costs to build a system or purchase a kit	Equipment needed for a home system	Light sources required for a home system
   Building a home hydroponics system	Space needed for a home system	Nutrients required for hydroponics systems
   Temperature control equipment	Hydroponics kits for home use	Tips for hydroponic growing
   Flooding and draining schedules	What to grow; what not to grow	"Hydroponics" defined
   Costs to run a hydroponics system	How a hydroponics system works	Routine chores for managing a system
   Taste and nutrients comparisons	Automating a hydroponics system	Maintenance for a home hydroponics system
   Expected yields from a hydroponics system	Special problems involved in hydroponics gardening	History of hydroponics gardening
   Increasing interest in hydroponics gardening	Hydroponics literature	Hydroponics societies, organizations
   Commercial hydroponics product companies	Commercial hydroponics growers	Finetuning a home hydroponics system
   Case studies: home hydroponics systems	Components of a hydroponics system	Design considerations for a hydroponics system
   Comparisons: hydroponics vs. regular gardening	Benefits of hydroponic gardening	Increasing interest in hydroponic gardening

2. Sort the outline items—get rid of the unrelated ones. While you must throw out topics that have no place in your project, some may be useful for a sentence or two in the introduction or the conclusion.

   Sorted outlining list (but not grouped or sequenced)
   Costs to build a system or purchase a kit	Equipment needed for a home system	Light sources required for a home system
   Comparisons: hydroponics vs. regular gardening	Space needed for a home system	Nutrients required for hydroponics systems
   Temperature control equipment	Case studies: home hydroponics systems	Expected yields from a hydroponics system
   Costs to run a hydroponics system	How a hydroponics system works	Routine chores for managing a system
   Taste and nutrients comparisons	Automating a hydroponics system	Components of a hydroponics system
   Increasing interest in hydroponics gardening	Hydroponics literature	Hydroponics societies, organizations
   Design considerations for a hydroponics system	xxxx	Suitable vegetables for hydroponic gardens

3. Create logical groupings of outline items. Picture a pile of fruit to sort into baskets: lemons in the lemon basket; apples in the apple basket; oranges in the orange basket. But wait—there are different kinds of apples. Macintoshes go in the Macintosh basket; Pippins, in the Pippins basket; Winesaps, in the Winesaps basket. The process is hardly different for informational topics and subtopics:

   Grouped outlining list (but not subordinated or sequenced)
   What does it cost? What do you need?	Components of a hydroponics system Space needed for a home system Costs to build a system or purchase a kit Design considerations for a hydroponics system Equipment needed for a home system Light sources required for a home system Temperature control equipment Nutrients required for hydroponics systems Costs to run a hydroponics system
   How does it? Does it work?	Comparisons: hydroponics vs. regular gardening How a hydroponics system works Case studies: home hydroponics systems
   What do you have to do? Is it a hassle?	Routine chores for managing a system Automating a hydroponics system
   What is the yield?	Suitable vegetables for hydroponic gardens Expected yields from a hydroponics system Taste and nutrients comparisons

4. Subordinate outline items. Another step requires subgrouping—subordination —of items. When you "subordinate," you create a descriptive category for them and then downshift the items into that category. For example, potato, lemon, apple, lime, squash, orange, cabbage, and spinach can be grouped into fruits and vegetables. To outline these things, make "Fruits" roman numeral I; make lime, apple, orange A, B, and C. Make "Vegetables" roman numeral II and potato, squash, cabbage, and spinach A, B, C, and D. (The A, B, C, and D items are "subordinate" to the I and II items.)

   Outlining list with subordination (but not sequenced) Notice the subordination of items in the costs section (components, design, system costs):
   Introduction	Background: increasing interest in hydroponics Topic and purpose Audience Overview
   What does it cost? What do you need?	Components of a hydroponics system Equipment needed for a home system Light sources required for a home system Temperature control equipment Nutrients required for hydroponics systems Design considerations for a hydroponics system Space needed for a home system Location for a home system Different designs for hydroponics systems Hydroponics system costs Costs to run a hydroponics system Costs to build a system or purchase a kit
   How does it? Does it work?	Comparisons: hydroponics vs. regular gardening How a hydroponics system works Case studies: home hydroponics systems
   What do you have to do? Is it a hassle?	Routine chores for managing a system Automating a hydroponics system
   What is the yield?	Suitable vegetables for hydroponic gardens Expected yields from a hydroponics system Taste and nutrients comparisons

5. Sequence outline items. And still another step in creating an outline requires sequencing of topics and subtopics. Arrange outline items according to some pattern: general >> specific, basic >> advanced, start >> finish, simple >> complex, at-rest >> in-motion, description >> operation, or fundamentals >> applications. (See Chapter 20 for more sequencing patterns.)

   Outlining list: sorted, grouped, subordinated, sequenced
   How does it? Does it work?	How a hydroponics system works Comparisons: hydroponics vs. regular gardening Case studies: home hydroponics systems
   What is the yield?	Suitable vegetables for hydroponic gardens Expected yields from a hydroponics system Taste and nutrients comparisons
   What do you have to do? Is it a hassle?	Routine chores for managing a system Automating a hydroponics system
   What does it cost? What do you need?	Design considerations for a hydroponics system Space needed for a home system Location for a home system Different designs for hydroponics systems Components of a hydroponics system Equipment needed for a home system Light sources required for a home system Temperature control equipment Nutrients required for hydroponics systems Hydroponics system costs Costs to run a hydroponics system Costs to build a system or purchase a kit

   "How does it work—does it work?" must come first. We can't talk about benefits, costs, hassles, or anything else until we have explained what it is and how it works. The next section can get into the produce: what can you grow, what's the yield, and how does it compare. Once that's established, we can ask whether it is a hassle. And after that, we can get into design and cost. This instance of high-level sequencing is rather like a sales job: don't discuss costs and requirements until people are interested and convinced that hydroponic gardening works and is fun.

   Notice the sequencing in section entitled "What is the yield?" First, explain which vegetables are suitable for this method. Then discuss what sorts of yields to expect. And then finally, because some think that hydroponically grown vegetable are less nutritious and less tasty, address that issue.

6. Outline the introduction. All introductions must indicate topic and purpose, audience, and situation; provide an overview of the topics to be covered; and present some minimal background—but not necessarily in this order. In thinking background to include, review your brainstorming list for ideas.

   Introduction

   Background: increasing interest in hydroponics Topic, purpose, scope Audience Overview

   In this introduction:

   • Scope indicates what we are not covering: this is an overview of home hydroponic gardens—not detailed now-to instructions, not detailed research results, not details on large commercial hydroponic farms.
   • Audience is people interested in starting a small-scale hydroponic system in their home, people who may be gardeners but know nothing about hydroponics.
   • Overview indicates what we'll discuss: logistics and practicality of hydroponic gardening; quantity and quality of the produce; amount of work and maintenance required; and design, cost and equipment.
   • Background helps define the topic and get the report off to a good start and provides something to spark readers' interest: perhaps mention the benefits and ease as well as the growing popularity of hydroponics (no pun intended).

7. Outline the conclusion. Similarly, review your brainstorming list for content to put in the conclusion. Conclusions can summarize what went before, draw an actual logical conclusion based on the preceding, or touch generally on a related topic.

   Conclusion

   Summary Hydroponics literature Hydroponics societies, organizations

   This conclusion provides a summary of what's been discussed (hydroponics really does work, it's not a big hassle, the produce is good, and it doesn't cost much to get started) and cites literature on hydroponic gardening as well as hydroponic-gardening clubs and organizations, which readers can use to learn more.

Outline Format and Style. Once you've gotten the topics and subtopics for an outline sorted, grouped, subordinated, and sequenced, you can start applying standard outlining format and style. Take a close look at the following outline:

Final outline—All the way from "gardening"!

I. Introduction A. Background: increasing interest in hydroponics B. Topic, purpose, scope C. Audience D. Overview II. Hydroponics Systems: Operation and Feasibility A. Operation of a hydroponics system B. Comparisons: hydroponics vs. regular gardening C. Case studies: home hydroponics systems III. Hydroponic Produce: Quantity and Quality A. Suitable vegetables for hydroponic gardens B. Expected yields from a hydroponics system C. Taste and nutrient comparisons IV. Routine Operation and Maintenance A. Routine chores for managing a hydroponics system B. Automation of a hydroponics system V. Design, Components, and Costs A. Design considerations for a hydroponics system 1. Space needed for a home system 2. Location for a home system 3. Different designs for hydroponics systems B. Components of a hydroponics system 1. Equipment needed for a home system 2. Light sources required for a home system 3. Temperature control equipment 4. Nutrients required for hydroponics systems C. Hydroponics system costs 1. Costs to build a system or purchase a kit 2. Costs to run a hydroponics system VI. Conclusion A. Summary B. Hydroponics literature C. Hydroponics societies, organizations

Notice the following details in this outline:

• Main (first-level) items use right-aligned roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.).
• Second-level items (A, B, C, etc.) use capital letters. The capital letters align directly beneath the first letter of the text of the roman-numeral items.
• Third-level outline items (1, 2, 3, etc.) use arabic numerals. These numerals align directly beneath the first letter of the text of the capital-letter sections.
• Fourth-level outline items would use lowercase letters; they would align under the first letter of the text of the arabic-numeral items.
• Notice the consistency of spacing and capitalization in the outline. Some items use headline-style caps (first letter of each main word); others, sentence-style caps (first letter of the first word only).
• Notice the parallelism of phrasing of items at the same level within a section. See Power Tools for Technical Communication Appendix C for details on parallel phrasing.
• Notice that outline items generally do not begin with an article (a, an, the).

Workshop—Outlining topics

For practice and workshop material on narrowing, see outlining practice.

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