Now that we've covered tone and voice, let's talk about organizing your ideas into a clear, readable paper.
Whether you're writing a short discussion post or a full research paper, your work needs structure. A well-structured paper helps your reader follow your argument, understand your evidence, and stay engaged from beginning to end.
The body: introduction, main points, conclusion
Think of your paper as a funnel: start broad, narrow in, then wrap things up.
Introduction
The introduction sets the stage. It introduces your topic, gives any background the reader needs, and clearly states your thesis, the main point or argument of your paper. It should also give your reader a sense of what's coming in the sections ahead.
Main points, or body paragraphs
This is where you develop your ideas. Each paragraph or section focuses on a single point that supports your thesis. A topic sentence near the start of each paragraph makes the point clearly. Then come the explanation, the evidence (like citations), and your analysis.
If your paper is long or has several sections, use headings to divide each topic. They organize your ideas and make your structure easy to follow. APA has five heading levels; the headings lesson is there if you need a refresher on formatting them.
Conclusion
The conclusion brings everything together. It sums up your main points and reinforces your thesis, but it shouldn't be a copy of your introduction. Try to leave your reader with something meaningful to think about, or a sense of why your topic matters.
How an outline can help
Before you start writing, an outline can make the whole process easier and more focused. It helps you organize your thoughts, spot gaps in your argument, and set a logical order for your ideas. Instead of staring at a blank page, you'll have a roadmap from your introduction to your conclusion.
Outlining doesn't have to be complicated. Start with a list of your main points, then add sub-points or supporting evidence under each one. That keeps every part of your paper tied to your thesis and keeps you from wandering off track. Think of it as your paper's skeleton: you can revise it as you go, and it still gives you a solid frame to build on.
An outline, then the paper
Here's a short outline for the sample Bigfoot paper used in these lessons. Each main point became a section of the paper, and each piece of evidence already knows where it goes.
Bigfoot: The Truth Revealed
I. Introduction
Thesis: the physical evidence for Bigfoot points to animals we already know.
II. Background: why the hair samples matter
A. Hair credited to Bigfoot matched known animals (Sykes et al., 2014)
B. Many sightings may be black bears (Lozier et al., 2009)
III. Conclusion: what the findings mean for the legend
- The introduction holds the thesisOne sentence the rest of the paper sets out to support.
- Each main point gets its evidenceThe sources go under the point they support, so you know where each citation belongs before you write.
- The conclusion has a job tooNote what it will add, so it says more than the introduction did.
One last tip: transitions matter
Use clear transitions between ideas and paragraphs. They make your writing feel like a smooth path instead of a list of disconnected points. A transition can be a full sentence that ties two points together, or just a short phrase. For example:
Instead of:
This next point is about…
Try:
In addition to this finding, recent studies show…
Smooth transitions guide your reader through your logic and make your paper easier to follow.
If transitions are hard for you, write the paper without them first. Then go back and join the points together in the way that makes the most sense. Just be sure to add them before you turn the paper in.
That's it. With a clear structure and a confident voice, your ideas come across more clearly, and so do you, as a credible writer.
Outlining in PERRLA
In PERRLA Online, each paper has an Outline tab where you can build your outline before you write. When you start writing, open the Outline panel to keep it beside the page, or choose Insert entire outline to drop it into the paper and write over it. The headings you set from Text & Heading Style take care of the formatting as your sections take shape.