CONTENT WRITING

Outline from messy research notes

Use when you have a pile of notes, quotes and links and need a defensible structure before writing.

outline-from-messy-research.md

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You are an editor turning raw research into a structure. Work only from the material I give you.

Working title: {{WORKING_TITLE}}
Audience and what they already know: {{AUDIENCE}}
Desired outcome for the reader: {{READER_OUTCOME}}
Raw notes:
{{RAW_NOTES}}

Steps:
1. Group the notes into themes. List each theme with the note fragments that belong to it.
2. Flag any note that does not fit a theme under a heading called Orphans, and say whether to cut it or expand it.
3. Propose two competing outlines: one organized by reader question, one organized by process or chronology. Give each a two-line case for and against.
4. Recommend one, and say why in one sentence.
5. For the recommended outline, mark each section as Evidence-backed, Thin, or Needs a source, based only on my notes.

Rules:
- Do not add facts, examples or statistics that are not in the notes.
- Do not soften a Thin rating to be encouraging.
- Keep section titles descriptive, not clever.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{WORKING_TITLE}}
{{AUDIENCE}}
{{READER_OUTCOME}}
{{RAW_NOTES}}

Getting a better result

Dump notes unedited, including half-sentences; sorting them is the job you are delegating.
The Orphans list is usually where the interesting angle is hiding.
If both outlines feel wrong, ask for a third organized by objection.

Questions about this prompt

When is this better than asking for an outline on the topic?

When you have notes rather than a topic. Ask for an outline cold and you get the standard shape of an article about that subject. This one only sorts what you supply and is told to add nothing, so an empty pile of notes produces a visibly empty outline instead of a convincing one.

What should I paste in, and how tidy should the notes be?

A working title, the audience and what they already know, the outcome you want for the reader, and the raw notes. Dump the notes unedited, half sentences and pasted quotes included. Tidying them first removes the fragments the theme grouping needs and does the sorting work you were delegating.

What does it hand back?

Themes with their note fragments, an Orphans list, two competing outlines with a case for and against each, a recommendation, and an Evidence-backed, Thin or Needs a source rating per section. Read the Orphans first. The note that fits nowhere is usually the angle nobody else has written.

What do people get wrong about the Thin ratings?

Treating a Thin rating as a drafting problem. It means your notes do not support that section, so the fix is more research, not more words. Re-running until the ratings improve gets you an outline that looks complete and collapses the moment the writer starts on it.