Reverse Engineering: The Outline As Document Restructuring Tool

Outlining is usually thought of as an important tool for the initial stage of document development. This chapter focuses on perfecting longer documents. Outlining is a process that normally moves from researching and noting ideas, through outlining and writing, to revising. Engineering writers who use outlines and find that arranging concepts into an outline establish the relative importance of the concepts; ensure continuity of thought, lend proper structure, and promote document completeness. Assigning ideas to first‐, second‐, and lower‐order headings means defining each section's limits and ensuring document coherence. Consecutively listing coordinate headings is a means of developing continuity. This procedure is based on the concept of reverse engineering. The chapter presents five steps to follow to use this kind of reverse engineering to analyze and restructure the document to improve its final coherence and impact. The most important advantage is the saving of time.