Document Level Revision: Reverse Outlining
A very effective technique for improving organizational coherence of a document is to reverse outline. In a regular outline, you make a list of topics, and then go through them. In a reverse outline, you list the topic of each paragraph and determine whether the topic is logically placed and whether it advances the overall argument. If the paragraph doesn't do both, then you either need to revise it, or remove it.

Suggested Steps for Reverse Outlining:
1. In the left-hand margin of each paragraph, write down in one or two words, the topic for the paragraph. If you need more words, you probably need more paragraphs.

2. In the right-hand margin, write in a short phrase the purpose of the paragraph or how it advances the overall argument.

If you can't complete steps 1 and 2 in a few words, then you probably need to revise.

3. On a separate sheet of paper or in a separate document, make a list of the topics as they currently exist, and their purpose in advancing the text.

4. Go over your list and examine the organization – where do your topics fit together and flow? Where do you need revision? Reorganize until you get an outline that makes sense, both in terms of topics and in terms of supporting your arguments.

Resources for more help: Purdue OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/689/1/
Duke University (with example): http://uwp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/reverse_outline.pdf
Northcentral University: http://learners.ncu.edu/writingprogram/writing_center.aspx?menu_id=124

Here is an example of a before/after outline for a paper that I was writing:

Before

Topic	Purpose
Importance of recognizing syntactic relationships	Establish significance of topic
How is input related to perception	Importance of studying input
Infant studies on tracking dependencies	Establish what’s been done
Infant studies on discontinuous dependencies	Establish what’s done
Studies on English infants’ perception of Aux-Main Verb dependencies	Establish what’s known & narrow focus to constructions
Studies on German aux MV perception	Set up crosslinguistic issues & contrast with English
Factors that influence infants’ performance	Establish what’s known/set up issues
Studies on Dutch aux-MV perception (dyslexia)	Set up crosslinguistic issues & contrast with English
Differences between English and German in perception	Contrast with English & set up problem
What’s known about input-production of auxes	Establish importance of imput
Gap in the literature	Set up current study

After   

Topic,	Purpose
Importance of recognizing syntactic relationships,	Establish significance of topic
Focus of study – German & English dependencies,	Introduce structures under study
Infant studies on tracking dependencies,	Establish what’s known & importance
Infant studies on discontinuous dependencies,	Establish what’s known & importance
Factors that influence infants’ performance,	Establish what’s known/set up issues
Studies on English infants’ perception of Aux-Main Verb dependencies,	Establish what’s known & narrow focus to constructions
Studies on Dutch aux-MV perception,	Set up crosslinguistic issues & contrast with English
Studies on German aux MV perception,	Set up crosslinguistic issue & contrast with English
How is input related to perception,	Set up gap in this area & importance of input
What’s known about input-production of auxes,	Establish importance of input/ create gap
Gap in the literature,	Set up current study