Why the outline is the step worth doing first
An article fails in the structure far more often than in the sentences. A draft with the wrong shape reads as competent and leaves nothing behind: it answers a slightly different question, or answers the right one in the fifth section, or spends three sections on context the reader already had. None of that is fixable by editing prose, because the prose is doing exactly what the structure told it to.
Fixing the structure costs almost nothing. An outline is twenty lines and takes two minutes to read, and disagreeing with it is cheap in a way that disagreeing with a finished draft never is. This tool exists to make that step so quick that skipping it stops being tempting.
Each heading comes with the job that section does: define, compare, demonstrate, caution, or help someone act. That line is the useful part. A heading on its own is a label; a heading with a job is an instruction, and it is what stops section four from repeating section two.
How to read an outline critically
Four questions, in this order. Does the first section answer the search? If a reader has to scroll to find out whether they are in the right place, the article has already lost most of them. Does any section repeat another? Two sections with the same job are one section and a digression. Is there a section that only you could write? If every section is generally true, the article is replaceable. And does the last section make a decision rather than summarise?
Then cut. An outline with nine H2s is usually two articles, and the better move is almost always to publish the stronger one properly rather than both thinly. H3s are the other common excess: a subsection is justified when a section genuinely splits into parallel parts, not when a paragraph wants a heading.
Finally, write the one-sentence promise for yourself before you start drafting: by the end of this, the reader will be able to… If the outline does not deliver that sentence, change the outline, not the draft.
- The first section answers the search. Everything else earns its place.
- Two sections with the same job are one section.
- The last section decides something.
What a good outline looks like
For the topic "should you repair or replace a twelve-year-old boiler". Note that the job lines, not the headings, are what make it usable.
- H2The short answer, by age and symptomAnswer the search in the first screen, then earn the rest of the read.
- H2What repairs are worth doing at twelve yearsConcrete parts, and what each one buys you in time.
- H2What a replacement costs beyond the unitName the hidden costs: the fitting, the controls, the day without heat.
- H3Where the savings really come fromEfficiency, framed honestly rather than as a sales line.
- H2How to decide in one afternoonA procedure the reader can actually follow today.
- H2Questions to ask the engineerA short list that makes the page worth bookmarking.
An outline costs no credits, which is why it is the step to argue with. The draft is written against the headings you approved, section by section.
What this tool leaves out
It gives you a structure and stops. It does not write the article against that structure, generate the images, write the meta title and description, or remember the outline tomorrow. In PrismDraft the outline is a document attached to the article: you rename sections, reorder them, cut them, set a target length each, and approve it — and then every section of the draft is written against its own heading and job, which is why a long article keeps its shape.
Outlines cost no credits there either. That is deliberate: the step that makes the biggest difference to a draft should not have a price on it, because then people skip it.
Questions
How many sections will it give me?
Five to eight H2s, with an H3 only where a section genuinely splits. If you get nine, consider whether you have two articles.
Can I outline in French?
Yes. There is a French version of this tool at /fr/outils/generateur-de-plan-article, and the answer is written in the language of the page you use.
Does it look at what currently ranks?
No. It does not search the web or read the results page, so it cannot tell you what the competition covers. If coverage against ranking pages is what you need, use a tool that measures it.
Is my topic stored?
No. The request is read, answered and forgotten. Copy the outline if you want to keep it.
Why does it describe what each section should do?
Because that line is what a writer — or a model — needs in order not to drift. A list of headings is a table of contents; a list of jobs is a brief.
Can I get the article too?
Not from this page. In PrismDraft you approve the outline and the article is written against it section by section, with an image for each, for about 7 credits on the defaults.