Brainstorm and outline an essay without the tool writing it
To brainstorm an essay with AI, ask it to question your main idea. You write every sentence. Follow your school's rules. Do not turn in an outline the tool wrote.
Next step: do Step 1. Copy the box, fill in the blanks, and paste it into the chat.
A prompt is the message you paste. A Director check is a short look before you use the result.
What you'll need
- The assignment prompt and the rubric, if there is one
- A rough idea, even "I think the ending is unfair"
- Time to write the draft yourself after the chat
Once a draft exists, switch to Get honest feedback on your essay. Do not stay here and ask for paragraphs.
Step 1: Get questions, not sentences
Help me think about this essay. Do not write any of the essay. Do not write a sample introduction.
Assignment:
[paste]
What I think so far, in my messy words:
[paste]
Ask me 5 questions that would make the thesis more specific.
Ask one at a time and wait for my answer.
Do not propose the thesis for me.
Answer in your own words. If you cannot answer a question, that hole is the next thing you need to read or decide.
Step 2: Build an outline from your answers
Using only the answers I just gave, make an outline:
- Thesis, in one sentence, using my claim. If I never stated a claim, say so and ask again.
- 3 sections. Under each, the point I made and the example I mentioned.
- A counterpoint I should answer, as a question to me, not as a written paragraph.
- What is still missing.
Do not write the essay. Do not add examples I did not mention.
Retype the outline in your notes. Change the thesis until it sounds like you.
Step 3: Write the draft away from the chat
Open a blank document. Write from the outline. If you get stuck on a sentence, stop and write an ugly version. Do not go back and ask the chat to "phrase this better" until your teacher has said feedback is allowed. Wording help slides into the chat writing the paper.
Step 4: Then, and only then, get feedback
If the policy allows a review, use Get honest feedback on your essay. The rule there is the same: it points at weak spots. You revise. The allowed-use list is on Use AI for school the right way.
Common mistakes
- Asking for "a strong introduction" and pasting it.
- Letting the outline add a source you have not read. Delete it.
- Treating question 5 as the moment the chat should take over.
- Submitting the outline file from the chat without retyping it.
Privacy: what not to paste
The assignment prompt is fine. Do not paste another student's essay "as an example," and do not include your student ID number. If the essay is about your own life, share only what you are willing to have in a chat log.
Director check: look before you use it
- Is the thesis a sentence you wrote? If the chat chose it, choose again.
- Does every example in the outline come from you? If not, cut it or go read it.
- Is the draft still unwritten by you? Then you are not done, no matter how good the outline looks.
- Did the teacher allow this kind of help? If not, brainstorm on paper.
One extra tip
A hard reading you need before you can answer the questions belongs on Understand a hard reading. Read it. Then come back and answer in your words. More guides are on the School hub.
Common questions
How is this different from the feedback page?
This page is before you have paragraphs. The feedback page reviews a draft you already wrote. Use this one to think, then write, then use the feedback page if your teacher allows review.
Can I submit the outline?
Only if you wrote it and the assignment asks for an outline. An outline the chat wrote is not your outline. When a policy says to disclose help, say you used a tool to question the thesis and that you wrote the draft.
What if I have no thesis yet?
Good. The first prompt is for questions, not for a thesis the chat picks. You choose the claim.
By Joe Rangel · Last updated · More School guides