Step 3: Outline (10 minutes)

Module 5 · Section 4 of 11

Step 3: Outline (10 minutes)

With the brief in front of me, I sketch the structure. This is the most manual step and I don’t try to automate it.

Typical structure for a Signal Over Noise issue:

1. Opening hook — a specific story, observation, or problem that pulls readers in
2. The main argument or framework — the thing the issue is actually about
3. Practical application — what to do with it, specifically
4. A wrinkle — the complication, the exception, the thing most people get wrong
5. Close — the takeaway and a forward-looking line

Not every issue follows that structure. Analysis pieces have a different shape than how-to pieces. But having a skeleton before the draft agent starts produces much better output than letting the agent decide the structure itself.