chronological pattern of organization arranges information according to a progression of time, either forward or backward. When a topic is best understood in terms of different segments of time, a chronological format works well. For example, topics of an historical nature are best organized using this pattern.
When using a chronological pattern, each main section of information represents a particular period of time, and the sub-points contained within each main section refer to significant events that occurred within that time frame. A variation of this organizational pattern involves dividing a topic into "past-present-future" or" before-during-after" segments.
For example, suppose a writer's stated purpose is to describe the historical development and evolution of the city of Seattle. Assuming that Seattle is 100 years old, the writer could organize the information by grouping it into four 25-year chunks. In this case, the sub-points within each main section of time represent the most significant events that occurred during that particular time frame. Notice that by breaking the 100 year span into distinct 25 year chunks, the writer can create an outline that follows the guidelines of outlining described under "Principles of Organizing." This outline contains four mutually exclusive and balanced sections of information.