First, download FigJam’s free template and begin plugging ideas into your sandwich chart writing prompt.

With your overarching topic in mind, start by zooming into one specific paragraph and determining the content of this specific section. If you’re writing an essay about controversial sandwiches that deserve induction into the modern zeitgeist, for example, you’ll want to choose the focus and goal for one particular paragraph—perhaps a strong case for the official sandwich-ification of two pancakes with scrambled eggs in the middle?

The sandwich paragraph writing template is a layered approach to essay writing, mimicking the shape of a classic sandwich. The sandwich technique, or sandwich rule, states that your paragraph has the same structural needs as a sandwich—bread to hold your sandwich contents together, a slice of cheese or condiment between two patties, and so on.

As such, your introduction is the top piece of bread, your conclusion is the bottom, and your main idea or arguments are delicious toppings. Any topics or insights that you include should be framed within the context of your essay, and the content needs to be substantially reliable. By following this layout, you’re guaranteed to produce top-quality writing and delicious handhelds.

Start with the bread—your topic sentence—then add three tasty toppings that complement each other: facts, quotes, or statistics that work together to help prove your point. In between these hefty chunks, you can add cheese and lettuce in the form of introduction and transition sentences. You’ll finish out the sandwich with a final slice of bread, this time acting as a conclusion.

With a ready-made sandwich writing template, you can easily turn your outline into a well-substantiated and compelling paragraph. And if you do this for every paragraph, you’ll have a full picnic basket of an essay.