diff --git a/goimportssort.go b/goimportssort.go
index 10e3ca5..3bab486 100644
--- a/goimportssort.go
+++ b/goimportssort.go
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ var (
 	list             = flag.Bool("l", false, "write results to stdout")
 	write            = flag.Bool("w", false, "write result to (source) file instead of stdout")
 	localPrefix      = flag.String("local", "", "put imports beginning with this string after 3rd-party packages; comma-separated list")
+	order            = flag.String("o", "iel", "custom the order of the section of imports. e.g. ixl means inbuilt, external, and local")
 	verbose          bool // verbose logging
 	standardPackages = make(map[string]struct{})
 )
@@ -290,6 +291,25 @@ func countImports(impModels [][]impModel) int {
 func convertImportsToSlice(node *dst.File) ([][]impModel, error) {
 	importCategories := make([][]impModel, 3)
 
+	inbuild := &importCategories[0]
+	external := &importCategories[1]
+	local := &importCategories[2]
+	if sortString(*order) == sortString("iel") {
+		chars := []rune(*order)
+		for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+			switch chars[i] {
+			case 'l':
+				local = &importCategories[i]
+			case 'e':
+				external = &importCategories[i]
+			case 'i':
+				inbuild = &importCategories[i]
+			default:
+				return importCategories, fmt.Errorf("cannot parse the order argument given: %s", *order)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	for _, importSpec := range node.Imports {
 		impName := importSpec.Path.Value
 		impNameWithoutQuotes := strings.Trim(impName, "\"")
@@ -302,17 +322,25 @@ func convertImportsToSlice(node *dst.File) ([][]impModel, error) {
 		locImpModel.path = impName
 
 		if *localPrefix != "" && strings.Count(impName, *localPrefix) > 0 {
-			importCategories[2] = append(importCategories[2], locImpModel)
+			*local = append(*local, locImpModel)
 		} else if isStandardPackage(impNameWithoutQuotes) {
-			importCategories[0] = append(importCategories[0], locImpModel)
+			*inbuild = append(*inbuild, locImpModel)
 		} else {
-			importCategories[1] = append(importCategories[1], locImpModel)
+			*external = append(*external, locImpModel)
 		}
 	}
 
 	return importCategories, nil
 }
 
+func sortString(str string) string {
+	charArray := []rune(str)
+	sort.Slice(charArray, func(i int, j int) bool {
+		return charArray[i] < charArray[j]
+	})
+	return string(charArray)
+}
+
 // loadStandardPackages tries to fetch all golang std packages
 func loadStandardPackages() error {
 	pkgs, err := packages.Load(nil, "std")