The informal outline is just an outline of your notes taken from research. Your notes will respond to various parts of your term paper. You should break it down into sections. These sections should be the introduction, three supporting ideas and a conclusion. Title each section to help you identify and write about the topic. Under these sections, you would write your supporting reasons. Use sentences or phrases to help you explain your ideas.
Formal outlines are much more detailed than informal outlines. They show how each part or section relates to each other. A formal outline will contain several parts with a label and Roman numeral. The sections include the introduction, main body and conclusion. For your introduction, you would create subcategories labeled with alphabetical letters. These subcategories should show the background information, thesis and preview of supporting reasons for the introduction. The labels for supporting reasons can be either Arabic numerals or lowercase letters. The main body should have three examples or explanations for each supporting detail. Lastly, the conclusion would give a brief summary, restate the thesis and conclude the ideas.
Cluster outlines are the most fun to create. It connects ideas in circles or boxes. You would put the ideas or words inside of these circles or boxes. Cluster outlines are free form. The ideas can connect in any way. The subject or topic should be a big bubble in the middle of the page. Connected to that circle would be the introduction, thesis statement and supporting reasons. Each supporting reason would be in a separate box or circle. Connected to each supporting reason would be three different examples or details. The process would carry on from there. This type of outline appeals to young writers because the process is not so dry and structured.