Write a thesis statement. Label this sentence with the Roman numeral "I." Your thesis should summarize the argument you wish to make in your essay in one to three sentences.
Choose the major ideas to cover in your essay. Depending on length, there may be just two or many ideas. Label these with Roman numerals after your thesis.
Determine whether a topic outline or a sentence outline best fits your needs. A topic outline uses short sentence fragments to record the gist of each idea. A sentence outline requires full sentences for each section, which can later be incorporated easily into your essay.
Under each Roman numeral, indent the line and divide the major idea into smaller parts using capital letters. Write sentences or sentence fragments for these subsections.
Continue dividing subsections into more specific ideas with increased indentation until you have exhausted each topic. After capital letters, use Arabic numerals, lowercase letters and lower-case Roman numerals to identify each level.
Review and make organizational changes. Now that your outline is written, you may realize that moving sections around makes your essay flow better.
Add a final Roman numeral for the conclusion. Use this space to reword the argument from your thesis, now that you have thought more deeply about the subject.