Brainstorming

Brainstorming
Brainstorming is one of the first steps towards making an outline. For a research paper, some of this may occur before you begin to research or after the research is completed. For a non-research paper, this step comes before you create your outline. Brainstorming basically consists of coming up with new ideas about your chosen topic. Just write down a list of topics and ideas you would want to talk about in your paper. For right now, don't bother to think if they fit together or not. Not all of the items on your list will make it into your paper.

Clustering
Clustering can help you make an outline from your original brainstormed list. Take the main topic and put a circle around it. Then, take the rest of your ideas from the list and make them branch off of the larger topic. Some ideas will probably branch off circles that aren't the topic circle. See this for an example:

From here, take your list and cluster and decide which topics should be evidence for other ideas. (You have already started doing this in your cluster!). Now assign the correct numeral or letter to each idea (see Outline Help) and you have an outline.

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