Originally Posted by Monk

Outline reflects your essay in the bullet form and it should be written before the main body of the essay.

Headings in essay are big No. Follow the pattern of English Columns.

Basically headings you are mentioning are infact outlines which should be written before the main body of the essay.

There is no fix criteria on quantity of single outline. You can write one or two paragraphs on single outline or even you can merge two or three outlines in a single paragraph.