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The Outline - Roadmap
to Writing
By Holly Bliss
There are two types of outlines:
one you'll send to a prospective publisher (formal) and one that's
a personal guide for your story (informal).
First we'll talk
about the informal type. No one ever has to see this outline,
so adapt it to whatever works best for you. I begin by taking
my idea and expanding it into scenes that follow my plot. As it
grows and takes shape it can change many times. Remember to always
allow plenty of room for notes.
EXAMPLE:
I have a story idea, off the top of my head, about an alien crash
landing on a NY rooftop.
Opener:
Begin story at mid crash. NOTE: All action, utilize fear to freeze
her momentarily before snapping back.
Scene
1: Guy investigates and finds beautiful (and, oh joy, a female)
alien amid his rooftop garden.
Scene
2: She needs XY rock to get ship going again. NOTE: Found only
in the Arizona desert
Scenes
3-23: They go in search of rock and fall in love on the way.
Scene
24: Does he stay; does he go? Will she stay; will she go?
Closer: They live happily ever after. NOTE: Add
epilogue?
Obviously
your outline will be more extensive than the example.
Many writers
hate the idea of the outline. A few reasons to consider at least
trying it would be: many publishers require one sent with your
query letter, it can help you maintain focus when using several
plot threads, and it can help you later when you find yourself
floundering and lost within your plot.
An outline is
not meant to constrain creativity. Never be afraid to deviate
from your outline. Use it as a guide for focus only. Remember,
there are a lot of roads out there and no one way to reach your
destination.
Now
for Formal Outlines: You've just written the great American (Chinese
or Russian) novel. However, XYZ Publishing wants an outline of
your book with your query letter.
Now What? Whether
you wrote your novel using an outline or not, you may be splattering
your favorite curse word about the room about now. Let's face
it, starting an outline from scratch
may be just as difficult as making sense out of that stack of
research, notes and scribbles you've used to write your novel.
Take heart, author.
Creating an outline for a publisher is as simple as listing your
chapters with short (one or two sentence) descriptions.
Example: (We'll
use our fictitious example from above)
Chapter
One: The Eagle Has Landed.
Just
when you thought it was safe to stroll through your NYC rooftop
garden, a beautiful alien has the gall to use it as a landing
strip.
The Catch: You
knew there had to be one. The hard part is creating descriptions
that will drive the publisher to request your manuscript. Best
bit of advice I've found? Show them what's in it for them and
their potential readers.
About the author: © 2003-2006
Holly Bliss. This document may be redistributed in its unedited
form on the condition that copyright references are intact along
with the hyperlinked URLs.
About the Author: Using
writing as paint on the canvas of her life, Holly Bliss is a newsletter
editor and author on http://www.Writing.Com/
which is a site for Creative
Writers.
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