tips for writing a novel outline that tells the whole story

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for

An outline can be written as a

summary of major events or chapter

by chapter.

How should you write a good outline?

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Visit the literary agent’s website for

submission guidelines and type of outline to provide.

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The novel

outline tells

exactly what

happens in the story.

Don’t dramatize

or leave it as a

mystery for a literary agent or

editor.

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Start by writing a

summary of what

happens in the

beginning,

middle, and

end of each

chapter of your

novel.

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Ask yourself these questions…

• In the

beginning...

What is my

lead

character’s

problem to

solve?

• In the end... How does the lead character

eventually solve the problem?

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• In the middle... What obstacles do I

foresee keeping her from solving the

problem?

Develop more details from the summary. And remember, an outline is not cast in stone; add scenes, take out those that don’t work, or

rearrange scenes for more impact.

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If you construct an outline as you write the

novel, it is a

a great tool for keeping track of

details.

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For more tips and

information on

writing a novel,

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