Outlines. (John Williams theme for the Imperials starts playing now.)
Formal Outlines are probably the most familiar to everyone. It's my preference as I tend to be an organizational freak and I like things neatly laid out. These are the ones you used to have to do in school with the Roman numerals, indents, etc. You can go to that extreme if you want, but you don't have to. The good news is not every publisher or agent wants to see a Formal Outline. There's an informal approach too. But as always, check your target's guidelines or ask them what they want. It also probably depends on whether you're writing fiction or non-fiction.
The Formal Outline basically runs like this:
The Title of Your Book
I. Characters
a. Main Characters
1. Hero/Protagonist
2. Bad Guy/Antagonist
b. Secondary Characters
When writing one of my books and I want an outline just for myself it typically runs this way:
The Title (Permanent or Temporary) of My Book
I. Chapter One
a. Summary of events and who it effects
b. Summary of events and who it effects
c. Summary of events and who it effects
II. Chapter Two
This way I keep focused on what is going on where and in what chapter. Anybody else want to share their particular format? I'd love to see it! =) I've read that most publishers prefer the Chapter by Chapter format since it keeps things going chronologically (as far as how the book is written, not necessarily how the story is told).
Anyhow...
You're own personal format may not be what editors/agents are specifically looking for, so adhere to guidelines.
Once you've established your basic format, then what? What do you put in and what do you take out? Remember the Outline is also akin to a Query Letter. You want your target to read and be sold on the idea, at least enough to look at your sample chapters. If you have tons and tons of characters, you don't have to mention all the minute ones and you don't have to go into heavy detail on characters' traits. In fact, it's hard to follow an outline when multiple names keep popping up. Try to stick with main characters as much as possible.
When listing the plot, don't ramble on and on about all the side stuff or back story. Stick to the point. What is going on and how is it affecting your characters? If side events are going to matter, list them too, but don't get carried away.
The Informal Outline:
Informal outlining is the most popular form for writers to use, just for the sake of writing their book and isn't necessarily the version that gets sent off to editors/agents. There are exceptions. This can be a simple bullet list of the books chronology, a timeline, dissecting your book into Characters, Settings, Plot, etc. You are basically getting organized about your book. Whether you do it initially or after you've written a draft or two is entirely up to you. The important thing here is to list your ideas, add some structure for easy reference, and to avoid the pitfalls of inconsistency in your writing. (Believe it or not, there are people and organizations out there who read books solely to find inconsistencies.)
Summaries:
Another of my favorites. Simply writing down the idea in summary form is a good step towards getting it on paper to begin with. This allows you to make the idea more concrete, to play with it, to see if it really will work, and is a beginning step to organizing your thoughts. Some writers keep files of summaries of random or full ideas handy. It's better than trying to sift through scrap paper, napkins, or worse.
For Submission:
You're ready to submit, you have your query letter ready and you've checked your target guidelines. Take it chapter by chapter and write the outline. Then go back and read it again and again to make sure you've shown the best of your book and haven't gone overboard or underplayed things that need to stand out. Double check your spelling, not only with a spell check, but visually too. (Spell checks don't catch everything in our horribly complex language.)
How long should an outline be? The sad truth, it varies, depending on your target. There is no set preference. Argh! More research! So you suck it up and do it. Some agents/editors prefer short outlines and others like long ones, and others want a synopsis not an outline, and some don't want either; they want to go straight for the sample chapters. Write both long and short versions ahead of time if you want to be prepared (and to avoid a late night session drumming one or the other out to be turned in by morning.)
Format? Single-spaced if you add a line break between paragraphs to make it easier on the eye. Double spaced otherwise. Most are double spaced. Use third person and the present tense, even if your book isn't written that way; this is pretty standard.
Some agents/editors prefer that the outline really stand as a synopsis, devoid of chapter headings and such. This way it reads more like the actual book. I've read that the most effective outlines are ones which read like the Reader's Digest version of your book. It's probably a good way to try and hook your target too.
If any of this is helpful, let me know. Correct me on things if you have read differently or if you are an agent/editor who has some great advice. Let me know too if everyone wants me to keep posting this stuff. I'm not finding it anywhere else on these boards and this is the meat of the matter. We want to get published. Ask questions if you have them. If I know the answer I'll tell you or I'll look it up, or someone else may be able to answer it. I'm going through the learning process myself. We may look on each other as "competition" but in actuality we all have a common bond. We write, we want to share what we write. We can at least be sensible about it and help each other out with the process. Then it will be up to how well we write; that's where the real "competition" comes into play.
