Author 101: The Insider's Guide to Publishing From Proposal to Bestseller by Frishman Rick & Spizman Robyn & Spizman Robyn

Author:Frishman, Rick & Spizman, Robyn & Spizman, Robyn [Frishman, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Published: 2014-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

Outlining

Outlining is the step most writers take after they conduct their preliminary research, but before they try to actually write their books. Many writers create their outlines from the table of contents and chapter summaries that they submitted with their book proposals.

The word outline gives chills to many would-be authors; it makes them recall those hateful diagrams they were forced to construct in school. Well, forget about those formal outlines; don’t worry about alternating numbers, letters, and their various forms. Instead, think in terms of lists that will identify the information that should go in your book and the order in which it should go.

•Keep your outlines simple and don’t worry about their form.

•Include enough words or entries to create a working plan.

•After you list your entries, expand on them by adding additional ideas and information.

•Review your outline frequently and keep adding to it. The more detail you provide, the easier it will be when you write.

Katherine Ramsland makes a computer file for each of the chapters that she created for her book proposals. Then she uses the chapter summaries as outlines for the chapters and expands on them. At that time, she decides if she still wants to keep the chapters in the same order in which they were listed in the proposal. Often, she will change them because of new developments that may have occurred.

Mary Roach’s outlines evolve. She usually starts with the rough versions that she submitted with her book proposals. Then she transfers the information, in pencil, to blank paper that she posts on her wall. This allows her to glance up while she works to get a sense of where she is and where she has to go. If she’s stalled on a chapter, she can quickly see other chapters she may want to tackle.

Roach’s outlines are very rough; they are informal and change constantly. They don’t have roman numerals or capital letters. After a few months, her book outline generally gels and she sticks to it with a few minor variations. By the time she really gets into the writing, Roach usually has a solid outline that lists which chapters go where. Her outlines contain only the order of the chapters and don’t detail the content included in each.

Although David Fryxell does everything else on the computer, he writes his outlines by hand. Working by hand lets him draw arrows, indicate inserts, cross things out, and color different entries to indicate their importance and/ or priority.

Fryxell creates his outlines on a yellow legal pad. Since they are extremely detailed and complete, his outlines don’t tend to evolve much. Interestingly, a number of writers told us that they compose their outlines by hand, not on the computer, and that they use yellow legal pads.

In his writing, Fryxell occasionally strays from his outline. For instance, he may wander when he finds connections, transitions, or levels of detail that previously had not occurred to him, or information that would work better in other places. He will cut

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