Some of us “pantsters” who never write from an outline could learn a thing or two from the “plotters.” While I firmly believe it’s more fun to discover things along the way, when you are trying to convince an acquisitions editor to buy your book, it helps (sometimes) to have a chapter outline. And there are other uses as well.
Writing Tip for Today: I teach my students to start with a two page, 500 word “crummy” outline, that is, a summary of how you imagine the story when you’ve only begun to write. This “crummy” (we use a more technical term in class, hee hee) outline is malleable and can be changed when you get a better idea, when the characters demand a better idea or when you’re stuck.

• A Scene and a Sentence. As you draft your novel, jot down a sentence for each scene you write. Describe the main action as it relates to the overall story goal. This will really come in handy when you want to do a story board, when you write your synopsis and your blurb, pitch or query letter. If you must do all these scenes after they are written, you’ll note that it’s very time-consuming. So save yourself work later on.
• How Many Scenes to a Chapter? For me, it’s almost always three, but it can vary. Take the sentences you wrote for each scene and craft a short paragraph for the chapter. Voila. You have finished one chapter of your outline.
• See the Story Bones. As you write about each chapter (succinctly, remember?) you can also use color codes or other tools to help you see where characters come in, subplots surface or where the plot points are. You don’t want too much story to go past without mentioning these secondary elements, nor do you want them clumped together. A good outline can help you see that subplots and minor characters’ arcs are organic and logical where they arise.
• Look for Weaknesses. As you string your scene sentences into a chapter description, look for structural weaknesses. If you step back from a chapter description and it feels either boring, lacking in activity or lacking a clear goal, you can spot it now before you start agent-shopping.
• Agent-shopping and Chapter Outlines. Not as many agents request a chapter outline for novels as in the past. Many times, though, acquisition editors ask for them, to be sure you have a good grasp of story shape. A chapter outline may only end up being a tool you use, but I think it’s worth the effort.