Everyone has their own method of working

I would never get a book done if I hand wrote it, but everyone works in different ways. Everything about my book is on the computer: research, notes, manuscript, everything. My brain is jumping around so much that my 100+wpm typing can barely keep up. I love Word and the fact that it has a neat comments feature that allows me to share what I have written with my oldest daughter, who adds extremely invaluable comments.

All Middle Grade/Young Adult writers should have a teacher mentor. My daughter teaches math and science to sixth grade advanced students. She is also a writer and loves to read. Sorry, she is all mine. I cannot share my mentor.

The second thing you should have is a folder for Writing It and for Writing After. That is what I have labeled my two invaluable files of information. The first, Writing it, is articles and information to help me with plotting and all aspects of writing. The second, Writing After, is for all the things I need to do right, to successfully submit. my manuscript.

I do not wait until I am ready to write the synopsis or a query letter and then go searching for ‘how best to’ articles. I read and save information, I feel will be helpful for me in the future, when I need a break and am trolling writer’s sites, etc on the Internet.

And, the future is now!!! I have finished my outlines and am onto my synopsis.

I have kept a chart of what I felt were the things I needed to track for each chapter as I did my final twenty-something edits. In going through the “how to outline” folder though, I have found out that I saved a lot of stuff I did not need. So, first, I redid my chart.


I used a two column chart in MS Word. Above it, I have the chapter #, chapter title and the pages it covers. I.e. Chapter 3 – The Tunnel – pp. 17 to 25. Each chapter has its own chart so that I can print them out without breaks in a chart.

The first line of the chart gives the date it takes place and the conditions, or information about place. Since my fantasy has a lot of nature and outdoor locations, I put weather conditions in here, phases of the moon, etc.

Line two is titled Action, and it contains what happens in that chapter

Line three is Protagonist Development and details what is he anxious/fearful, etc about.

Line four is the characters that are in, or mentioned in, that chapter.

Line five is for key lines.

Line six is specifically for Foreshadowing. Since I am working on book one of a series, some foreshadowing is for future books and will say “Book 4” at end to remind me what book they will foreshadow. Some foreshadowing is for this book and I go back and run a line through it when I have completed the items foreshadowed.

The reason I settled on this is that it covers the items agents/editors want to see in a synopsis: Character, Motivation, Key Scenes, Character's blackest moments, resolution.

Next, I went from this chart outline to a chapter outline, where those notes are now in word form. i.e. “The brothers escape into a tunnel with Fergus MacDonald etc…” It is a dry outline and not for submitting to anyone. It is purely a “this is what happened.” From that dry outline, with its seven lines or less per chapter, I have created a two page short outline.

This outline is also not for submitting but is for following the Plot and Subplots to their conclusion. I have worded it a bit closer to what I would show an agent or editor but it still needs a lot of work to become a synopsis, but that is where I am heading right now. See you in a day or two.

And, if you are having trouble, keep trying until you find your own way.