Chapter synopses as a writing tool

Writing a synopsis of your story is generally one of the last things that you may do in preparation for submitting query letters to agents, but I really think the synopsis is an indispensable writing tool for the author as they go through the process of revision. It might even be an important tool for use as you’re writing the last half of your book.

I’ve written elsewhere about how making a reverse outline of each chapter helps me know what I’ve written. (The reverse outline is essentially a chapter synopsis.) It helps me evaluate how much conflict I have, what kind of tension I’ve included, what promises I am making to my reader, etc.

In my big climactic court scene where all my characters argue back and forth about what happened and why, I can use my synopsis document (which I have been building all along) to quickly make lists of things 1) that characters should argue about, 2) that characters can say to rebut and defend themselves, 3) of evidence they can show, etc. I want my characters to have the strongest arguments possible, and the synopsis helps me find and collect those points together because I have usually forgotten some. (Of course, my characters will look like they have brilliant memories, but they have to be brilliant when their lives and freedom are at stake!)

When I gather all those chapter synopses up in one document, they become a short-hand version of my book that I can use as a reference document as I revise. I don’t have time to get distracted reading through my book to find where the dragon has built the terraces on his hillside. I can find that in my synopsis document. (This synopsis is not what I’d submit to agents, by the way. This is a version for me to use.) Then I can use the working synopsis document to figure out what other later scenes I need to add mentions of the terraces to give a better sense of setting for the reader. (And of course I make notes of what needs to be added and where.)

Finally, even though I’m not quite to that point yet, the synopsis document can become a transitional step between the book and the real synopsis that is put together for a query letter.  It’s nothing more than summarizing the synopsis, distilling it down further until it is in a short enough form to submit.

The process goes like this:

1) Write chapters

2) Write each chapter synopsis

3) Gather chapter synopses into one document  (use for revisions)

4) Update working synopsis document

5) Summarize several chapter synopses together and repeat through story

6) (check length)

7) If still too long, summarize further until length is appropriate.

Writing Tool: Reverse Outlining

Just about everyone is familiar with the process of creating an outline and writing from that; it’s something taught in just about every English class at school.  However, the reverse outline is another writing tool that is just as useful as the pre-writing outline, although it has a different purpose.

What is a reverse outline?  Do you take your pre-writing outline and hold it up to the mirror?  (eye roll) No. 

A reverse outline is when you read through what you have written and summarize it in outline form in a separate document.  Happily, it doesn’t have to have Roman numerals and indenting.  (Who wants to fight with Microsoft word over that stuff? Not me!) The reverse outline can be as simple as a list.  In fact, the simpler, the better.

If you’re writing non-fiction, a reverse outline summarizes the main points you make and the way you try to make them.  Example:

Prairie dogs are good eating.

Story about eating prairie dogs when starving. They were filling.

Health benefits observed when eating prairie dogs. Lustrous hair and energy.

Story about imported prairie dogs saving the lives of malnourished Chinese children.

If you’re writing fiction, a reverse outline summarizes the events that happened in a chapter that are most important to your plot.

            Frank chases down heart-broken Wanda

            Wanda explains why she can’t trust Frank; she saw him kissing Charlene

            Frank explains kissing is part of normal Hispanic greetings.

            Wanda is skeptical because of the length of the kiss and storms off.

            Frank realizes he may lose the love of his life if he doesn’t get act together.

So how does a reverse outline really help?

Cognitively, we can only keep so much in our memory at a time, so making a reverse outline gives us a visual way to evaluate a lot of text easily.

While pre-writing outlines show us where our writing should go before we actually write it, a reverse outline shows us what is actually there once we’ve written.  Often the pre and post outlines don’t match. 

By studying your reverse outline, you can see if there are holes in your logic or missing pieces in your plot.

Not only that, but reverse outlines can become a tool for manipulating our long texts.  I can look at my reverse outline and see where I got off track.  I can see where the progression of my logic or story is out of order.  If I can move a few lines around in my reverse outline, that shows me where I can move much larger chunks in my long-form writing.

Story time!

I had to discover reverse outlining for myself. I was working on a religious book about applying the Book of Isaiah to modern teenage problems, and I noticed that as my chapters got longer and longer, I had a hard time making sure things flowed in a logical manner. 

I could keep about three pages of ideas in my head at a time, and keep those flowing, but beyond that, I just felt like I wasted too much time reminding myself what I’d written before moving anything around.  And if I wanted to insert new stuff it would break my beautiful linearity and then I had to wrestle with the whole thing again.

So I had to invent reverse outlining. (Yes, I know I didn’t really invent it; it’s been around a long time, but I had to discover-invent it for myself.)

I said to myself, “Self, you need a list of all the main points you’re trying to make in the order that you’re making them.”  So I made that list, and that was my very first reverse outline ever. 

Once I had it, I could see exactly where I needed to move things. I could see what arguments were duplicated. I could see where the holes were. I could see where I’d gotten distracted and gone off topic.  By using a reverse outline, my book became much more of a cohesive whole.

I remember I felt absolutely brilliant for having invented reverse outlining. It was like a shiny new toy that I played with.

More points about reverse outlines in fiction

“But Michaela,” you cry, “What about when writing fiction? I already have an outline I create from! Why do I need to do a reverse outline too?”

Again, reverse outlines tell you what you actually have in your story instead of what you want or plan to have.  They tell you the cold hard facts in the light of day.  And if a scene contains events but nothing that actually pushes the plot forward, then you know it’s unimportant and can be removed.

Reverse outlines for fiction can actually include much more than just a list of important plot events.  I use them to evaluate my scenes as I go. 

After I list events in the scene, I will then make a list of the conflicts that occur in the scene.  If you can’t figure out what the conflict is, then of course you’ll need to put some in.  I use a sign of >< to show what the conflicts are.  (Ideally these are conflicts directly related to the plot.) Examples:

>< The dragon wants Jessary to learn to read, but Jessary doesn’t want to.

>< Jessary wants food, but the dragon is unsympathetic.

You can also evaluate sources of tension in the scene, and naturally if you can’t find where tension is coming from, then you have to insert some ASAP.

            T Darkness in the cave and scary noises.

            T Fear of being eaten by the dragon.

            T Uncertainty of where to go from here and what life will be like.

Occasionally I will also evaluate the emotional direction of the scene, whether it goes from positive to negative or the other direction.  This helps me see where I am leaving my readers emotionally at the end of a scene, whether it is in a place of rising hopes or a situation of gathering darkness and trouble.   Emotional direction can be represented with +/-  or -/+. 

            -/+ Jessary escapes the dragon and is free.

            +/- The dragon realizes Jessary—his only hope to break the spell—is missing.

All these tools can help you evaluate the strength of your story as you write it and help you identify areas of improvement. That way, when you finish the whole darn thing, you know where you need to start revising.

 Bonus: If another author ever asks you to read their work and give them feedback, making a reverse outline can help you evaluate better. 

Why I love Scrivener

I have mentioned in before that I have ADD and this makes writing a novel into a challenge.

Today I want to discuss how Scrivener (the writing program) helps minimize distractions so I can be productive.

I have written some non-fiction books previous to my attempt at writing a first novel, and one of the problems I ran across really quickly was that a long document took a very long time to scroll through.  In fact, I never composed non-fiction books with all chapters in the same file.  (Heavens, that would be the worst mistake of my life.)

Here’s what would happen if I did compose with all the chapters in the same file: 

1.     I would open the document intending to look for Chapter 14.

2.     While scrolling to Chapter 14, a mistake in Chapter 9 would catch my eye and I’d stop to fix it.

3.     Then I’d start reading the rest of Chapter 9, looking for more sneaky mistakes. 

4.     I might remember I’d intended to go to Chapter 14, but while scrolling toward it again, I would notice a sentence in Chapter 11 that didn’t sound right and stop to fix it.  This would lead to more reading in Chapter 11.

5.     I would never actually make it to Chapter 14, but spend my time distracted on the way.

Before Scrivener I would have a file for each chapter so that I could go quickly to where I needed to go.

Scrivener makes it so that you can do this automatically in the same window, but its binder feature keeps all your chapters visible and instantly accessible.

Not only that, but all my research files are also visible and accessible.

This feature alone has saved me so much time and distraction it probably can’t be counted except by visiting a parallel universe.  

If you want to see what Scrivener is like, I have a link to it in my sidebar. (No, I do not get money from this recommendation.) They have a 30-day free trial, and the price is pretty reasonable for the features.