[D Martin]

I am planning on writing a book but don’t know how to organize the outline. Could you give me some tips on how you do it?

Hi, D.,

Thanks for posting.

Outlines vary. Mine is detailed, and can be as long as 7 or 8 single-spaced pages. It includes a short biography on each character (related to his/her importance to the story). Then it's a matter of a short explanation of every chapter plus a description of the climax of the story, which is the point I'm writing toward right from the start. I have to know very well how my story ends before I can know how it begins, if that makes any sense.

Point: when I explain this method to people, they recoil and say it's not fun. Basically, it isn't fun. It's work, and you can't forget that part of it.

I hope I haven't discouraged you. This is what works for me. Your method could be different, after all.

                               Good luck!                                                                   -----Gordon Korman-----

[Chloe Hastings]

Hey there Gordon, so I’ve been on this talking about masterminds and other books and other questions. I am a book writer myself. I have written one book already, it’s not really long but that’s ok. I am working on the sequel to my first book and have another book In mind. How did you first get your book out there? When you wrote your first book at 12 like I did! So how did you get it out there? 

Thanks

-Chloe 

Hi, Chloe,

Thanks for posting. You seem to be a very dedicated writer!

How did I get my first book out there? I asked my Mom to type it in manuscript form -- 8-1/2"x11" white paper, double-spaced, one side of the page only. Then I sent it with a covering letter to Scholastic's Canadian office in Toronto where I was living at the time. How did I come to choose Scholastic? Hey, I was the class monitor for the Arrow Book Clubs -- and they were the only publisher I knew!

That's it. The whole story of the big beginning. They liked my book, published it, and I was a bestselling author in short order. I've been writing ever since, and I still publish with Scholastic. That was 106 books ago!

And that's how I "got it out there." I recommend that you go to the library for a book on writers' markets. It will list all the publishers and the kinds of works they are looking for. I don't know if there are houses that will even read manuscripts that don't come to them through a literary agent, but you can certainly try. I got lucky, and there's no reason it can't happen for you too.

Neatness counts, so does grammar. And length really does matter.

Good luck!                                                                                               -----Gordon Korman-----

[Chloe Hastings]

I’ll keep that in mind! My first book was about 102 pages long, and my second book is nearing to be finnished at 190, each chapter is about 5-7 pages long. And the format is exactly how you said, I take this online thing where I write my chapters and it tells me what to fix, but it’s also a learning thing too. I might need to go back and make my first book a little longer but who knows, maybe it will be a hit like yours!