Novel synopsis vs. outline?
Q: I want to query an agent about my novel, but both of the most promising agents ask for outlines rather than for a synopsis. Do they want a chapter-by-chapter summary or are they really looking for a synopsis? A: These agents MAY be using the word outline to mean the same thing as synopsis. Typically, the advice (as described clearly in a recent Writers Yearbook Extra by Writers Digest) is to submit one to three chapters and a synopsis, or sometimes only a synopsis. A synopsis is a brief narrative summary of your novel, says Evan Marshall, the literary agent who wrote the article Im referring to. A good synopsis is always written in present tense, tells the entire story of your novel, including whats in the sample chapters, and runs about one page of synopsis for every 25 pages of manuscript. No dialogue, just crisp exposition of what happens, and what happens next, and include your characters motivations and emotions. No need to divide by chapters, but you can start a new paragraph
