Recently, I was asked if I wanted to pitch a plot summary to a publisher for a potential fiction story for hi/lo readers. I had already written a short nonfiction book for them, but I wanted the chance to work on a fiction book, so I said I would be interested. The problem? I only had a little over two weeks to do so!

Here are some tips on how to develop a plot summary when you don’t have a lot of time.

Pray, Don't Panic!

As Christians, we sometimes forget, or don’t always make it a habit, to consult God first. I had already been praying for more writing opportunities, so I already knew this was from the Lord. But now I needed the direction for where this story could go. So prayer was definitely my first priority.

But, it’s easy to get caught up and distracted by the deadline. Two and a half weeks can come by mighty fast! This can cause one to panic, making it harder to concentrate on the task at hand. So, again, I turn to the Lord and ask for calm. I love how He answers this one for me because I can now focus on the story instead of that ticking clock.

Let the Ideas Lead

A plot summary is a little tricky because you need a main character or characters, a setting, a story idea with some conflict, and a resolution in mind. And it has to be something that is interesting and exciting enough to satisfy the publishers, who want satisfied readers. Thankfully, I was able to pick my own genre, so I decided to do one of my favorites: a mystery.

With a genre in mind, I would need a main character, with a good support character to help enlarge my audience. So, my story would be about a girl who makes friends with a boy her age. Now, what kind of mystery and/or trouble could these two get into? That’s where you have to let your ideas lead.

Allow Your Mind to Wander

I like to read about historical events, and I happened to have read about an unsuccessful prison escape that occurred during one of our wars. Using that incident as a possible backdrop and with a similar setting, I turned my attention to other things to let my mind wander. I find that story ideas flow more easily when I place those thoughts in the background. My mind is still working, but I don’t force the story. I let it flow.

And that often works. I came up with an idea that was centered around wartime with the two protagonists uncovering a plot of sabotage by a prison escapee.

Put it All Together

All that was left was typing it up in an exciting way, making sure I mentioned the target hi/lo audience and how many chapters I was anticipating for the story. When I had read and re-read my two- page summary letter, making sure I included everything the publisher was asking for, I sent it in ahead of time (as I like to do), and now I wait.

Will they accept my story idea? Only the Lord knows. But, I was able to formulate a partially fleshed-out plot summary that I hadn’t even thought about two weeks prior. I consider that a win regardless!

What has helped you plan out plot summaries or outlines?

Unsplash photo credits: Yucel Moran, Ben White, Lala Azizli, and Vitaly Gariev.

Catherine L. Osornio has written inspirational articles for a women’s ministry newsletter, over 200 leveled reader stories for a school’s reading program, fiction and nonfiction articles for Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr. magazines, The Declaration of Independence from A to Z, Thunder Comes a Rumblin’, plus various work-for-hire projects. A former elementary school librarian, Catherine is passionate about sharing the love of reading. She enjoys cartooning, illustration, and reading kids’ books. Email her at CLOsornio@verizon.net or visit her at www.catherineosornio.com.