Method 1: the abstract of the novel
1, a good start. You should have an attractive hook at the beginning of your summary, and introduce the content of your novel in an attractive way to "hook" the reader's attention. This part also often includes the background introduction of the novel.
The purpose is to create a strong sense of the picture through one or three sentences. After reading your summary, the agent or editor needs to get a clear judgment that your novel environment is enough to shape your novel characters.
2. Introduce your main role at the beginning. Once you have introduced the environment of the novel, it's time for the protagonist to appear. While introducing one or two main figures, we should also introduce some other important figures. When you introduce the protagonist, explain the role accurately with one or two adjectives. You should also state how this character fits into the novel environment and his/her role in the novel.
When introducing other characters, introduce their relationship with the protagonist. For example, if your protagonist's name is Sarah, you can set her opponent as "Tracy", a famous girl in school, who will coldly bully and threaten Sarah.
Generally speaking, you only need to mention three characters: the hero, lover and opponent of the story. Any other roles you need to mention should start with these three roles: father, teacher and so on.
3. The summary should run through the whole story, including the ending. You should describe the main line of the whole story from beginning to end, so that the agent or editor knows that you can keep a strong story from beginning to end. Don't try to arouse the editor's appetite for reading more.
You must highlight some important plot points in the whole process. You should write exciting plots or important events that make the protagonist start taking risks.
Once the journey begins, you need to sort out the main contradictions that the protagonist faces on the way forward.
Mention the turning points in the whole story, especially those points where the conflict seems insoluble.
Describe the climax in at least one whole paragraph.
Decisively accept the pen.
4. Show the growth and mood of the characters. As the plot progresses, you should also describe all the personality changes of the protagonist during his growth. Describe the protagonist's psychological and emotional state at every new turning point or major event. If it helps to promote the development of the plot, it should also describe the thoughts and feelings of other characters in the novel. For example, the lover of the protagonist is a prodigal son, and you need to follow his emotional development and romantic feelings to make his transformation meaningful.
5. Tell your story out loud. You should write your summary in positive language and the third person as much as possible. Even if your novel is written in the first person, it is recommended to use the third person in the abstract. If you write a summary in the first person, it may be difficult for the editor to tell whether you are speaking or your character is speaking.
6. Collect the pen at the right time. Usually the outline of a novel is only about one page. In order to avoid piling up words, here are some small details to help you collect your pen at the right time. Don't write minor plots unless they are essential to the main plot or there is extra space on your page.
Don't elaborate: too many roles, too long time, too many minor twists or too many descriptions. You need to present the elements of the novel, but keep every sentence concise.
Boycott the official language. When introducing sentences, avoid using the words "in this important event".
Method 2: Summary of non-fiction literature works.
1, which contains basic information. At the beginning of the summary, you should state all the main points related to your literary book, including the title, subject matter and number of words. Or you can list these points at the top of the summary, separate from the content of the summary itself, or you can organize these points into a concise introduction paragraph and put it at the beginning of the formal summary.
The description of the number of words does not need to be too precise. If your book has 62,843 words, you can round it to 62,000 or 60,000 as an explanation.
If you are writing an outline for a book that has just put forward a writing idea, rather than a finished book, estimate how many words you want to write.
The number of words in the book can also be introduced in the last paragraph of the summary instead of the first paragraph.
2. Briefly explain the background and its importance. Your writing background is an explanation of the purpose of your whole book. You should also explain why this book is so important for writing and publishing. A good way to think about your writing concept is to recall your original motivation. Ask yourself what kind of book you want to write first, and describe your answer in a few sentences. Ask yourself why you wrote this book in the first place and answer it in a few sentences.
3. Write a content summary carefully. To some extent, this is a comprehensive summary of the book. Expand it a little, add details, and explain how you plan to write or what you have already written. You can also write the summary of the book as prose, each paragraph corresponds to a chapter, or each chapter corresponds to a table of contents. The latter is more popular.
Each paragraph or chapter in the abstract should have a sub-theme or a part of the whole theme. Introduce the main contents of this chapter and some arguments or problems in this chapter.
4. Introduce your honor. After you finish writing the relevant contents of your book, you should also explain your abilities to the publishing house. The best way is to put forward what honors you have won for writing in this field. Introduce the theme of this book. You should mention your educational experience in this field and your professional or personal experience in this topic.
For the honor related to writing, state all your writing training, published books or articles, especially those related to the theme of this book.
5. Analyze the competitive relationship. Mention some other works on similar topics and explain the differences between you and others. The main purpose of this part is to show you why your book should be included in various publications under this theme.
There is another purpose. By referring to other works in this field, you can show that you are very familiar with your relationship with competitors and related knowledge.
6. Suggest who to sell your book and how to sell it. Publishers like books that can be sold. So you need to hint to them that you know what kind of readers will like your book and that you have a plan to help them sell it. List the public and minority readers. The mass readers may have a certain age, gender, religion or race. Minority readers may be specific occupations or groups.
To find ways to promote your book, you should list all the contacts in your circle or your readers, such as blog fans.
7. Give the writing cycle. Explain how much you wrote. If you haven't finished your book, estimate how long it will take.
Method 3: Academic paper/abstract
1, with moderate length. When writing an outline for a scientific research paper or academic magazine, be careful not to exceed two paragraphs. Understand the role of abstracts in academic and professional fields. Summarize the articles or papers to let readers know whether their articles meet their needs or whether they are worth reading. Therefore, the summary should be as short as possible.
If it is a meeting type, a summary must be submitted before making a report, so that the participants can decide which report they want to hear. Considering that there are many meeting reports, the summary must also be brief.
2. Use academic language. The language of summary should be consistent with your whole article: concise and thoughtful. Use the third person. It will be too subjective and biased to use the first or second person.
Write real and scientific information. Don't write about your feelings and avoid mentioning unconfirmed opinions.
3. Give an overview of your topic. Explain the premise of your article or thesis title, and then put forward your assumptions and arguments to support it. For historical or literary articles, it is necessary to state opinions and describe each argument in one sentence.
For scientific research articles, you need to explain what you want to prove, what your research method is, including a detailed explanation of why you can apply this method.
4. State your conclusion. Regardless of the topic for the time being, every academic summary must state your overall conclusion. Without a conclusion, readers will never know whether this article provides a meaningful method. For historical or literary articles, you need to write all your arguments and the most critical conclusions.
For scientific research articles, you need to write the conclusion of research or experiment, and put forward how it has affected your topic.
The abstract should be put in the right place. The abstract should be after the title page and before the text. Please note that in some writing styles, the word "abstract" may be replaced by "abstract".