That Darn Synopsis

The bane of the writer's existence... The Synopsis. It really ought to be a B-grade horror movie. The Synopsis That Ate New York. (Or maybe just made New York gag because it was so bad.)

But seriously. I just got a line on a publisher that might love Caldera, but they ask for the first 3 chapters and a synopsis, and to be perfectly honest my synopsizing blows chunks.

So, sitting here not writing, (and worrying over creating a zippy enough synopsis to make this particular publisher pant like a hungry dog over a much-prized meaty bone), I read a wonderful blog post by my new hero - Allison Brennan - called Book Proposals. In it she gives a very cut-and-dried method for creating a synopsis. It involves four key components:

1) Hook
2) "Back Cover"
3) Climax
4) Ending

And she says it should be no more than a page - "cut and refined for a query letter." Hallelujah! (Is it any wonder the gal is my new hero?)

So, as soon as I get out of this slump I've been in, I'm hitting the keyboard to come up with just such a synopsis. (And then I'm going to cross every dual part of my body - including kidneys and lungs if I have to - that this sucker will fly.)

Wish me luck.