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.
The Long Trek Back
2 weeks ago
4 comments:
Good luck on getting that synopsis down. I've actually come full circle with them. I hated them, but now I really use them as a guide when I lose sight of my original idea (which is easy to do when the non-writing world intrudes) - all I have to do is look at my synopsis and I'm back in!
Wishing you tons of luck! LMK if you need a pair of eyes to peek at it. I try to keep my synopses at or under 2 pages, but I must admit, I'm loving the 1 page idea. Can't wait to hear how it goes! =)
P.S.
Since I couldn't comment on the other post, I will add a note here to say that I too am a belated HP7 reader and am desperately (and semi-successfully) attempting to avoid spoilers...
I'll be posting my one-pager once I tidy it up a bit. I sent it off to my CP to read, and she thought it was pretty good, but my internal editor won't leave me alone about it. ;o)
I hope you enjoy the book, Erica. You won't find any spoilers here. I hate that.
I will keep my eyes peeled, then! =)
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