I've covered basic goals of writing a synopsis and also offered some guidance on how to create a framework to begin drilling down that story into a concentrated form.
Writing is lonely business, and I can always use a little help from my friends. Here is a great synopsis starter from talented Trudi Trueit author of the recently released SECRETS OF A LAB RAT -- NO GIRLS ALLOWED (DOGS OK): One thing I do to jumpstart my synopsis neurons is to fill in the blanks of this sentence: This book is about a (blank) who (blanks) (i.e. what does the character want most?). That gets me right to the nuts and bolts of what I want to say, and I usually can come up with something short and catchy.
I'm going to add to Trudi's idea of "catchy". I think what you want to catch is the essence of the voice of the book in that pithy description. I actually write the synopsis from the POV of my character. I don't generally use this version but I do find providential turns of phrase when performing this exercise. This is just like adding a dash of salt to the soup. It's all about the details,folks.
So, even more to come.
This week's doodle is called, "Pocket of Stars."
Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!
And my playlist hit this week, back to 1972, from my hometown, Houston, TX, Johnny Nash and "I Can See Clearly Now".
I think the act of condensing months or years of work down to a couple hours of entertainment is pretty wild and extremely rewarding. Richard King
