A Fiction Synopsis Is A Sales Tool

This post originally appeared on STET in March 2011. It's one of the best synopsis posts I've found online!


by Diana Peterfreund

I’ve been getting a bunch of requests for advice on how to write a synopsis for a novel. Most writers I know hate writing synopsis, loathe it with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I have a friend who calls them sucknopses — a term that drives me up a wall. I feel very much in the minority, because I love writing synopses. LOVE IT. In fact, it’s one of my favorite things to do in the entire process or writing a novel.

My love for writing synopses started early on in my career, and it changed my ability to write on a fundamental level. Now, armed with a synopsis, I can sally forth into the wilds of my story without fear of getting lost. I’ve got a road map.

I was taught to write synopses by Kathy Carmichael. Her synopsis writing workshops and handouts cannot be beat. Doesn’t matter if your synopsis is for romance or not (she has some especially for non-romance fiction. This is the place everyone should go — anything I would say about the nuts and bolts would be derived from her workshops. I cannot recommend them enough. I have not looked at them in years, however, because at this point, I kind of know what I’m doing, It’s like no longer referring to maps once you’ve driven the same route a few times.

So now that you know where I get my basic template for my synopsis, let’s move on to the special things I do.

Thing #1: I write my synopsis before I write my book.

I really think writing your synopsis before you write your books makes it SO much easier. You still have a firm hold on what your central story question is, and you aren’t distracted by all your pretty little details and funny lines and unique set details.

A portion of you have already run off in terror, because you belong to the group of writers who think that pre-planning takes all the fun out of it. I can’t tell you how many arguments conversations I’ve had about this with writer friends who think planning books out in advance is sheer madness. My brain does not work that way. Unless i have a plan it’s like getting in a car with no idea where I’m going. I prefer to have a destination in mind and a road map of how to get there.

Please note: this does not mean that I know every single thing that is going to happen in every scene on every page of my novel. (A lot of people who are on the “OMGNOOO, you PLAN?” bandwagon assume that it’s all or nothing in that manner.) Nor does it mean that things don’t change. To completely beat this “roadmap” metaphor into paste — sometimes you’re on the way to a certain place, and you have to take a detour. Or maybe you say to yourself — hey, let’s take this other road instead.” Or even decide to go to a different but related place. All cool.

But the interesting thing is that it probably won’t change the synopsis, much like if you decide to take a detour on your way to your favorite restaurant it’s unlikely worth mentioning to the people you’re meeting for dinner.

I judge a lot of unpublished writing contests, and the number one problem I see in a bad synopsis is that the author doesn’t know what details they should put in, and which ones to leave out. Writing the synopsis before you write the book helps avoid a lot of these problems because you don’t have any of the details yet.

For instance, say you are George Lucas, and you are writing a synopsis ofStar Wars. It probably doesn’t behoove you to bother mentioning that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru and Luke drink blue milk out of plastic glasses in the opening scenes. A person looking to buy your book doesn’t need to know that. You should spend your time mentioning that those new droids Uncle Owen and Luke just bought are actually refugees from a captured intergalactic ship who are carrying top secret information vital to the rebellion for some old hermit named Ben who lives in the mountains.

Which brings me to

Thing #2: A synopsis is a sales tool.

This is another tip from Kathy Carmichael. A synopsis is not your outline of the story, if you’re an outliner (though it can serve as one in a pinch). A synopsis is, in actuality, your opportunity to skip over flaws in your story. Again, let’s say you’re George Lucas, and you are, perhaps worried that your scoundrel smuggler character might be a little TOO over the top in that one bar scene where he shoots Greedo in cold blood. I mean, it makes sense in context and all, nails the character PERFECTLY, and it’s a totally awesome scene that should never ever have been changed (damn you, George, damn you) but you’re afraid that if you type: “while Han’s first mate, the giant fuzzy Chewbacca, negotiates with Obi-Wan and Luke, Han Solo meets with this ugly green dude who is looking for money Han owes to some other guy and Han shoots him” someone is going to go: “Man, this is not going to play well in Peoria…” You know what you do? You don’t mention it. Because

Thing #3: A synopsis is your chance to tell.

“Show, don’t tell?” Doesn’t apply in synopses. You don’t need to talk about Han shooting Greedo because you have already introduced the character Han as being a “scoundrel smuggler-type with few scruples — or so you think!”

In fact, that’s how you should start your synopsis (Kathy goes into far greater detail on this). “Character A is a such-and-such sort of person who wants such-and-such because of this reason. Unfortunately, he/she is thwarted in this desire by XYZ.”

(If you are writing a fantasy, even this might be pre-empted by some sort of statement about the world rules. For instance, the first paragraph about my Rampant synopsis explains how unicorns are not, in fact, the fluffy innocent sparkly magical pure being of myth and legends, but instead giant, man-eating venomous beasts that have fortunately been extinct for a century or so, only oops, not so much. Then I go into all sorts of stuff about Astrid.)

The other thing that helps you to figure out what detail you need to put in and which to leave out is to really be strict with yourself in terms of space. I cut my teeth writing synopses for inclusion in Harlequin submissions. At the time (might still be, I don’t know) Harlequin said that synopses had to be 2 pages long. That’s two pages for a 50-70k book (depending on what line you were targetting. So you learned to really concentrate on the characters and what made them tick. Usually, in such synospes, you were going to spend the first page on hero (space scoundrel/smuggler), heroine (intergalactic princess and rebel spy), and premise (it’s hatred at first sight when he rescues her from the evil intergalactic vizier/high priest’s evil planet-killing fortress), and the second page on what all happens to them after that.

Much more standard synopsis length is 1 (double spaced) page for every 10,000 words of manuscript. When you are just starting out, look at each 10k words and FORCE yourself to keep your synopsis to that length. You’ll be surprised how it makes you focus on what hte big plot points and turning points of your story are.

This article was reposted with permission of the author and first appeared on The Official Website of Diana Peterfreund.

*****

Diana Peterfreund has been a costume designer, a cover model, and a food critic. Her travels have taken her from the cloud forests of Costa Rica to the underground caverns of New Zealand (and as far as she’s concerned, she’s just getting started). Diana graduated from Yale University in 2001 with dual degrees in Literature and Geology, which her family claimed would only come in handy if she wrote books about rocks. Now, this Florida girl lives with her husband, her daughter, and their dog in Washington D.C., and writes books that rock.

For a full bio, click here.  For a list of all Diana's books, click here.

How I Survived The 2011 Backspace Agent-Author Seminar

by J.H. Bográn

At first I thought could not go at all. The truth is that the planning of this trip took calling in a couple of favors, an alignment of the stars, plenty of credit card miles and a suitcase full of traveling patience.

I left my house in San Pedro Sula, Honduras by 5:00 AM.  which is a two-hour plane ride South of Miami. A direct flight to New York takes about five hours, but I had a seven-hour layover in El Salvador. I landed at JFK Airport around 11:00 PM. Then I rode three trains, crossed two rivers, arrived in Newark, NJ and crashed at my cousin's house. 

One interesting thing happened during my flight. I was reading fellow Backspace member, Keith Cronin’s, novel Me Again. When I put the book down for a bit, I noticed the in-flight movie was beginning. I could not believe it at first: it was another fellow Backspace member, Sara Gruen’s, Water for Elephants! So there I was, going to the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar, reading a Backspace member's novel and watching a movie based on a Backspace member's novel. 

The first day of the seminar I finally got to meet Backspace founder and international author, Karen Dionne (aka K. L. Dionne). We didn't have much chance to chat because she was running the event, but it was great meeting her after missing our chance at 2010’s Thrillerfest.


The agent panels touched on the basics of the agenting business, the pros and cons, and the personal preferences of the agent panelists. I particularly enjoyed the second panel with an agent/editor combo. I finally learned what a “preempt sale” is as opposed to an auction. Duh!

Then we split and went to the individual workshops. I attended  the Thriller/Mystery category since that's my genre. After the first session, with two agents commenting on the query letters brutal is the only adjective that came to mind.   


The agents stopped us from reading at the moment or place where they would stop reading and send out the formal rejection letter. Jeff Kleinman from Folio Literary Management and Meredith Barnes from Lowenstein Associates allowed me to finish reading my query but made comments to improve, particularly on the formatting, balancing and prior publishing credits. So I was okay, I guess.


In the next session participants read the opening two pages of our manuscripts. Bit of advice: make sure you finish your breath mint before the start of session. You never know if you’re going to read first. I hastily swallowed my mint and then read aloud. The agent did not stop me, but her comments suggested my two pages were plagued with fillers.  Not being a native English speaker I had feared my Latin accent would have a negative impact on my reading. I asked her after the session and she said it was not a problem. That comment alone made my day great! 

The second day I arrived early and had a chance for small chat with Karen and her daughter. The two morning panels shed more light on the business, especially for the newcomer like me.  

This query workshop had three agents. Some of the participants read a revised version of their queries from the previous day. When it was my time to read, I felt self-conscious reading the same query. However, the responses were quite different and the comments they made served to improve other areas. 

During the afternoon two-page workshop, author John Gilstrap sat in the room during our readings. (We have to thank the hotel’s slow housekeeping for not having his room ready!) At the end of the reading John also gave some useful pointers. 


The two agents from this workshop requested full manuscripts from many of us. That was a change from the previous day.

The seminar ended with a very inspirational speech by John Gilstrap who earned a standing ovation. 

But probably one of the best parts was when a bunch of us got together at the bar, John Gilstrap included. It's great to meet agents and get amazing feedback, but it's really fun to hang out with a best-selling author at the end of it all! 

J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist. He ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. José is the author of TREASURE HUNT, the first in the series of a professional thief that goes by the handle of The Falcon. Other works include short stories, contributor to The Big Thrill magazine, co-screenwriter for two TV serials and movie reviews for Honduran newspaper La Prensa. He’s a member of the International Thriller Writers and of writer’s online community Backspace.

You can find him on the WEB, on Twitter @JHBogran, Facebook and Blogger.

Top Ten Reasons Writing Fiction Rocks

by Merry Monteleone

10. The only numbers you have to worry about are page numbers and word count – and MS Word takes care of that for you.

9. When one of your characters pisses you off, you can get even with him in all sorts of diabolical ways – try that with your coworkers.

8. Seriously, when else will you get to plot a bank heist and not wind up arrested?

7. In normal society, when you sit around talking to yourself, they call you crazy. When you tell them you’re a writer, you become, ‘creative’.

6. You can strike fear in the hearts of friends and acquaintances by hinting that they’ll be included in your novel. (They all think they’ll be included either way, of course).

5. A writer’s daily adventure is only limited by his or her imagination. Pirate play, anyone?

4. You can wade waist deep in books and information on any topic that catches your passion – and it’s called research!!! Come on, how much cooler does it get?

3. You can populate your story with the most colorful, loyal, witty, amazing people you’ll ever meet – and then you get to hang out with them and call it work!

2. There is no dress code for writing fiction.

1. Writing gives you a chance to make sense of the story. It doesn’t replace life, but it makes the experience of living more powerful.

What reasons make your list? And have you done any writing today?

Merry Monteleone writes in the Chicagoland area, while raising thee children and sometimes juggling sharp utensils. She blogs at Mom and More. The "Mom" part is self-explanatory. The "More" part is most often about fiction writing.

How to Crush Clichés in Your Writing

by Amy Sue Nathan

According to Wikipedia:

A cliché or cliche (pronounced UK: /ˈkliːʃeɪ/, US: /klɪˈʃeɪ/) is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. The term is frequently used in modern culture for an action or idea which is expected or predictable, based on a prior event. Typically a pejorative, "clichés" are not always false or inaccurate;[1] a cliché may or may not be true.[2] Some are stereotypes, but some are simply truisms and facts.[3] Clichés are often for comic effect, typically in fiction.

Most phrases now considered clichéd were originally regarded as striking, but lost their force through overuse.[4] In this connection, David Mason and John Frederick Nims cite a particularly harsh judgement by Salvador Dalí: "The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot."[5]  (gotta love this one)

A cliché is often a vivid depiction of an abstraction that relies upon analogy or exaggeration for effect, often drawn from everyday experience. Used sparingly, they may succeed. However, cliché in writing or speech is generally considered a mark of inexperience or unoriginality.

I couldn't have said it better myself.  So I didn't.  But when you're creative writing, especially for publication, you must say it better yourself.  That's the point. Clichés appear witty -- after all -- the writer thought to use the perfect saying for the perfect moment.  In reality? Clichés are lazy. Someone else wrote it and it's already a well-know colloquialism. Ho hum, booooooring.  You didn't do any of the work.  

But I'll be honest, for me, clichés have their place and my first drafts are strewn with them, along with phrases like find another word for itch or find a good way to describe a dress. In first drafts I write fast and I write anything to get my thoughts into the Word doc -- knowing I'll revise least three or four times before I officially consider it a first draft.  I use clichés "like crazy" because the phrase reminds me of what I want to say,  but not how I want to say it.  Then I go back and find every cliché, something I learned to do in a Margie Lawson class. And believe me, it takes more than one pass through a manuscript to find them all.  They come dressed in literary camouflage.  Check out this website for a comprehensive list of clichés -- and do the best you can to nix 'em, by just deleting the clichés, or,  fix 'em, by rewriting them in your own words, in your voice. 

Because saying good-bye to clichés means saying hello to better writing.  And that's the point.  Right? 

Amy Sue Nathan’s debut novel, The Glass Wives, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in 2013.  Amy’s fiction has been published in Grey Sparrow Journal, Rose and Thorn Journal and Scribblers on the Roof. Her essays and columns have been published in the Chicago Tribune, theNew York Times online, the Washington Post online,Chicago Parent and in regional print publications nationwide. Amy is also a freelance fiction editor, the social media liaison for Backspace: The Writer’s Place and the founder of Women’s Fiction Writers, a blog that features women’s fiction authors and focuses on writing and publishing women’s fiction.  She is also a member of the RWA-WF chapter. 

When Amy isn’t reading or writing she looking for things to read and write about, but has also been seen enjoying reality TV – maybe a little too much.  She is the mom of a son in college, a daughter in high school and two rambunctious dogs who like to wake her before the alarm rings, no matter what time that happens to be.   

You can follow Amy on Twitter @AmySueNathan and contact her through her website AmySueNathan.com.

Writers: How to Reach Your Goals with the First Two Pages

originally posted on STET November 8, 2010

By Tamara Girardi - The Girardi Diner

On Thursday and Friday afternoon, Backspace Agent-Author Seminar attendees will share their first two with roomfuls of agents and authors. The experience can be daunting and invaluable. Again, though, the conference is not necessarily the place to learn how to write your opening pages.

Attendees will learn at the sessions, without a doubt. But a little pre-conference homework can go a long way.

Homework Assignment #1: Field Research

I bet you’re thinking, “Wait, is this crazy lady really giving me homework?” The answer is, “Yes.” I’m a teacher. It’s what I do.

So, go to your bookshelf and retrieve five books in your genre. I write young adult, so I’ll be looking at young adult books. In each book, turn to the opening page. Read the first line. What do you think? Does it grab you? Is it filled with action? Voice?

Continue reading. Are you doing so because the page is well-written, and you want to continue reading? Or because I said so? If it’s the former, what makes you want more? Take some notes.

Continue reading, evaluating, and note-taking. After you read the first two pages of Book #1, move on to Book #2, and start over. Continue through Book #5 or Book #15 if you wish.

For instance, I’ll go first.

I’m reading Kody Keplinger’s THE DUFF. The opening line is: “This was getting old.”

Immediately, I wonder, “What’s getting old?” Likewise, the narrator’s voice is strong. Moving on.

“Once again, Casey and Jessica were making complete fools of themselves, shaking their asses like dancers in a rap video. But I guess guys eat that shit up, don’t they? I could honestly feel my IQ dropping as I wondered, for the hundredth time that night, why I’d let them drag me in here again.”

The voice continues to sing. I meet two other characters and get an entertaining, striking image of them. And I’m still intrigued. Where did they bring the narrator? What would make her come if she really didn’t want to? Why isn’t she out their shaking her ass like a dancer in a rap video?

I would read on. Would you? Remember that personal preference has a lot to do with whether agents will request pages from an author in the same way personal preference dictates my book shelf is holding titles that are different from those on your bookshelf.

Homework Assignment #2: Expert Advice

Head back to your bookshelf, and this time retrieve a book on writing. Since it seems to fit, I’m going with Noah Lukeman’s THE FIRST FIVE PAGES: A WRITER’S GUIDE TO STAYING OUT OF THE REJECTION PILE.

Scan through your book to see what the writer says specifically about or could generally be applied to the opening pages. As Lukeman writes, “[This book] assumes by scrutinizing a few pages closely enough – particularly the first few – you can make a determination for the whole. It assumes that if you find one line of extraneous dialogue on page 1, you will likely find one line of extraneous dialogue on each page to come.” 

So if the book in your hands focuses on how to write well, then it applies to the first two pages.

Now look for specific tips you can apply to your opening pages. Lukeman offers “more is less.” He is specifically talking about a string of adverbs or adjectives, a violation I have noticed in workshopping many first pages. The solution is to “cut back your usage. Amazingly, you can improve your prose simply by going through your manuscript (with an eye for this) and reducing the sheer number of adjectives and adverbs,” Lukeman says.

Lukeman warns against telling and advocates for showing. Regarding characters, he warns against using names that are too cliché or outlandish, introducing too many characters at once, and creating a protagonist who is unsympathetic.

What did you find in your book? How might you apply this to your manuscript?

If you do not have a book on writing handy or if you want further reading on the subject (good for you!), take a look at the three web sites below. Good luck on tightening up your first few pages, and don’t forget, as Lukeman says, to apply those tips to the whole of your manuscript as well.

How to Impress an Agent With the First Page of Your Novel
http://www.ehow.com/how_4875798_impress-agent-first-of-novel.html

Miss Snark Critiques Opening Pages
http://misssnark.blogspot.com/search/label/Crapometer-first%20pages

The Opening or Making the Average Joe Unaverage http://backspacewriters.blogspot.com/2010/06/opening-or-making-average-joe-unaverage.html

Tomorrow: Last-minute conference planning and celebrating success.

*****

Tamara Girardi is a PhD student in Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Composition and TESOL program and earned a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2005. She teaches literature and composition and freelances for Pittsburgh area newspapers. She has been a member of Backspace since 2007 and will share her query and first two pages from her young adult paranormal novel THESE WALLS CAN TALK at the upcoming Agent-Author Seminar.

Follow her on Twitter (@TamaraGirardi) for up to the moment conference news.