Synopses Don’t Have to Suck

Synopsis.

The very word made me cringe.

For something defined as “a brief summary of the plot of a novel, motion picture, play, etc” it sure has a way of causing sleepless nights, groans of frustration, and blank-eyed confusion.

No matter how many books I read or sites I visited, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I’d try to keep my synopsis tight and (of course) make sense, but then I wasn’t sure what I needed to include, what I shouldn’t include, what was really important or just sort of important, and on and on.

But then I found the Holy Grail of Synopsis Writing. I stumbled on this website by complete accident and it has changed everything I’ve thought of synopsis writing. Namely, they no longer suck.

I know I’m not the only writer who has had this issue, so I thought I’d share my secret. So here we go …

All you have to do in order to write a complete, clear, and concise synopsis is to answer the following questions:

1. What is the setting? (This is really the lead-in question for the next one)
2. Who is the main character and what does s/he want?
3. What initial problem does s/he encounter?
4. How does s/he overcome his/her initial problem and achieve some measure of success?
5. What happens to spoil the initial success?
6. Where does this new problem lead?
7. What risk does the main character take to deal with this new challenge?
8. What is his/her “dark moment?”
9. How does s/he overcome this last obstacle to achieve the outcome of the story?
10. How does it end? Happily ever after? What’s changed?

When I’m writing a synopsis, I will list these questions, answer them, and erase them when I’m done. And then Voila! I have a concise and to-the-point synopsis. There are some other rules to remember when writing your synopsis:

1. Keep it single spaced and to about a page.
2. Write in present tense.
3. Use all caps when you first introduce your main characters (LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD walks through the woods and she meets the BIG BAD WOLF). This is a one-time thing.
4. Keep all other characters outside your main characters to a minimum. Even though Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were important to Dorothy. In your synopsis, they are just Dorothy’s aunt and uncle. Capice?

I took the above method from the Top Ten Questions for a Successful Synopsis by Gina Ardito, a romance writer, but tweaked it a bit so I could use it for my manuscripts. If you’re writing a romance, i.e. paranormal romance (I know you’re out there), you might want to go to her website and use the questions she has listed. I know I will when my YA paranormal romance is ever ready to go.

Check out Gina Ardito’s website at http://www.ginaardito.com/.

I See You Blog

My blog has totally been neglected. It’s becoming that “one” thing I started and now it just sort of stares at me from the window when I’m trying to watch T.V.—a little creepy.

I really have no excuse. Busy? Yes. I just went to a writer’s conference at the beginning of the month, got a ton of requests, and now I’ve been revising like crazy—tweaking this, tweaking that.

I’ve still been reading some YA bestsellers. Speaking of YA bestsellers, I’m so excited for Mockingjay (third book in the Hunger Games series). I’ve already preordered and been religiously checking the countdown (4DAYS!!! This is worse than Christmas morning). I’ve stayed away from all forums talking about the last book. I have my own predictions, but want to be surprised. Anyone else sitting on pins and needles?

Heist Society: Ally Carter

Heist Society was fun, fast paced, and exciting.

I’m always amazed (and a little jealous) when authors or screenwriters are able to come up with innovative ways to make an impossible task possible (like robbing a casino in Oceans 11). Heist Society was along this same vein when Ally Carter had to come up with a plan for her main character, Katarina Bishop, to take on the Henley Museum.

Heist Society was all about the obstacles. That being said, Carter did an excellent job of demonstrating how to put obstacles between the protagonist and his or her goal.

For instance, Kat’s main goal was to re-steal five paintings for mobster, Arturo Taccone, to save her dad:

1. The paintings were in the most secured museum in the world—the Henley.
2. The one person (Kat’s uncle), who could most likely pull off the heist, refused to help.
3. The other person (Kat’s dad) was unable to help.
4. Kat didn't have enough people in her crew to pull off the job.
5. Carter threw in an ethical obstacle about stealing the paintings in general.
6. But if Kat didn't succeed, then Arturo would kill her dad.

Aside from these obstacles, Carter established an overarching obstacle to the story: Kat wanted out of a life of thieving. Of course, other obstacles prevented that from happening.

I attended a presentation once where the speaker said a writers job was to put as many obstacles as possible between the main characters and their intended goals. The prize should never come easy for them.

I think Heist Society is a good example of creating obstacles—tons of them.

You don’t need to stop with direct obstacles (such as obstacles that prevent the character from physically attaining what they want), but personal obstacles, ethical obstacles, etc. Ultimately, obstacles create conflict and we really can’t have too much of that.