What the heck is the plural of "synopsis"?! I got stuck in a "synopsiseseses" circle and couldn't get out! Argh!
*googles*
Okay, it's "synopses". Whew. Glad we got that ironed out.
Before I get all into discussing synopses (okay, that still sounds wrong. It sounds exactly the same as "synopsis"! What are you doing to me, Webster?), I have a link to share that I got from the lovely Pam Bachorz's blog. Just finished reading CANDOR by the way, and may I take a moment to say that you must, must read it if you have any interest at all in conspiracies, subliminal messages, or hot boys.
But anyway, here's the link. Apparently there's an artist who takes books and turns them into PURSES. Some of my favorites: Robinson Crusoe, HG Wells, and Arabian Nights. Apparently you can special order book purses with books of your choice (how Bachorz got her CANDOR book purse). Can you say "BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR A WRITER EVER"? Can you imagine how stupidly amazing it would be to have a PURSE of your BOOK? Want.
On to the synopsis discussion:
So yesterday I set to work writing a synopsis for the STREAM PIRATE-sequel-that-was-a-trilogy-that-is-now-a-sequel. Writing the synopsis was a very good thing for a number of reasons, one of which was that before I wrote it, the sequel was just this big unsorted glob of idea in my Word story folder. But even after piecing it all into a cohesive form, I found that that cohesive form was still -- a mess. A three-page-long mess of "Lu did this, then did this, while this was happening." Bland and dry and so list-like I felt the next paragraph should start with "Eggs, butter, milk, and toilet paper."
Basically: my synopsis-writing skills suck.
Luckily, mi prima is amazing at writing synopses and agreed to tear mine to shreds. So after a few rounds of emails and drafts, we came up with a one-pager that kicked my three-pages of mess to the curb, got them a taxi, and sent them on their merry way.
My question then for you all is: how do you write your synopses? Do you loathe writing them like I do? Or, like mi prima, can you look at a mess of story goo and with just a few mouse-clicks and screen-glares get all the organization and information you need? Or do you have someone you send your synopses to tear to pieces?
11 comments:
I haven't had to write many, actually, which I don't mind at all. But if I did, I would definitely call in the troops to help! They're just hard! And boring.
*Hold your applause*
The only reason it was so easy for me to write your synopsis is because the three pages you sent me laid everything out clearly enough for me to use it. Remember how long it took me to write my own synopsis?
But I do enjoy accolades... :)
I've never been one to have my characters recite synopses. Things kind of fall in naturally, I guess.
WANT BOOK PURSE!!!!!
Book purse!!!! Squee-worthy, that one is.
I haven't yet written a synopsis for my WIP, but it scares me a little less than my query letter. We'll see!
I hate them. I always need help. I'm busy inventing a robot that writes them for me. Oh, and awesome query letters. It's called the Awesome I-Write Robot. You want?
I'm actually pretty good at it . . . for someone else's book. For my own, not so much.
I find it so hard to condense. I get bogged down with cutting out details that seem important to the plot or the overall theme or something else. That said, I've written two synopses and, after putting the hours into them, both came out okay.
You can do it, Sara! Just keep pluggin'. :)
I"m okay but I always need help because they end up becoming so long, oh so long. And a lot of the info is extra so I have to cut it down and spice it up.
Haven't had to really write any, but I've tried just for practice.
And I suck at it. :P It tends to ramble and go all over the place...or I make it way too short and not detailed enough :P It's hard for me to find that happy medium.
I LOATHE them. I've never had to write one for any reason, but I've tried just to see if I can, and I've come to the conclusion that I write novels for a reason. I cannot condense 300 pages into 1.
Loathe. With the heat of a thousand suns. Focused through a magnifying glass into a tiny, powerful spot of fire. Like Candice, I feel that if I could have told the story in 500 words, I would have!
Oh yes, I HATE synopsis writing! There is something about taking all my hard earned words and condensing them into two pages of crap that really depresses me.
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