Sunday 4 October 2015

The Dreaded Synopsis!


I've cut the grass, hoovered the carpets, hung out the washing and walked the dog but I can't put it off any longer. It's time to write the dreaded synopsis. 

But I thought you'd already done that for your RNA industry appointments and NWS submission, I hear you say... and you're right, I did. The difference is, this time I have to fit it onto one page. ONE PAGE! 

The problem is this: my novel has a dual timeline - alternating between one character and another one year earlier (both stories have equal weight). Readers will have sympathy for one more than the other... so how should the synopsis be set out?

My attempt for my one-to-ones at the RNA conference was three pages long (yes, really) and probably bored the pants off the editors I met with. One said, "I love your writing and idea... but not your synopsis."

It wasn't that she didn't like the story - she did (so much in fact that she asked to see the whole thing once finished). The problem was the way the synopsis was set out. I had written each character's story separately starting with the events that happened a year earlier. Unfortunately this was the story written from the POV of my less sympathetic character. My nicer character's story came next and and I hadn't made it clear that the chapters would be alternating between the two, with the nicer character's POV always coming first. Are you lost? Yes, so was the editor... so now that my novel is ready to be sent out into the big, wide world I have to make this synopsis work for me.

I've been making a list of agents I'd like to approach and most are requesting one pagers. Knowing I needed help with the dual timeframe thingy, I turned to my author friends on Facebook - posing the question of how best to structure my dual timeframe in just one page.

What lovely generous people. I have been inundated with advice and I shall quote the most useful here.

  • Maintain two working synopsis (one for each story)
  • Use lots of signposts so its clear whose story it is e.g. In 1937...
  • Look at each chapter and use the key words
  • Read Nicola Morgan's book, Write a Great Synopsis
  • Read Emma Darwin's great blog post, Relax it's Only a Synopsis!
  • Read Louise Rose-Innes' great blog post, How to Write a Synopsis
  • Ask the lovely Kath McGurl who writes dual timeframe novels how she did hers (I did and she was wonderfully helpful)

I won't pretend that with all this advice, writing my one pager has been easy but I now have a synopsis that seems to be working for me. The only problem is it's one page and one paragraph long! Time to get out the pruners.


24 comments:

  1. The synopsis is harder than the book! Honestly, if we could get all the important stuff on one page we'd have written a short story, wouldn't we?

    Well done for being nearly there. I know you'll cut out enough to make it fit - because you have to. You might have to leave out something fairly major, but as long as it makes sense and shows you do have a properly worked out story including a good ending, then you should be fine.

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    1. It's done, Patsy... but I'm stressing about all that's had to be left out.

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  2. I had to do a one pager for a competition, Wendy, and would you believe it, they couldn't understand part of the story... That's because I'd had to leave vital information out, it's a nightmare. Hope you get it how you want in the end.

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    1. Yes I can believe it, Susan. 'A nightmare' is a good description!

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  3. Congratulations on getting the synopsis done, Wendy. I think most writers dread them.

    Good luck. :-)

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  4. Mines a duel timeline too. I shall go to your suggested reading. Thank you. X

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  5. Congratulations, Wendy, on getting the dreaded job done. I found Nicola Morgan's book massively useful and couldn't imagine how I would have coped without it.
    With the current novel-in-progress, I wrote a loose synopsis before starting, partly as a sort of framework to help me stay on track with the plot and partly to make the task a bit easier at the end. However, I have strayed so far from it that it probably won't be useful at all now! xxx

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    1. I am now quite pleased with it and very grateful for everyone's help. I agree, Nicola's book is very helpful.

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  6. Congratulations, Wendy!! I also read Nicola Morgan's book but what I found even more useful was letting my mom read my novel and then I asked her to tell me what it was about. I wrote as she talked. It was great because she knew things about my novel, I didn't. Unbelieveable, I know but it was a fascinating process. Then I applied what she said to the formula Nicola Morgan advised. Worked a treat. Having said that, I was told by Carole Blake - agent at Blake Friedmann - that the synopsis is not a deal breaker if the first 10,000 words of the novel itself grabs her attention. Good luck with everything!!

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    1. That is such a clever idea, Nicola. I wish I'd thought of it. I suppose the things remembered by the person who's read it are the important things. Too late now - it's done!

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  7. I'm sure every writer reading this feels you pain. What is it about a synopsis that strikes such terror into us all? What makes it worse is that I know one agent who never reads synopses - all that effort and for nothing! Well done for putting some much into getting it right. And wishing you the very best of luck!

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    1. 'Your pain' and 'so much' not some much. Two typos in so few words. Duh!

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    2. It was the dual-timeline that made it so tricky, Natalie. Thanks again for letting me see yours - if was a great example of getting the plot over clearly in a small amount of words.

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  8. I think all writers dread the synopsis. I've never written a dual-time novel and can imagine it must seem like a nightmare to summarise. I'm glad you found the help you needed.

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  9. Well done on getting down to that daunting task, Wendy! It's difficult enough writing a synopsis without worrying about two time frames. Mine was dual too (in different centuries) but I encapsulated the main story points in two separate paragraphs, leaving a space between.

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  10. I was skimming through NetFlix last night trying to choose a film based entirely on the two-line synopses. Imagine the pressure of having to write them!

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    1. Absolutely! Did you manage to find one?

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    2. Hubby's choice was 'Ender's Game': "Talented pre-teen children are trained for battle against the alien insectoid Formics invading Earth." Not bad, actually!

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  11. Well done on getting the synopsis done and thank you for sharing the information and advice.

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