3T Writing Tidbit - Synopsis in a Snap

I have probably posted this before, but I came across it while going through the blog tours I've done (2013, if anyone's counting) and it bears repeating.

Synopsis in a Snap

You’ve just spend weeks (or months or years) writing, honing, and polishing your story. But to sell it, you need to write a full synopsis. Condense your 30-120K down to 500 words or less. Does your heart pound and your mouth? Does your whole being rebel against the thought?

Well, of course. A synopsis is like putting your story on an X-treme diet. Who likes diets, especially ones that reduce to a bare 1% of the total?

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can ease the stress and write a synopsis in a snap by flipping your thinking around.

Build the synopsis from the ground up.

You simply have to know the traditional five turning points of your story: the catalyst, the big event, the pinch, the crisis, and the climax. (This technique is for the synopsis, complete with ending, that you send an editor, publisher, or agent. The teaser synopsis or blurb is another animal.)

Let’s build a synopsis using these five points from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, you’ll still be able to follow along.

Here are the turning points. If you don’t understand the story from the raw points, that’s okay. It’ll become clearer as we go.

Catalyst: Dorothy Gale’s dog Toto is seized by her wicked neighbor. When Toto escapes, Dorothy and Toto run away from home.

Big Event: A cyclone hits, sweeping Dorothy’s house, Toto and Dorothy away.

Pinch: Dorothy and her friends reach the Wizard, only to be told she must destroy the Wicked Witch (or bring him her broomstick in the film).

Crisis: The Witch captures Dorothy and her friends, and imprisons her away from her friends.

Climax: The hot air balloon takes off without Dorothy. She must rely on herself to get back home.

Note that the book jumps right to the Big Event, but that’s a normal difference between books and movies. Authors are taught to get right into the story. Screenplays include a setup that’s usually ten percent of the finished film.

Now we write our synopsis. Add a sentence or two before the point to orient the reader, and between the points to transition smoothly between. You can also add in one or two points of color. In this case, I’ll expand “Dorothy’s friends” to include their very lively names, and add the yellow brick road. Another addition is the theme, which I’ll added at the end.

Dorothy Gale is a young girl living with her aunt and uncle on a small, old, and gray farm; only her dog Toto makes her laugh. Then Toto is seized by her wicked neighbor, so when Dorothy recovers Toto, the pair runs away from home.

Dorothy meets a carnival man who convinces her to go home. But when she gets there a cyclone hits. Before Dorothy can hide, the wind sweeps away Dorothy’s house with Toto and Dorothy in it.

The house lands in a colorful countryside—on top of a Wicked Witch, killing her.  A good witch appears and tells Dorothy only the great wizard Oz can send her home. She gives Dorothy the dead witch’s Silver Shoes (ruby slippers in the movie). Dorothy follows a road of yellow brick to Oz’s city, and along the way rescues three friends: the Scarecrow; the Tin Woodman; and the Cowardly Lion. But when Dorothy and her friends reach the Wizard, he will only help her if she destroys another witch, the Wicked Witch of the West.

But the Wicked Witch sees them coming and sends the Winged Monkeys at them. The Monkeys capture Dorothy and Toto (and the Lion in the book) and take her to the Witch, who incarcerates her (enslaves her in the book). Dorothy is alone and friendless.

But when the Witch tries to steal Dorothy’s lovely slippers, Dorothy throws a bucket of water on her in anger, which melts the Witch. Dorothy is freed. She collects her friends and returns to the Wizard to claim her reward.

The Wizard tries to get out of his promise, and when Dorothy and her friends confront him, is proven to be merely a man. But he has a hot air balloon and take Dorothy back to Kansas in it.

Then the day of the launch, the hot air balloon takes off without Dorothy. She must rely on herself to get back home. The good witch tells Dorothy the Silver Shoes (ruby slippers) will take her and Toto home. She’s had the power all along but without her adventure she wouldn’t have known that there truly is no place like home.

Easier than whittling down a hundred or so pages, right? Only items which are essential to making the plot points make sense are added, such as the slippers which trigger Dorothy’s anger (melting the Witch) and get her home. Only the main characters or those who infuse extreme color are named.

If you’ve read the book or seen the movie, you’ll note I haven’t included the friends’ stories. That’s why this is such a great tool. The Scarecrow’s brain, the Tin Woodsman’s heart, and the Cowardly Lion’s courage are important, but they’re not critical to the plot points, so I know I can safely exclude them.

Need more? If you’re asked for a longer synopsis, you can simply list the five plot points for any secondary stories and weave them in. This also works for romance, where you have plot points for hero and heroine each.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.    

2T Repeat Performance

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published September 6, 2013 for Guilty Pleasures

The Future of the Biting Love Series

Thank you to DiDi and Guilty Pleasures for having me back!

Picture a rainbow, or better yet, the St. Louis Gateway Arch. The Biting Love series is a set of blocks fitting together to make an overall arc.

Each block is a hot romance between a strong vampire and the human woman who claims him, and each can stand alone.

Put them together, though, and they form a story of good versus evil, the Alliance versus the Coterie. Granted, at the start of the series, the bad guys are more bumbling and inept than a bunch of storm troopers. But hey, the books also have humor. By the end we’ll see something a little more like a boss.

The first several books laid the foundations of quirky little Meiers Corners and dealt with local problems, only hinting at wider issues.

The newly released Beauty Bites, Biting Love Book 6, takes us outside the small town and broadens the conflict by introducing two unaligned vampires, Ric Holiday and Aiden Blackthorne, who don’t want to bow to either master. It also has a heart-rending scene which deepens our understanding of vampires.

I’m very excited that the next book, Downbeat, Biting Love Book 7, is scheduled for March 2014. Downbeat is about halfway through the series. It’s Rocky’s story, and I actually started it in 2008 before the first Biting Love book was even released, but its place in the series arc meant I didn’t get to finish it until this year. I’m glad it was delayed though, because this story is near to my heart, and my readers, editors, and the writing community has made me a better writer and the story benefits from that.

I’m in the planning stages for Book 8, Aiden’s story. Aiden was a character who leaped out of my psyche onto the page and demanded his own story. Frankly that one will be a hoot because it pairs the sexy, smooth assassin with an inept but loveable Ruffles.

The final book? The faceoff between the boss villain and the head of the Alliance, naturally.

If everything goes as planned, that is. Since Murphy sees all and FUBARs all, things may change. Stay tuned :) .

3T Writing Tidbit - Planning the Villain

Plotting with Goal Conflict Disaster is primarily from the protagonist's point of view and keeps the hero front and center.

But let's zoom in on the conflict. What stands in the protagonist's way? It's usually the bad guy/gal (or their minions).

Now, a good baddy will have their own character arc that puts them organically in opposition to the hero. But let's zoom in another level and think about how that opposition manifests.

What's in your villain's character? Are they a ninja and do things by stealth? Gun enthusiast and will meet the hero at high noon? Maybe they're a planner like Moriarty. Or is fisticuffs or dueling more their style? Perhaps they just chuck the minions at the hero and run under cover of the brawl. (Throw in pies if you're writing a comedy :) .) There's nothing like good, old-fashioned bullying and intimidation, but the hero has to have a good reason to back down -- maybe the baddy is bullying those around the hero instead.

Each one gives us a different slant on the baddy, showing, not telling, a bit of their character.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Repeat Performance

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published September 5, 2013 for Ali's Bookshelf

Thank you to Ali and Ali’s Bookshelf for having me here today!

What's on your Bookshelf 

We have several sets of shelves, two in the front room, one in each bedroom (two in ours), and a set in the basement. That’s after giving away over half our books when we moved a few years ago :). Here’s a sample.

Fiction

Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody Egyptian archeology mystery series

Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series (fun)

J.D. Robb’s Eve Dallas mystery series

Rex Stout’s Nero Wolf mystery series (great lines, tightly paced)

David Eddings’s The Belgariad high fantasy series

Charles Stross’s The Laundry Files series (witty and action-filled—hero is in the government office of computational demonology)

Many romances including books by Lara Adrian, J.R. Ward, Johanna Lindsey, Jayne Castle, Dixie Browning, Lynn Viehl, Laura Kinsale.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley (vampire) 

Nonfiction

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Enough writing books to make the shelves sag.

College music books. Math and computer books. Books on philosophy, religion and science.

Many comic strip compilations including Garfield, Zits, Fox Trot, Dilbert, User Friendly and Calvin and Hobbes.

 

 

 

3T Writing Tidbit - An Easy Way to Create More Interesting Characters

We're told to hook the reader with the protagonist within 5 pages by showing them as likeable, or doing something heroic, or being funny, or one of a number of other things.

Which is fine, but what do we do with the character for the other 295 pages?

Here's an idea which also has some personality analysis behind it.

There's this thing called Myers-Briggs® Personality Type which authors sometimes use to give their characters a constellation of related traits.

But did you know that, when that personality feels threatened or frustrated, the Opposing Role -- the exact opposite -- can show up as a defender? Makes us more interesting as people (and a little scary) -- and it can do the same for your character!

Give them a set of related characteristics, but also give them one or two exact opposites. Now you not only have the nut on the guitar, you have the bridge and can have fun with the string between! (In other words, it gives your character depth and resonance.)

Example: Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is extremely smart and driven. Yet he's dumb about his cocaine use and suffers bouts of ennui, the exact opposite.

The cool thing about this technique is you can also use it to pep up your character's physical description. My vampire lawyer Julian is tall, dark, and handsome - and graceful. But instead of having the expected slim, artistic hands, his are square and competent (which draws the heroine Nixie in spite of his stuffy lawyerliness). The contrast can draw in the reader, too!

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Repeat Performance

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published September 4, 2013 for Deal Sharing Aunt

Thank you to Deal Sharing Aunt for having me here today!

Who are your three favorite vampires?

Rhage from J.R. Ward’s Lover Eternal, not because of who he starts out as, but because of who he becomes when he meets the woman who is the love of his life.

Julian Luna from Kindred: The Embraced, an eight-show television series from 1996. He was hard yet fair, flawed yet trying to overcome those flaws. Sexy as anything. And in love with smart, hardworking, ethical human reporter Caitlin, which made him vulnerable and all the more wonderful.

Angel or Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Dracula from the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. I’m not sure which of these television or novel über vampires should get the nod. Angel for who he was, Spike for who he became. Dracula because just the cover scared me as a kid and the story still makes me shiver.

3T Writing Tidbit - What's your point of view?

I wrote a story a while back where the couple was a woman of 26 (25 being the average age of a woman's first marriage at the time) and an ageless (looks around 28) vampire. There were other characters in the story but most of them were about the same age, except for one retirement aged man and two older women.

Now, one of the older women had moments of quite broad humor. But most of the characters in this story were quirky. And I myself am an older woman, so I didn't see any problem.

I was surprised therefore when a reader wrote with how offended she was with how I treated older women in the story.

Here's why. We all read stories through a point-of-view character. When we really get into a story, a lot of times we'll see ourselves as that character. Think Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes literature.

What I didn't get at the time was this: not everyone's point-of-view character is the heroine (or hero if the reader's male).

Here's what I figured out. An older woman might not see herself in the main female character - she might see herself in the older female characters.

So be careful writing your characters. If you have an evil character, make sure you have a balancing character - one of the same characteristics who is good. Because you never know which character the reader will identify with.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.