Tag Archives: synopsis

Lesson Twenty-Nine from a Manuscript Red Line: How’s your synopsis?

Posted on May 18, 2015 | 8 comments

Side note: This is a repost from February of 2012. At that time, I was finishing a novel that I had spent several years on. I smile when I read things I had to say about that story, realizing that I have written six (yes, six) novels since then, and three novellas. I would never have believed that was possible four years ago when I wrote this. –Just crazy.

The publisher talked a lot about the synopsis in the closing comments of the Red-line. I found this really strange, but I thought it had merit to mention it.

For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine? You can also click “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar. Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date.

The reason I found this strange, was because they’ve already read the manuscript. They’ve already made comments, and asked for it to be re-submitted. Why are they even talking about the synopsis?

What it seemed like to me (being an optimist) is that they were actually being helpful. They probably knew that there was a chance that the author may not make all the changes to their satisfaction, and that she might submit to other avenues. They were nice enough to point out problems with the synopsis that might help her if she sent it somewhere else.

(Honestly, after reading all their synopsis critiques, I was wondering why they even asked for a “full” in the first place. I guess you never know.)

So, this is what they said…

They went through a laundry list of what the story “is not”.

It is not about this, it is not about that either. (Quoting what was mentioned in the synopsis)

It is not a character study on the main character.

The quest is not fleshed out…

These are some of the comments. I am guessing they are saying that the synopsis was too in-depth and talked about the side plots in the story.

I can totally understand this. It took me months of writing and digging and cutting and beta-bashing until I finally realized what my story is about…

Magellan Talbot has to save the world. Too bad he doesn’t know it.

Boom. Done. Now, there is a lot of other stuff going on that is SUPER important and makes the story unique, but you wouldn’t believe how hard it was for me to boil it down to the above. I kept getting bogged down by the details. The crux of the story is simple.

To save the world he has to save the Goddess.
To save the goddess he needs to fight for her.
To fight for her, he needs to find the Rapier.
To find the Rapier, he needs to remember his dreams…
The catch? He can never remember his dreams.
Or anything else about who he really is.

There is also a lot of other stuff going on. There is a love story, and a jealous brother trying to kill Magellan… but simplicity is the key for the synopsis… I need to use only the elements that draw the story forward that are closely attached to Magellan saving the Goddess.

The publisher’s next comment in the Gold Mine Manuscript was “If the story is about saving (the alternate world) then that’s your focus and everything that happens in the story needs to lead to that point. And the synopsis needs to be focused on all the activities that happen to get to that point. Tie in every character that is introduced to get there as well as why and how (the MC) is the true key… build that up and show how that’s important. Show us through actions and scenes that push the story forward.”

After reading this, I think I may have edited my own summary down too far. I bought it down to the bare bones of the fewest characters involved that draw the main plot line forward. And I also think I centered on the WRONG plotline. My current synopsis is straight and to the point, but it is more centered on the jealous brother… which is important, but not the center. I also took out Harris, who is probably equally as important in the novel as Magellan is.

Honestly, I am just not qualified to give anyone advice on a Summary. I am just as lost as the rest of you. I have helped out others with suggestions, because sometimes it is easier to have someone else boil down your story for you. The best I can do is give you the exact quote that the publisher wrote for the Gold Mine Manuscript. (above)

Read their comment over carefully, and do your best with it. And… when you get lost… remember that you have friends in the blogosphere who are always willing to help.

8 Comments

Posted in Gold Mine Manuscript

Tagged ashes in the sky, editing, fire in the woods, Gold Mine Manuscript, how to write a synopsis, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, query, synopsis

It’s marketing time! More blog posts and interviews, less novel writing.

Posted on August 29, 2014 | 11 comments

While I was on vacation, dreaming about getting back and leisurely finishing ASHES IN THE SKY, my publicist sent over my blog tour interviews and guest post requests.

After reviewing them (14 in all so far) I decided to write “just a little” of ASHES IN THE SKY per day to keep myself going, and bust out the marketing for FIRE IN THE WOODS as soon as I can (They are all due back by September 15^th)

I cringe when I think of it, because my original goal was to finish ASHES IN THE SKY before my vacation. Then I moved the goal day to a week after vacation when I got bogged down with the edits. Right now that deadline doesn’t look all that rosy either.

But I will not be thwarted! I am doing my best to write clean copy. I am hoping that all I will have to do is general insertion of emotion and setting. Hopefully there will be no huge changes or additions to be made, but I won’t know until I send this puppy out to my beta readers to be slapped around a bit.

As it stands now, I am just turning the corner into act three. The third and final act should be a roller-coaster ride and easy plot-wise to write, but hard in the “action” department. I probably only have about 10,000-20,000 words to go. I can do this. I just need to keep plugging away.

11 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips, Marketing Madness

Tagged ashes in the sky, author, beta partner, beta reading, critique, critiquing, editing, Fiction, finding an agent, fire in the woods, getting published, jennifer eaton, jennifer M. Eaton, literary agent, literary fiction, Manuscript, novel, pitch, query, query help, self publishing, synopsis, writing, Writing help

When the edits are finally over… Whew!

Posted on August 26, 2014 | 18 comments

Edits are finally done for FIRE IN THE WOODS. Part of me breathes a sigh of relief, while the other part of me cringes in horror.

This was a multi-faceted process, which would have been much easier if I was not writing book two, ASHES IN THE SKY at the same time under a very stringent deadline. I work great under pressure, but not always great under double pressure.

Developmental Edit

Anyway, step one was the Developmental Edit. This was not all that hard. There were two minor changes… one that took a half-hour phone conversation with my editor until we worked it out… but really minor for the overall story. #1 was ramping up the father’s reaction at one point, and #2 was giving Jess a little more of a reason to be afraid of another character. Overall, easy fixes.

General Editing

After the developmental edit we went through three rounds of general editing for flow, readability and stuff like that. Here is where I found all those words that were repeated. This was the most painstaking part for me.

Proofreading

After this we went through three FULL READS of the novel front to back looking for typos, mis-spelled words, improper punctuation and the like. THIS is the part that scares me. I found errors each time I read it (after correcting what I found the previous time). This really stresses me out because being a perfectionist; I would like to have been able to read through front to back without finding any typos. All I can do at this point is hope and pray I found them all. (And maybe bite off a few nails)

So, I leave for vacation knowing that my work is done, and all I need to do now is worry about book two… and reapplying sun screen.

18 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips

Tagged author, beta partner, beta reading, critique, critiquing, editing, Fiction, finding an agent, getting published, literary agent, literary fiction, Manuscript, novel, pitch, query, query help, self publishing, synopsis, writing, Writing help

“I’m sending My Novel Out to Query.” Are you sure you want to do that?

Posted on March 14, 2014 | 24 comments

I just got an email that really disturbed me. No, it was not from one of those creepy guys on Facebook who friends you and then sends you scary PMs… This was from someone I actually know. Well, cyber-know at least.

This person is a critique partner. Someone working on their first book.

What did the email say that disturbed me so much?

“I’m going to send this out to agents. Can you look at my query and synopsis?”

OMG.

Was I worried about helping with a query and synopsis? Nope. Not at all. I do it all the time.

So what was it that drove a jagged, rusty bar through my heart?

“I am going out to query.”

I feel incredibly thankful for that little angel on my shoulder who whacked me upside the head two years ago and said “Don’t do it. Your novel sucks.”

Some people, unfortunately, do not have a little angel. Or if they do, they’re not listening.

A quote from Dan Blank keeps coming to mind. It’s something like: “Writing a book for the sake of writing a book is a worthwhile experience. Not all books should (or need) to be published.” (I totally paraphrased that)

Anyway. I’d like to remind everyone that a sizable number of first novels should be placed in a drawer and never thought of again. Call them a learning experience. A small portion of these can be resurrected, but should be used as an outline and completely rewritten. I would guess that less than one percent are worthy of publication.

But does it hurt to try?

Jury is out on that. If you have countless hours to waste researching agents/editors and then have even more hours to send a manuscript out that has no chance at all at publication – more power to you. The chances of them remembering you and instantly deleting your second or third manuscript are slim, right?

(Did that last paragraph seem slightly jaded? If so, GOOD. It was meant to.)

My other big worry is that after a few rejections, instead of shelving manuscripts that are not ready, authors will turn to self-publishing. [Cringe] The thought makes me shiver. You think critique partners can be harsh? Try a review from someone on Amazon who is angry at you for wasting their time or money. Have you read those kind of reviews? I feel so sorry for those authors!

(Aside: For the record, I think self-publishing is great… If you are ready and have received professional line editing and copy editing)

It took me 17 drafts of my first novel before I decided to shelf it.

Two years of work, sitting on a shelf collecting dust.

Was it worth it?

I learned tons from the experience. I took what I learned to my NEXT novel. And when that was done, I took what I learned from writing my second novel into my third novel (all the while pumping out novellas and shorts and getting professional feedback) And I took all of that experience and dove into my fourth novel.

Each. Got. Better.

And even after I thought “maybe my novel is good enough” I was STILL shy of certain agents, and ESPECIALLY my target publisher. It was not until agents or editors started saying things like:

“Your writing is strong, but I do not have a place for science fiction right now”

or things like:

“This is not for me, but if you have another book in “xxxx” genre please send it directly to me at [insert email address]”

… that I started sending out to the agents and houses at the “top” of my wish list. And by the way – They ARE NOT reviewing my first novel. That is still safely sitting on my shelf, waving and smiling at me every day.

My point is, don’t feel pressured to publish your first novel. If you are serious about writing, and you are unsure, just move on to the next one. I guarantee novel #2 will be better.

But if you do decide to go for it, good luck! I wish you all the best, and totally hope you are in that one percent of shining stars.

24 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, Biggest Mistakes New Writers Make

Tagged Book, dan blank, Facebook, literary agent, Manuscript, OMG (song), Publishing, query, Query letter, synopsis, when to query, writing

How to make Your Reader Care About Your Character #5

Posted on February 1, 2014 | 3 comments

I am skimming over notes I took from a class about creating characters that your reader will care about.

Disclaimer: I honestly don’t remember where this handout came from. I’m going to paraphrase the topic and think up my own ideas, but I don’t want anyone to think I’m stealing without giving credit.

It should be a given to an author that they need to create characters that their readers will care about. They do not necessarily have to like the character. Some really great characters are very unlikable. But we need to CARE about them, or we won’t keep reading. Right?

So how do we do this?

1. Relationships. (See previous post)

2. Give them a goal (See previous post)

3. Caring about others (See previous post)

4. A special gift or talent. (See previous post)

5. A handicap

Oooooo. That’s a good one.

Here’s a good one. Even though you might not be handicapped, you can imagine what it would be like, right? You feel for someone with a disability.

This came up recently in a comment on my blog, when someone mentioned that the horrid character on the TV show House was softened because he had a handicap.

How about a phobia?

A phobia is a good one two… something they need to overcome in order to fulfill their purpose of hero in the story.

Or something even more simple and relatable

Maybe it is something simple, like they need to run for their lives and the only car available to flee in has a stick shift, but the character does not know how to drive a stick.

Anything wrong with your character is an easy way to make them relatable. No one wants to read about someone who is perfect, right?

Unless you are Mary Poppins. (But she was only practically perfect, right?)

That’s it!

Five ways to create the ever-important care-factor. Give your readers characters that they can care about, and they will scream for more!

Think about the main character in your favorite novel. Pinpoint exactly what it was that made you engage with them. What was it? Come on, share the ideas!

3 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips

How to make Your Reader Care About Your Character #4

Posted on January 25, 2014 | 4 comments

I am skimming over notes I took from a class about creating characters that your reader will care about.

So how do we do this?

1. Relationships. (See previous post)

2. Give them a goal (See previous post)

3. Caring about others (See previous post)

4. A special gift or talent.

A special gift or talent can be tricky

This one can be tricky, but it can be used when the others fail. A special talent, I think, needs to be part of the plot to make it work. Like a person loves to draw, so we want to see them become a successful artist. If they don’t, then why did they have the talent mentioned in the story to begin with?

Make sure it has meaning

This needs to be all about fulfillment. They need to use the talent to make something happen in the story.

Yes, this could be a great device, but be careful to make sure it fits inside your plot and story arc.

What recent special talent have you read that really drew you in to a novel?

4 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips

How to make Your Reader Care About Your Character #3

Posted on January 18, 2014 | 2 comments

I am skimming over notes I took from a class about creating characters that your reader will care about.

So how do we do this?

1. Relationships. (See previous post)

2. Give them a goal (See previous post)

3. Caring about others

Even the most horrible person on the planet has to care about someone, right?

Well, maybe not the most horrible person on the planet. I suppose you could create a noteworthy character who does not care about others, but the more I think of it, even the greatest villains of all time cared about something.

A villain can be a big softie

The guy in Psycho was pretty twisted, but that was okay, because he really loved his grandma. The Dude in Despicable Me wanted to be the greatest villain of all time, but these kids that he cared about kept getting in the way.
I think the idea is that in most cases everyone cares about someone. It may be trivial, or it may be gruesome, like keeping your beloved dead grandma… but it is that “care factor” that a reader can relate to.

Taking the easy way out

The handout talks about easier versions of caring, like taking care of a baby or helping an old lady cross the street. So, if your character is a nice person, just make sure we can see them doing something that shows that they care for others. They will get brownie points from your readers for their trouble.

Think about a novel your recently read that you loved. What did the main character care about?

2 Comments

Posted in General Writing Tips

How to make Your Reader Care About Your Character #2

Posted on January 11, 2014 | 3 comments

I am skimming over notes I took from a class about creating characters that your reader will care about.

So how do we do this?

1. Relationships. (See previous post)

2. Give them a goal

Ugh. Goals. We all have them, right? We all have something we need to do every day. Some goals we like, others we labor over. The point is, we can all relate to having to do something.

If your character is wandering around in circles with no clear intent, the reader will not be able to engage. Even before the inciting incident that is the real start to your story… your character has to have a reason for being… a goal of something that needs to be done (it can be simple, like making dinner)

But soon you should hit the “big goal” that will carry your reader along for the rest of the journey. We have to know what the goal is and have a vested interest in the character getting there.

By the way, the “big goal” needs to materialize in the first 25% of the book or earlier. This may seem like a given to most of you, but I’ve read some works in progress lately where the author did not understand this. Think about your character’s goal, and make sure it is apparent to the reader.

Everyone wants something.

A reader can connect and care if they have the opportunity to root for your character to get what he/she wants.

So go ahead, give them a goal!

What was the character’s goal in your favorite novel? Do you think this is what made it your favorite?

3 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, General Writing Tips

Tagged author, beta partner, beta reading, Characters, critique, critiquing, E-book, editing, Fiction, finding an agent, getting published, literary agent, literary fiction, Manuscript, novel, pitch, query, query help, Reader, Reading, self publishing, synopsis, Thought, writing, Writing help

How to make Your Reader Care About Your Character #1

Posted on January 4, 2014 | 17 comments

I was cleaning off my desk this weekend and I came across a handout from a seminar or class that I don’t even remember taking. I read through the page and considered my current work in progress. I’m pretty sure that by this time in my career I am doing what the handout recommends as an almost instinctual part of my writing process.

I almost tossed the paper, but thought there may be some people out there who could benefit from these notes. And, of course, I tend to learn stuff myself when I write out and analyze notes for posts, so let’s see what happens.

To keep things short, I will break this topic into 5 separate posts. One thought to chew on at a time.

All right: Creating a character people care about:

So how do we do this?

1. Relationships. Everyone in the world has relationships. They can be good, bad, or just tolerable, but you know what a relationship is, and so does your reader. Seeing a character in a relationship is an easy way to help a reader connect.

Let’s think over some memorable relationships. I’ll grab a character most people know.

Harry Potter.

Harry lives with his aunt and uncle. Wow, they do not treat him well, do they? Have you ever been treated unfairly? Have you every had to put up with it because you had no choice? Have you ever wished a magic letter would show up and scoot you away? (Well, I’m sure the answer is “yes” to most of what I said, anyway.)

Giving Harry this horrible home life helps us to INSTANTLY connect with him. We feel sorry for him and want him to live up to his potential. If Harry can overcome the odds, maybe we can, too.

Do you see how quickly and easily the connection is made? In the first few scenes we totally care and we are engaged.

Relationships. Use them.

And if your character is stranded on a deserted island, have him draw a face on a ball so he has someone to talk to. Yes, that has been done, but that helped you to connect as well, right?
Relationships are one of the easiest ways to help your readers care about your characters.

How have you used relationships to develop your characters?

17 Comments

Posted in Author Advice, General Writing Tips

Tagged author, beta partner, beta reading, Character, Characters, critique, critiquing, editing, Fiction, finding an agent, getting published, literary agent, literary fiction, Manuscript, novel, pitch, query, query help, self publishing, synopsis, writing, Writing help

Writing Madly to a Deadline, and then NOT submitting

Posted on March 6, 2013 | 31 comments

I recently jumped into the running for another anthology, which means writing to a tight deadline. I tripped up my schedule for a few weeks, finalizing my novel for the Amazon Break Through Novel Contest, and was two-weeks behind schedule. I DID finish in time (barely), but now I sit here the day before the deadline, with a completed manuscript in my hands, second guessing myself.

Do I think it’s not good enough? No. The opposite. It’s tight. It’s precise….

And if you could have seen the look on my son’s face after reading it— Dang. I haven’t seen him this excited about something since finishing the Hunger Games (Not that mine is even remotely like the Hunger Games)

So what’s the problem? Submit the dern thing!

Here’s my problem… It’s too long. I did not make the word count. I contacted the publisher, and they said they would consider it at the higher word count, but it definitely would have to be cut down by 1500 words for publication in the anthology (If it were chosen)

I searched for those 1500 words, and found a possible 500 to cut, but editing out those 500 would have affected the “mood” of the story. And if another 1000 words were cut after that, the whole story would seem rushed.

If my son had said “Meh, it’s okay. I’ve read better.” (Which he has done to me in the past) I would have sliced and diced the 1500 words out of the story and sent it in.

But he didn’t say that. He asked for more. My kid the voracious reader said: “It was really great. I’ve never read anything like that before. When will you write another one?”

I thought about what those forced changes would do, and decided to take the creative high road. I am passing on the anthology, and am now embarking on a search for a publisher of Young Adult Paranormal Short/Novellas.

Ugh! I hate passing up an opportunity, but I think this particular story needs to find a more suitable home than the confines of an anthology.

I am all for editing… all stories need to be edited, but I don’t want to “cut” just for the sake of “cutting”. I’d rather have words cut because they don’t belong there… not because there is a stipulation on word count.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?

If not, do you think you’d submit anyway, or search for a new home?