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First of all (and off topic), thanks to everyone who's given advice and/or suggestions on the titles for the sequels to Well of Sorrows. I believe with your help I've narrowed it down to some good possibilities (see previous LJ post), and I would not have been able to do this without the help of you here at LJ. No one seems to like the title Breath of Heaven at all, which I kind of rather like, but using that title for that book would have been a stretch anyway, since "breath of heaven" is actually used for something else in book 1.
Now, back to the topic, which is related in a way. I'm in the process of writing the short paragraph plot synopses that you include in cover letters and query letters, as well as the much longer plot synopses you include with the partial or the full manuscript once they've been requested by the agent or editor. As I struggle with this, I'm also helping a friend tweak their own long plot synopsis. This is about some of the things I've thought about while doing this.
First and foremost: It's MUCH EASIER to see what's wrong with someone else's plot synopsis and make suggetions for how to fix it. So DO NOT trust yourself to write the perfect plot synopsis without having the synopsis pass through at least one other person's hands before sending it off to an agent or editor. GET SOMEONE TO READ IT! Preferrably a few someones, since more eyes will catch more things. I have a few victims set up already for my synopses once they're finished (hey![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pbray and jennifer_dunne!). They've already gotten drafts of the query letter I'm sending out. But the point is, as the author of the book and the synopsis, you're FAR FAR too close to the materials to see the spaces between the words. So get someone to read it so they can point out things that you overemphasized or underemphasized, because you won't see those things yourself. (Well, you might if you set the synopsis aside for an extended period of time and then come back to it later . . . but most of us don't have the time for that.)
Now for some actual advice about how to write the synopsis itself: GIVE UP. I don't mean give up writing or give up trying to get the synopsis written well. That's just silly. What I mean is that the key to writing an effective plot synopsis is that you have to give up on most of what you yourself feel makes the book cool and unique. But notice the key word there: MOST. You don't give up on ALL of it. In fact, you want to include what makes the book cool and unique as well.
Confused yet? *grin*
Here's what I think the trick is. First, identify what it is that makes your book cool and unique. Once you have that, notice that, typically, this coolness and uniqueness is spread throughout the book. It doesn't just appear in one spot, it's actually threaded throughout multiple characters and multiple plot lines. Now, you want to include all of those plot lines, all of those characters, but in a plot synopsis you just can't. It's impossible. If were possible then you wouldn't need the entire book, you'd only need the plot synopsis itself. So the trick is to pick out one representative plot line to use in the plot synopsis. Give up on using all of the other cool plot threads and use just one. This way, you still have what makes the book cool and unique in the plot synopsis, so that's coming across to the agent or editor, but you don't have 100 pages of coolness and uniqueness, you only have 5 or 10 or 20 (whatever the agent or editor is looking for). When you pick the thread that you're going to use as your representative, make certain it's the most common thread in the book, or the biggest, or the one most related to the overall basic plot. In essence, what you're doing here is weeding out subplots, but I think I've said it in a slightly different way.
Now, typically, there's more than just one thing in the book that makes the book cool and unique. So by the end of the process above you'll have three or four threads that represent why your book is cool and unique. Now you're ready to write the plot synopsis itself. The key is to weave the threads you've picked out together so that it gives a coherent representation of the book. I make this sound easy. In general, this is the hardest part, at least for me, because the temptation is to bring back into the synopsis all of the threads that you already decided to cut out, which of course you can't do. That defeats the whole purpose. So keep yourself to the threads you've chosen. Only bring in other threads that you've "given up on" if there's no way the chosen threads will work together without it. You want the plot synopsis to read smoothly and sometimes you need a little extra something in order for that to happen. But try to keep to the threads you've chosen as much as possible.
In the end, the threads you've woven together will tell the agent or editor exactly what your book is about AND will reveal why your particular book is unique.
A few notes that have been mentioned before regarding plot synopses that should not be forgotten:
Remember that the plot synopsis is not just about plot. You should include the character's development as well, so one of the threads above should be how the character grows or changes during the course of the novel, emotionally.
Remember that you have to reveal the ending. This is not the time to tease the agent or editor so that they want to read the book. They want to know whether the book will be marketable, because they're already interested. So make it clear what happens to the good guys, the bad guys, and how everything wraps up at the end, both plot-wise and character-wise.
For fantasy and science fiction, remember to include the magic or the science that makes your novel unique. Again, you can do this by picking a particular thread that shows throughout the book why your magic or science is cool and unique, but if that magic or science doesn't somehow intertwine with the ending of the book . . . perhaps it wasn't actually necessary for the novel.
Lastly, just a quick comment, based on my experiences writing these plot synopses: I find that when I try to write them using this idea, the threads that I've chosen to use usually combine rather well without tons of effort as long as I keep myself restricted to those threads and don't try to bring in a ton of extra stuff. And when I'm done, it does form a good representation of the book as a whole. In the end though, this is just a suggestion for how to write plot synopses, or a way to get started. It works for me (most of the time), but it might not work for you. as the saying goes, "mileage may vary."
Now, back to the topic, which is related in a way. I'm in the process of writing the short paragraph plot synopses that you include in cover letters and query letters, as well as the much longer plot synopses you include with the partial or the full manuscript once they've been requested by the agent or editor. As I struggle with this, I'm also helping a friend tweak their own long plot synopsis. This is about some of the things I've thought about while doing this.
First and foremost: It's MUCH EASIER to see what's wrong with someone else's plot synopsis and make suggetions for how to fix it. So DO NOT trust yourself to write the perfect plot synopsis without having the synopsis pass through at least one other person's hands before sending it off to an agent or editor. GET SOMEONE TO READ IT! Preferrably a few someones, since more eyes will catch more things. I have a few victims set up already for my synopses once they're finished (hey
pbray and jennifer_dunne!). They've already gotten drafts of the query letter I'm sending out. But the point is, as the author of the book and the synopsis, you're FAR FAR too close to the materials to see the spaces between the words. So get someone to read it so they can point out things that you overemphasized or underemphasized, because you won't see those things yourself. (Well, you might if you set the synopsis aside for an extended period of time and then come back to it later . . . but most of us don't have the time for that.)Now for some actual advice about how to write the synopsis itself: GIVE UP. I don't mean give up writing or give up trying to get the synopsis written well. That's just silly. What I mean is that the key to writing an effective plot synopsis is that you have to give up on most of what you yourself feel makes the book cool and unique. But notice the key word there: MOST. You don't give up on ALL of it. In fact, you want to include what makes the book cool and unique as well.
Confused yet? *grin*
Here's what I think the trick is. First, identify what it is that makes your book cool and unique. Once you have that, notice that, typically, this coolness and uniqueness is spread throughout the book. It doesn't just appear in one spot, it's actually threaded throughout multiple characters and multiple plot lines. Now, you want to include all of those plot lines, all of those characters, but in a plot synopsis you just can't. It's impossible. If were possible then you wouldn't need the entire book, you'd only need the plot synopsis itself. So the trick is to pick out one representative plot line to use in the plot synopsis. Give up on using all of the other cool plot threads and use just one. This way, you still have what makes the book cool and unique in the plot synopsis, so that's coming across to the agent or editor, but you don't have 100 pages of coolness and uniqueness, you only have 5 or 10 or 20 (whatever the agent or editor is looking for). When you pick the thread that you're going to use as your representative, make certain it's the most common thread in the book, or the biggest, or the one most related to the overall basic plot. In essence, what you're doing here is weeding out subplots, but I think I've said it in a slightly different way.
Now, typically, there's more than just one thing in the book that makes the book cool and unique. So by the end of the process above you'll have three or four threads that represent why your book is cool and unique. Now you're ready to write the plot synopsis itself. The key is to weave the threads you've picked out together so that it gives a coherent representation of the book. I make this sound easy. In general, this is the hardest part, at least for me, because the temptation is to bring back into the synopsis all of the threads that you already decided to cut out, which of course you can't do. That defeats the whole purpose. So keep yourself to the threads you've chosen. Only bring in other threads that you've "given up on" if there's no way the chosen threads will work together without it. You want the plot synopsis to read smoothly and sometimes you need a little extra something in order for that to happen. But try to keep to the threads you've chosen as much as possible.
In the end, the threads you've woven together will tell the agent or editor exactly what your book is about AND will reveal why your particular book is unique.
A few notes that have been mentioned before regarding plot synopses that should not be forgotten:
Remember that the plot synopsis is not just about plot. You should include the character's development as well, so one of the threads above should be how the character grows or changes during the course of the novel, emotionally.
Remember that you have to reveal the ending. This is not the time to tease the agent or editor so that they want to read the book. They want to know whether the book will be marketable, because they're already interested. So make it clear what happens to the good guys, the bad guys, and how everything wraps up at the end, both plot-wise and character-wise.
For fantasy and science fiction, remember to include the magic or the science that makes your novel unique. Again, you can do this by picking a particular thread that shows throughout the book why your magic or science is cool and unique, but if that magic or science doesn't somehow intertwine with the ending of the book . . . perhaps it wasn't actually necessary for the novel.
Lastly, just a quick comment, based on my experiences writing these plot synopses: I find that when I try to write them using this idea, the threads that I've chosen to use usually combine rather well without tons of effort as long as I keep myself restricted to those threads and don't try to bring in a ton of extra stuff. And when I'm done, it does form a good representation of the book as a whole. In the end though, this is just a suggestion for how to write plot synopses, or a way to get started. It works for me (most of the time), but it might not work for you. as the saying goes, "mileage may vary."
