The Dreaded Synopsis

Now this article is specifically for How to Write a 1-Page Synopsis; as opposed to the type that typically would go on the back of the book. There is a difference and I will get to the second type soon. For now I am focusing on the specific type of synopsis meant to be sent to agents; the query letter. I did a post about those HERE, but this dives more into how to make a great synopsis.

Now normally I don't like posting text from the article in these posts; they are more designed for you to go over there and read. But this formula worked perfectly for me so I have to show y'all. She goes into examples of each using Star Wars as her 'book' so if you'd like more clarity on the steps below, just go to her post!

Cheers

HOW TO WRITE A 1-PAGE SYNOPSIS

SoozApr 17 2012

Posted in:
Beginner Resources, Industry Life, Writing Life

Need Inspiration? Short Story Prompts!!

A non-comprehensive list of writing prompts!

*Editors Note: [Work in Progress] Not only more to come, but more depth as to why I chose these sites in particular :D 

• Max Kirin
• Story Seeds
• Weird Prompts
• OC (Original Character) Questions
• Writer's Digest
• Creative Writing Prompts
• Daily Post
• Daily Prompts
• Creative Writing Now
• Short Story Ideas

Query Letters

The Complete Guide to Query Letters That Get Manuscript Requests

Click here, or the title above to go to the full article

"The stand-alone query letter has one purpose, and one purpose only:
To seduce the agent or editor into reading or requesting your work.

The query is so much of a sales piece that you should be able to write it without having written a single word of the manuscript. For some writers, it represents a completely different way of thinking about your book—it means thinking about your work as a marketable commodity. To think of your book as a product, you need to have some distance to see its salable qualities."

So as a first time novelist I have no experience with queries...much less selling myself. Ask my about my story and I can talk for hours; ask me about myself and I'll be done in a few sentences. I don't think I'm alone on that, authors can be a very introverted bunch and self-aggrandizing usually isn't one of those traits!

As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to be participating in Pitch Wars a competition for newbie writers to receive professional help for their manuscripts. The first part of course, is the query letter which needs to be interesting enough for them to consider. Only then can the full manuscript be sent, and then the winners will be chosen from that group.  I REALLY want to get my book off the ground! This is a wonderful opportunity. However I have NO experience in queries so I spent the last day researching it to get myself ready. Which makes it the perfect topic for my next Article post.

What is a query letter?

This is the first contact the author makes to a publisher/agent to make them interested in you and your work. It is crucial and unlike any other form of communication. Sure, I could send an email saying "Hey, this is my book. It's cool. Check it yo."  And will probably be waiting for the rest of my life. Query letters are precise, specific, and organized statements designed to prove to the publishers/agents that you are worth their time. To emphasize the above quote: -it means thinking about your work as a marketable commodity. You may love your story, but that doesn't mean they will unless you can prove to them that other people will love it...more specifically they'll love it enough to buy the damn thing.

About the article

I think this post is incredibly helpful, it breaks down the parts of the query letter format and explains the whys and hows. It gives a few examples but most importantly it tells you (without sugarcoating) what NOT to include. It also tells you how to go about sending the letters...which is super important if you want to come off as professional...and if you don't, that's its own problem.

So if you are currently working on (or plan to work on) your queries, then this should be a wonderful resource. If you still have more questions, the end of the article lists more resources about the topic so it's a great place to start!

10 Tips for Short Stories

"Writing short stories means beginning as close to the climax as possible — everything else is a distraction. A novel can take a more meandering path, but should still start with a scene that sets the tone for the whole book. A short story conserves characters and scenes, typically by focusing on just one conflict, and drives towards a sudden, unexpected revelation. Go easy on the exposition and talky backstory — your reader doesn’t need to know everything that you know about your characters."

Contents

Get Started: Emergency Tips
Write a Catchy First Paragraph
Develop Your Characters
Choose a Point of View
Write Meaningful Dialogue
Use Setting and Context
Set up the Plot
Create Conflict and Tension
Build to a Crisis or a Climax
Deliver a Resolution

The above is the intro and contents taken directly from the article. You can click any of the links and be transported to the corresponding section, or you can CLICK HERE to start from the beginning!

So this article is freaking AWESOME. It gives great advice for full-length novels as well; all in all it is so detailed that it can be used in multiple formats...one of the commenters even mentioned that she got a good grade on a class paper!

There's not much I can really say about this, not because I'm at a loss for words...it is just such a complete guide that I can't do it justice. You just need to go there and discover it for yourself.  What I can say is that it's not just a paragraph of advice. It has EXAMPLES! Check out the slice below and you'll see what I mean.

2. Write a Catchy First Paragraph

In today’s fast-moving world, the first sentence of your narrative should catch your reader’s attention with the unusual, the unexpected, an action, or a conflict. Begin with tension and immediacy. Remember that short stories need to start close to their end.
I heard my neighbor through the wall.
Dry and uninteresting.
The neighbor behind us practiced scream therapy in his shower almost every day.
The second sentence catches the reader’s attention. Who is this guy who goes in his shower every day and screams? Why does he do that? What, exactly, is“scream therapy”? Let’s keep reading…
The first time I heard him, I stood in the bathroom listening at our shared wall for ten minutes, debating the wisdom of calling the police. It was very different from living in the duplex over middle-aged Mr. and Mrs. Brown and their two young sons in Duluth.


The rest of the paragraph introduces I and an internal conflict as the protagonist debates a course of action and introduces an intriguing contrast of past and present setting.


“It is important to understand the basic elements of fiction writing before you consider how to put everything together. This process is comparable to producing something delectable in the kitchen–any ingredient that you put into your bowl of dough impacts your finished loaf of bread. To create a perfect loaf, you must balance ingredients baked for the correct amount of time and enhanced with the right polishing glaze.” -Laurel Yourke

Now...Stop reading this and go read THAT!!

Jenna Moreci: Writer, Blogger, Cyborg

Feeling unispired? Have questions about the writing process? Need a laugh while you work? Then you need to check out Jenna Moreci's YouTube channel (Which you can find here) based around writing advice as well as her book Eve: The Awakening.

I highly recommend her channel, she has great advice and delivers it with wit, sass, and some adult language! She updates on Wednesdays (sometimes Thursdays) and is something I always look forward to. Go check her out, go check out her book, and follow her on the social medias!

Here's a taste of what's in store, these are my personal favorites!

Writing a book is REALLY HARD

The 9 weird habits of writers

Everything you wanted to know about beta readers