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Fear Factor: What's Scarier Than Being Thrown Into a Pit of Snakes?
Here’s a list of a few of the things I’d rather do right now than complete this stupid synopsis:
Be tied to a stake and burned to death (you die of the smoke inhalation first anyway)
Fish tomatoes out of a tank of snakes with just my mouth (I saw this on a reality show. They used pissed off garden snakes. I’d rethink this if they were actually using cobras or something.)
Substitute teach (yeah, you heard me) a group of high-schoolers about Henry David Thoreau, even though I’ve never read him and never got why he was a big deal since his writing was as engaging as watching paint dry.
House work.
Folders.
Yep. It’s bad.
But I went to the trusty web and pulled off some articles about synopsis writing; and then I headed off to lunch to pick the best one to follow. Of the four articles, three scared me right off. They babbled about hooks and using your writer’s voice; I nearly went into a coma several times just trying to get through the articles. But the fourth, “The Top Ten Questions For A Successful Synopsis” by Victoria Ardito, was engaging and easy to follow. Plus she used a Disney story to prove her point. How could I resist?
So let’s jump right in, shall we?
Who is the heroine and what does she want?
Well, that should be relatively easy, right? Okay: Livie Foster is a single (is this redundant? Hmm) 28-year-old secretary who sews costumes in her spare time and dreams of dating a guy who isn’t searching for a love like the Titanic. She longs for adventure, but mostly she longs for acceptance. I’m going to have to use a different identifier for her. That secretary bit is boring, but what else can she do? Shark-hunter? Argh.
Who is the hero and what does he want?
I’m not looking forward to this. Livie should have been the easy one! Okay: Ben Tucker is a spoiled brat who was turned into a beast…maybe not…32-year-old married charmer, who is the brother-in-law to Livie’s best friend. He wishes for someone to see the real him, not the philanderer everyone assumes him to be. But the woman who seems to understand him most—isn’t his wife—and longing for her gives credit to all the rumors.
What brings the hero and heroine together?
Livie and Ben meet at a New Year’s Eve party; and later, they have to work together as they are both in her best friend’s wedding.
What problem do they encounter at their first meeting or shortly thereafter?
Livie finds out he’s married and the “rat bastard” no one else can stand.
How do they overcome the initial problem and achieve some measure of success?
Livie gives Ben the benefit of the doubt and becomes friends with him because she believes her friend’s assessment of Ben might be prejudiced without facts. The more she hangs out with him, the more she sees a caring nice guy rather than a villain. Plus he’s not cheating with her on his wife—and she’s not really sure how he’d have time to fit in another woman. (Tolerable, perhaps; though this runs into that philosophical question of: “when is it cheating? When they’re doing the deed? Or is being friends enough since that is a sort of ‘emotional’ cheating?” I’m beginning to really hate my hero. And even if he’s not married, only dating someone serious—this is still a moral question. Ah, well, life’s not perfect, hmm?)
What happens to spoil initial success?
Hard to narrow this one down. Is it the wedding reception scene or the crashed party later? At the wedding reception, his wife confronts Livie—and Livie is mortified and realizes how appearances are far more condemning than truth. Doesn’t want to be a ‘homewrecker’ figuratively or literally. She makes the choice that reflects this; and the crashed party is re-confirmation of this choice.
Where does this problem lead?
They don’t get together, and this leads to more unhappiness all around, though they try to move on with their respective lives. While on a group float trip, Ben and Livie get caught in a compromising situation, and Ben punches Livie’s boyfriend to defend her honor.
What risk do hero and heroine take to deal with new challenge?
Livie is given an ultimatum to choose between her friendship and Ben. She chooses neither and refuses to talk to anyone.
Ben separates from his wife and pursues Livie, after resettling in his own apartment.
What is their dark moment?
Ben is shot by a mystery woman, leading all to believe that he is a cheater—and that he’s cheating on Livie. (I know. This is where all of you are going: WTF? What mystery woman?!? The one who shot him in the opening hook, guys.)
How do they get their HEA?
Livie decides to trust Ben rather than believe what is circumstantial evidence. Ben lives. It is revealed that it is Ben’s brother who is cheating—and Ben has been covering (protecting) him. (Ha, I bet you guys didn’t see that coming. That’s okay. I didn’t either. Dee had to tell me that little tidbit. She was completely convinced that was my major twist, and how could I not agree?)
Now I have to go back and turn this into a present-tense bit of writing, but it’s possible to do so.
The other keys everyone kept harping about?
Don’t refer to the other secondary characters by name. This should be about the romantic arc between your hero and heroine, so your secondary characters should remain as secondary as possible by being nameless.
Have an opening hook. (This one gave me hives.) Basically something that’s on the back of the novel—the blurb. Show off your writing voice here, definitely. Ask the novel’s story question.
Be concise. Don’t tell everything that happens. Cover the main plot turning points.
Clearly even though I've answered the questions, the synopsis (and the book) still need a lot of work. And I'm sorry for those of you who didn't want to know the twist until it was published. (Honestly since there is a snowball's chance of this particular book being published, we'll consider this an exercise in how to write my next book...and synopsis.)
Anyone done a synopsis yet? Any tips to make it easier? Anything you’d rather be doing than writing it? Any tomato-divers out there? House work junkies?
Books by the Crew
46 comments:
Sorry, guys. Sin emailed to say the blog showed all my HTML formatting (*much cursing*) so I had to repost it...
I'm pretending I will never have to write a synopsis and at the rate I'm writing this book, that is likely true. LOL!
But I may need to keep these questions just in case. Once you write this is all out, how long do you think it will be? And how many more details do you throw in there?
And it ate my comment. Bastard thing.
Like I said before, you did a great job with this blog. And it helped me.. with wanting to run away from all things synopsis like and pull my hair out. LOL
You're gonna be great. You're book is going to sell. And I don't want to hear you talk about hating Ben. I love Ben. I think he's fabulous. He's like a modern day pirate.
And might I add that I love the little tidbit of info about being burned at the stake. Lovely babe. Just lovely.
Captain- this is such a good blog! I have been stressing about this and I'm not even finished with my book yet. :(
These questions are great and I'm totally keeping them for later. I think most writers are wordy by nature and this will help to keep me focused.
I would never do the tomato thing but I do have a very strange love of housework. Not the actual doing, but the having done it. And nothing makes me happier than a clean toilet, except maybe a clean bathtub or a vacuumed carpet. Oh, and clean sheets... ah. I totally squick on a dirty house. But, only on my dirty house. I haven't got a problem if others live in squalor.
The "burning at the stake" information is compliments of Dr. Alioto, my history professor in college (I and about 90% of the women in his class had a crush on him; probably some of the men too) used to say that. I'm not sure how he'd know that, unless he was recalling a past life.
Lots of historical examples of people being burned at the stake. Apparently a form of opera in the Middle Ages.
I have to be PMS and "nesting" for me to scrub a tub. Or totally freaked out by the tub. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ringing the tub? Did you bathe pigs in it? No, you couldn't have. Pigs would have been cleaner!"
I'd rather cook than clean. Every time.
Definitely print Victoria's article. Her version of Beauty & the Beast is awesome. I just wish she'd done a version of POTC. I would have so related to that! *LOL*
I love this blog it's informative, and makes me rethink punching my eyes out rather than attempting to write a synopsis when the time comes.
I will repeat again..I LOVE Ben!
Your book will sell, you are a wonderful writer. To quote Ranger.."I'm proud of you Babe."
Marnee, I *watched* Sin vacuum her living room the other day and felt emotionally satisfied. Is that the same thing?
Lisa, is it ridiculous I wanted to swoon when you quoted Ranger?
Terri--I don't know. Victoria's example was like a page long. *LOL* It was informative and told the major points without bogging it down with every single action in the book. It was like: Hook, inciting incident, catalyst, plot point 1, things get complicated, things get more complicated, plot point 2, things get worse, things get even more worse, it is the WORST thing that can happen, Climax, Resolution.
But some of the scarier synopsis articles talked about using dialogue and such. *shakes head* I don't know. That doesn't seem right to me. Maybe as your synopsis "hook" I suppose, to start out your "blurb" part...but otherwise, I think it is weird to quote your own dialogue in your synopsis. *shrugs* But what do I know?
I can't imagine using dialogue in there. Would we say the black moment is the climax? Or is the moment everything is fixed the climax and everything after the resolution?
Since this is romance, perhaps the black moment has to do with the romance and the climax is the external or rest of the story big moment?
And a page sounds good.
Climax and Black Moment are probably the same thing. I think the Black Moment happens first, and the Climax is the fall out (but I guess that's resolution?? Though I think resolution and fall out are mutually exclusive things.) I don't know. And in the Love Journey set up I've seen...I'd have to find the link again--in the middle of everything getting "worse", there is a victory moment (Seize the Sword), right before the bottom drops out. You know. That contrast thing to show just how BAD this moment is.
There are some editors who want 10 page synopsis. (That breaks me out in new hives.)
You are such a little brat.
Hellion even offered to lift her feet. I don't mind cleaning house. I just don't choose to do it often. LOL
I wrote for one of those contest that wanted a 10 pg synopsis. What the hell am I supposed to talk about for 10 pg (Single Spaced, I might add) and can't go into detail? Myself? I can't even rattle on about myself for ten pages!
Hellion says: "Marnee, I *watched* Sin vacuum her living room the other day and felt emotionally satisfied. Is that the same thing?"
I think it is, Cap'n. I really do. I get the same satisfaction when DH vacuums, so I say it counts.
And I agree about GOGU getting published. I know you're going to get a bite. :)
It's not ridiculous at all, the man is sex on a stick.
I think defining all these terms is what causes me to get nausea over writing the thing. It's like I need the Webster's dictionary to figure it all out.
*grins at Sin* See, Marnee agrees. It counts. And I did just manage to keep myself from scraping tortilla crumbs back onto your newly cleaned carpet after I *wore* half the cheese dip on my shirt.
Thanks, guys, for the support. I hope whoever I pitch to is just as generous.
I know, Sin! Actually I probably could talk about myself for 10 pages--or at least my dating stories--but I couldn't do a single space synopsis like that. Argh. 5 pages at most. Ever.
WTH... I commented this morning and it was here, with Sins... bastadardos at blogger!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't remember what I said.
Oh I know... Your voice is in those blurbs you wrote up... like the titantic...that would make the agent chuckle a good one. Or maybe it's because I get the joke? I dunno...brain no worky today.
Tiff, you said I was *brilliant* and clever and that you were going to buy all the rounds at my book debut.
*pauses*
What? It's what you said.
Yeah, I wonder about the Titanic joke. You have to hear the story to get the joke.
Have any of you hear NOT heard the story of the Titanic?
I have a bookseller who whenever I go into her store, she'll introduce some new excited woman to me, who'll scream, "OMG, you're the one who dated the guy who wanted a love like the Titanic!!!" They'll be asking for my autograph next. "That's the *funniest* story. OMG! That really happened?"
I finally told Becky to stop introducing me that way. That I'd gone on other dates.
"Yes, but none like the Titanic."
I'm not sure I told her about the Dying Pig guy.
OMG I love Becky.
People actually know you as THAT girl? OMG! Please don't ever tell her the dead pig guy story. Somehow the Titanic one seems the better choice between the two.
At least the Titanic one makes the guy sound like an idiot and you the helpless victim. But you *chose* to go out with Pig Guy - be it without knowing his pig killing and video taping tendencies - so that just somehow seems worse.
I *chose* to go out with Titanic Guy too. I didn't know about the Pig Killing until I was on the date, which puts me in the same victim stance as not knowing Titanic Guy had a fetish for drowning in the Atlantic until I was in mid-date. After watching a three-hour movie. While having a 40 minute DRIVE HOME after the "breakup" (I mean, is it a break up if it's only the third date? What do you call it?)
For some reason I never think of the Titanic thing as wanting to drown which just shows the dude wasn't thinking at all. LOL!
No, I think that's called an escape, not a breakup. A lucky escape.
Clearly he was a romantic. I'm sure he wasn't focused on the drowning aspect of the story; or the fact if he'd managed to live, he'd have left her by 1930 because he gambled their livelihood away (since he was such a risk-taker)--and he couldn't bear to watch their 7 kids starve to death...
He didn't realize the other side of the coin. I could never have stayed with someone who loved Romeo & Juliet, which I think is one of the dumbest romances ever written. Use some sense!
Dude, he said that and then drove you home for 40 minutes? Talk about lack of foresight. :(
No, I got to drive home. By myself. But I'd driven all the way into town to meet him; watched MY three hour copy of the movie; sat through his pitiful breakup--finished by him bursting into TEARS (in which I then had to pat him on the shoulder and tell him it was okay and I felt the same. Well, not that I was looking for a love like the Titanic, but that I didn't feel any special spark for him either)--and then I got to drive home for 40 minutes, where each mile was me playing the scene in my head, going, "What is WRONG WITH ME?" and "WHY DO THEY KEEP BURSTING INTO TEARS?"
God hates me.
Okay, color me stupid but I didn't realize until a couple of questions in that this wasn't an actual Disney movie synopsis. Imagine me sitting at the computer scratching my head and repeating "No, I don't remember that part either...gosh I could have sworn I've seen every Disney movie ever made!" LOL
Anyway, awesome blog Hellion! And I definitely want to read this book. I also didn't see the whole "his brother was the cheater" part. But then again I'm not too bright sometimes (see paragraph #1). I LOVE those types of stories. The kind where the hero is the exact opposite of what everyone portrays him to be and no one but the heroine can see that!
Well, at least you didn't have to sit in the car with him too.
And there isn't anything wrong with you.
Tears, huh? After three dates? Sheesh. Sounds like a bit of a drama king.
I do think the synopsis questions are very helpful. I'm going to keep them on file. It seems very easy and straighforward.
LOL about the Titantic guy. Even Mr. Irish has brought that up once since I told him. You're famous!!!
This is a really good story. I think this story could easily be published. I like Ben and Livie.
I haven't written a synopsis yet, but I'm going to re-read this blog of yours when I'm ready to write it.
*LOL* Sorry, Irish. Victoria's example uses Beauty & the Beast. It's awesome! (Lord, your husband even references this story? I'm going to have to get T-shirts made.)
FRONT: "I'm looking for a love like the Titanic"
BACK: "And you're SO not it."
Or...maybe...just one specifically for me. "Remember the story about 'I'm looking for a love like that Titanic'? Yeah, I'm that girl."
Or....
A LIST OF COMEBACKS IF YOUR DATE TELLS YOU HE'S LOOKING FOR A LOVE LIKE THE TITANIC AND YOU'RE NOT IT
1.) "I'm looking for a man with a [BLEEP] like the Titanic...and you're not it."
2.) "I don't think Leo is gay, but there's always a chance he's switch teams."
3.) "Me, too! I was worrying we didn't have anything in common at all!"
4.) "You're s*itting me, right?"
5.) "Dumping you in the middle of the Atlantic can be arranged. When are you free?"
Kelly, I recommend printing Victoria's example. Hers is just so much cleaner than mine. *LOL* Mine is no sterling example to make your synopsis from. *LOL* I was half-tempted to use POTC as my example because I know it better than my own book. (How sad is that?)
You'll do it though--and I'm sure it'll be much better than mine!
I want the last shirt. XL should work. Thanks. LOL!
Hey, here's another little helpful "grid"/questions/structure set up you might find helpful when plotting out your synopsis:
http://members.aol.com/hrwdebhale/loversjourney.htm
Anyone else interested in a T-shirt?
Are you sh*ting me? Hell yeah I want one!
A LIST OF COMEBACKS IF YOUR DATE TELLS YOU HE'S LOOKING FOR A LOVE LIKE THE TITANIC AND YOU'RE NOT IT
1.) "I'm looking for a man with a BLEEP like the Titanic...and you're not it."
2.) "I don't think Leo is gay, but there's always a chance he'll switch teams."
3.) "Me, too! I was worrying we didn't have anything in common at all!"
4.) "Dumping you in the middle of the Atlantic can be arranged. When are you free?"
5.) “I’m being punk’d, aren’t I? Ashton, get your cute little ass out here already and give me a kiss!”
6.) “Do you need another Kleenex?”
7.) “I'm getting too old for this BLEEP.” (When in doubt, quote Mel Gibson movies.)
8.) “My therapist is going to laugh her way to the bank when I tell her this story.”
9.) “Wow, thank you for telling me now. Talk about a fate worse than DROWNING if I’d kept dating you.”
10.) “Let’s see, the Titanic sank on the third day…this is our third date. If you want a Titanic kind of love, you’ve got it.”
Oh I want a t-shirt! That's hillarious.lol. Thanks for the second synopsis helper too!
Hmm, I can get some T-shirts made for about $11-12 a pop. Who's in? *LOL* And what size?
They'd have to be pink, with black lettering.
Yeah or Nay as marketing tool?
Yeah or Nay I should wear one on my next date?
Definitely wear one on your next date!lol.
This house saving thing has be reluctant to spend a nickel. But you all have to take a picture wearing yours and we'll post them all one Sunday. LOL!
And if you do wear the shirt on your desk date you're going to have to come back and create the shirt that says, "T-shirts not to wear on first dates." LOL!
I would wear the shirt on dates. If he's the right guy he'll find it funny. If he's offended kick him to the curb!!lol.
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