I fucking hate synopses.

That is all.

Susan rooooooocks.

I have an existing 6-page synopsis for Lucy. Today I sat down and drafted a synopsis for Anna, not thinking about the length, just getting the important plot points and character motivations in. It's 7 pages.

The agent I'm submitting to likes 3-pagers. I can't cut these things in half without turning them into nonsense. I'm going to have to figure out a way to distill the essence and rewrite.

Thing is, I can do a decent single-page or even single-paragraph synopsis, because all you're really going for there is a basic story hook and sense of the type of conflict and what changes the characters have to make to overcome it. But how I'm supposed to get any coherent plot summary, representation of my voice and style, and sense of the characters into three pages, I have no idea.

I am going to sleep, so here is my stupid idea:

Clear your mind, close your eyes, and write down the first three plot points that come to mind. Focus on those. Ta da!

Yeah, I suck.

I'm actually planning something close to that. I'm going to write down a bullet point plot list, just the barest essentials, and try to keep it to no more than ten points per book. And then I'll build the rest around it, focusing more on character and what drives the romance than getting every important happening in.

And I'm going to do it tomorrow, because it's 11:30, and if I tried it now, it wouldn't be my best work.

Dani, I had never heard about lisnews, and I don't think Greg knew about it either, so I sent him the link. I'm glad you posted it.

Susan, I am really enjoying the bits we're getting of Anna's story. It was pretty frustrating not to be able to nurse any of my babies. There are such huge expectations out there for new moms to live up to. I hope your essay is accepted.

Deb, to state the obvious, those are painful.

I've been enjoying all the drabbles. There are some amazing minds in this thread.

ita, yours always make me want to know more. I like that.

I like doing synopses. The thing is, if someone wants a three-pager, to my mind, they aren't asking for a synopsis; they're asking for a blow-by-blow plot summary.

Which is way different. My synopses are all 1-pagers, designed to be used as explanatory blurbs, and to hook the agent's eye. The longer ones - not synopses. If it's got the "they go the library, where Penny finds an ancient manuscript. On the page dated three days before the murder, they discover...", it aint a synopsis, it's a plot breakdown.

See, to me a 1-pager is just what you describe, a nice hook, while a 6-pager is a plot summary. Three is much too long for one, way too short for the other.

Yeppers.

Thing is, did this agent ask for a three-page synopsis? Because to me, that means she's a little unclear about what she wants.

Yep, that's what she asked for. She specifically said she likes short synopses.

I'm sending her synopses for both books, since she was really interested in Anna even though it's not anywhere near complete yet. And for that one, I think I can cut two pages pretty easily--there's spots where the plot gets kinda complicated, and I ran on for a page apiece talking about the events of two specific chapters. It'll be painful, but I can streamline those bits a lot. I thought of a way in the shower just now. I really need some special waterproof notebook or computer in there, since steam seems so inspiring to my brain.

Lucy, I'm not so sure. On the surface, it's by far the less plotty of the two, so it should be easier to summarize. But there's a lot of setup and interrelationships between the characters that need to be told in some detail. I think I might just start from scratch on that one.