Blog of Gracie O'Neil Author Paranormal Romantic Suspense

9 April, 2010

Your Novel--In Four Paragraphs Or Less (Aspect 1)

Okay. You've got the fifty word heart of your novel. What do you do with it? Expand it out to ten pages? No. You now use this distillation to write a three or four paragraph back-of-the-book teaser first.

There are three excellent reasons to write the teaser now.

To look at the work as a reader not a writer.
To analyze the work from the perspective of a buyer.
To accentuate the work's point of difference in the market.

We're not going to get it all done today. In fact, it will take three sessions to complete the back-cover blurb. In this session we'll discuss the first aspect; looking at the work as a reader not a writer.

As readers we're familiar with back cover teasers. Our bookshelves are full of them. We know how to do one. A back cover teaser covers four basic points. It:

Introduces the heroine and her compelling need.
Introduces the hero and his compelling need.
Presents the external situation that causes the main characters and their agendas to clash.
Hints at the major conflict they face in order to mesh, settle their interpersonal tensions, complete their own internal journeys, and resolve the external plot.

Here's my example again, made slightly more specific.

A crusader (Alexis Bradford) with a heart-breaking secret (Flaw) is blackmailed (Life-changing event) by a manipulative psychotic (Miles Brigham) in order to advance his criminal lifestyle. However, when an enigmatic stranger (Philip Knight) offers her a chance to be free, she must make a choice which might lose her all she holds most precious. (Battle)

Now, I'm going to extend that example using the four paragraph outline above.

Introduces the heroine and her compelling need.

My crusading heroine, Alexis Bradford, spends her life in the public arena fighting for justice.

Her compelling need--the thing that she is prepared to go to any lengths in order to attain--is redemption (associated with her heart-breaking secret [Flaw], but we don't have to elaborate on it at this stage).

Introduces the hero and his compelling need.

My enigmatic hero, Philip Knight, spends his life in a private world pursuing and acquiring knowledge.

His compelling need is to seek, find, and be given truth--in every area of life (a strength--and weakness--associated with his own Flaw).

Presents the external situation that causes the main characters and their agendas to clash.

The external situation that causes Alexis and Philip to clash--and their compelling needs and consequent flaws and fears to collide--is when Alexis discovers her own darkest truths have fallen into the hands of Miles Brigham, who is a master of manipulation...and Philip's uncle and mentor.

Hints at the major conflict they face in order to mesh, settle their interpersonal tensions, complete their own internal journeys, and resolve the external plot.

Alexis is attracted to Philip but she has a lot to lose--and even more to hide. She can't allow herself to love a man who lives to uncover secrets and expects her to be absolutely honest with him. She also isn't sure if he's involved in his uncle's plans for her or not.

Although Philip is attracted to Alexis he senses she isn't being honest in her dealings with him. He fights against once again falling for a woman who could betray him, and reveal his family's mysterious history. But he knows she's in trouble and needs help. And his uncle's attitude towards Alexis is worrying.

This is not the finished blurb. It's merely Step One.

Your turn. Take your fifty words and, under the four paragraph headings above, create your own main points.

Don't get frustrated with yourself or your work, and don't expect it to be easy. Just take it slow, and don't panic.

Comment:

Hi Gracie,

This is a terrific blog you're running. I sat and did the blurb for my WIP from your notes and...found this exercise really focused my mind.

Gracie:

Thanks for the lovely comment! I really appreciate getting the feedback.

Comment:

How do I make my synopsis sound exciting when I've edited and edited until my MS sounds in my ears as dull and uninteresting as dishwater?

Gracie:

The trouble with editing is that it is anti-creative. It uses the wrong side of the brain--the analytical side. So if you're trying to edit your novel to create a synopsis then you're missing the point.

You need to be creative when you're writing your synopsis. You're allowed to use your analytical skills to work out what the fifty word summary is, but after that the emphasis must return to the creative side. You need to write, not edit. Build not destroy.

Analyze once, down to the fifty word level. The rest of your synopsis writing must build up from that base out of your creativity. Beware the editor within! The editor and the artist are at war. They should be--at least in this case. If they're not, the chances are that the artist has been killed already.

When it comes to writing a synopsis, editing your novel "down" will make it sound uninteresting by sucking the passion and the fire out of what you write. The key is to create and to build. The fifty word summary gives you the starting point.

Comment:

Is your example fifty words the summary of one of your own books?

Gracie:

Yes, and no. Yes, the example summary is something that I've written myself. No, as yet I haven't published the book. The great thing about this way of doing things is that it's a springboard for creativity whether you've started the work or not!

6 April, 2010

Your Novel--in Fifty Words or Less

I've had few questions recently about writing a synopsis--most of them along the lines of "how do I condense everything that happens in my completed ninety thousand word novel into ten pages or less?"

It's a good question. But a better one is: "How do I condense everything that happens in my completed ninety thousand word novel into fifty words or less?"

Why is this a better question? It's better because if you're going to attempt the impossible you might as well give yourself at least a fighting chance of attaining it. It's far easier to craft the fifty word "essence" of your story and then expand it to become a two thousand word synopsis, than it is to take an axe to an entire novel and expect a rational result.

The first key to a killer synopsis is to find your story's centre. Its soul. Its beating heart.

There are several suggestions out there on the Web about just how to do this, and here is one that works for me. It's the "High Concept Pitch" formula:

Heroine
Flaw
Opponent
Life-changing event
Ally
Battle.

When Lucy Monroe mentioned it at our RWNZ conference a few years ago I'd never heard of it, but this blueprint enables me to look past the minutiae of the plot to the absolute basics--the essential arc I need to elaborate on and explain in order to have my story synopsis make sense.

For example:

A crusader (Heroine) with a heart-breaking secret (Flaw) is blackmailed (Life-changing event) by a manipulative psychotic (Opponent) in order to advance his criminal lifestyle . However, when an enigmatic stranger (Ally) offers her a chance to be free, she must make a choice which might lose her all she holds most precious. (Battle)

That's it. At this stage I don't have to describe the "heart-breaking secret" in its lurid detail, or clarify that the opponent is (for example) a werewolf, or even try to give an impression of the world in which this happens. I only have to create--and then hone--the generic sentence.

Now it's your turn. Using the "Heroine / Flaw / Opponent / Life-changing event / Ally / Battle" method, distil the essence of your novel into fifty words. Or less. Of course you can.