The synopsis as a haiku

Since we've been discussing synopses so much lately, my eyes bloinked out of my head when I was at the Absolute Write Water Cooler today.  (Yes, I know, I should be writing ...)  The post that caught my attention had a link to a Miss Snark post about synopses.  Miss Snark's post is short and snarky, as always.  The brilliant quote in the middle that I wanted to call everyone's attention to was this:

A synopsis is just a totally weird form. It's like haiku on steroids. Everything that makes you a good writer works against you for writing a good synopsis.

Read the entire post here.  There are lots of great comments that go with it.

Curse you, synopsis, you mock me with your artificial constructions and the disproportionate value that is placed upon you!

Synopsising Again

I've been working on my synopsis for Faith of the Four and One. I have it keyed into the computer now where I can shift lines and delete words and still keep the original intact until I have the final completed.

I've gotten down from three full pages to just over two pages, but I'm still holding at 760 words. That means I have to shave off another 260 words. I'm sure I can, since the current draft is just a tightening of the plot, not of the synopsis itself.

I'm still not happy with the tone, though. I does read much less like a bad romance story, which the first short draft sounded like, but it still doesn't quite capture the essence of the plot's impact on the world around the characters. And, sadly, Liliane still reads like a bad romance heroine, all sighs and confusion and letting the big strong men take the lead. She needs to grow a stiffer backbone earlier in the story, and I need to show that growth earlier in the synopsis.

But I'm happy with my progress, considering this is just the third time I've worked with the synopsis. I think two more times and I might have it. And then I can get on to editing the excerpt, which will be a whole nother beast. The beginning, I've decided, just has to go. Needs a completely new beginning, something that shows Liliane off as thoughtful, yet fearful, but still resilient and daring, with just a hint of innocence and naivete.

That's going to be a fun rewrite, I think.

Progressing

Not only have I condensed my impressive 8-page synopsis for Faith of the Four and One to only 3 pages, but today I made a screen. As in a window screen. My very first. And it even fits in the window with only a slight gap along the side and top. I can now throw open my kitchen window as wide as it can go. Huzzah!

Still digging out the front yard, though I'm down to only a three by five strip of gravel that is only about an 1 1/2 deep and fairly loose. It was too hot today to do any more than two barrows full, rather than the whole lot as I'd have liked. I've started laying out fill and when I have all the fill laid and the top soil amendment raked in, I'll plant the bag of crocus bulbs Mom gave me and then lay sod over the rest. And tada! Lawn!

And this weekend I get to buy my tree for it. And then begin work on the other, shorter half of the front yard. Whew. It sure would be awesome to have the entire front yard done by Fall. Gee, maybe I'll go ahead and get the other tree for that side to goad me on.

And back to writing news, tomorrow I'll edit down my three pages to two pages and start toning it towards the main character so it reads like her. Maybe I can then coax my fellow INKers to have a look at it for any suggestions. And then editing the MS excerpt. And I still have to do the final edit on my poems and get them in the mail, preferably by tomorrow.

The big wheel keeps on turning and I'm rolling, rolling, rolling . . .

Synopsising

I still haven't written my synopsis for Comet-Crossed (or thought up a better title). I have figured out what the hold up is. It feels like a mountain that I've never climbed before, the one where the first steps are right along a sheer drop. One misstep and I'm a person pancake.

Only it really isn't a mountain. It's more like a molehill, and I like molehills. I like to dig up the nice dirt to use in my garden. Meaning that whatever I push up in the synopsis, I'll be able to shovel over into the story.

I like that analogy.

The other big reason has been time. I haven't seemed able to sit down more than once at the typewriter a day, so rather than work on a story, I need to work on the synopsis instead. I didn't want to accept that right away, but now that I have, I really have no other excuses.

So, I absolutely will hammer out a rough draft to my synopsis (that being the other hold back, that I'd have to write a magnificent, fully realized synopsis on my first try--d'oh). And I will have it hammered out by tomorrow. There. Goal set in print.

And then I can start revising my excerpt. And the synopsis. Yay!