Tuesday Tips: The "Magic" to Crafting Your Synopsis

Nikki and I have been working on our synopsis for Beneath the Surface, which made me think I'd share some synopsis pointers with you.  Unfortunately, it's not easy & there's no magic formula...

Image Snatched from Deviant Art

In essence, the synopsis is nothing more than a very short summary of your entire novel.  But you want it to be nearly as engaging as your novel, not a boring recitation of facts.

Starting with the basics -- although the length will vary from agent to agent, your synopsis should typically be two to three pages long.  (To get to this length, hit only the major plot points and avoid flowery language.)

If your synopsis is one page, you can single space it with breaks between paragraphs.  If longer than that, it should be double-spaced.

Stick with Times New Roman, 12 point font and 1 margins.

You last name/book title appears in the upper left hand corner (Harrell/Destined); the page number goes in the upper right hand corner (this info should be contained in the page header).

Capitalize each name the first time (but only the first time) that you use it.

Now more for the craft --  You should hit the beginning, conflict (action, reaction, decision), plot twists and the ending.  Do not leave your reader hanging at the end with a what will happen? sort of question.

The beginning should include your main character's name and age as well as a hook (much like in your query).  If where and when details are important, be sure to include them early on as well.

You want the reader to related to your main character right away, just as in your novel.  You should use the same "voice" as in your novel (e.g., humorous, snarky, literary), but the synopsis should always be in third person present tense, even if your novel is in first and/or past tense.

You will not, however, want to (or have room to), introduce every character in the novel. Include only those who directly and significantly impact the main character.  In the synopsis, sub-plots tend to fall away in favor of the overarching plot line.

Like your novel, the synopsis needs to flow together.  Your paragraphs should not be a series of first this happens, then this happens, sort of descriptions.  You do want to work in chronological order, though.

Don't forget relationships.  Be sure to show some of the blossoming romance or impending conflict between characters, as well as the personal growth of your main character.

Your synopsis is also where an agent or editor can tell if your novel is well-plotted, so pacing is also important to keep in mind in the synopsis.  If you can't make 2 pages entertaining, how can you make us care through an entire book?

I heard one author explain that the synopsis is typically like looking at your novel with a 1000-foot view.  But every now and then you can zoom in with a line of dialog or a little detail that will really suck the reader in.

I'm sure this list isn't exhaustive and there are as many ways to write a great synopsis as there are to write a great novel.  Have I forgotten anything major?  Any little tricks you'd like to share for crafting a kick-butt synopsis?

Tuesday Tips - from a seminar with Agent Mark McVeigh

I feel like I've gone to radio silence lately.  Holidays are crazy.  Work is relatively busy.  Edits are full-on.  Still, I know I owe you guys some Tuesday Tips.  So I decided to share the insights I gained from agent Mark McVeigh during his 90 minute webinar, Nailing Your First Chapter.

If you can't hook an agent/editor with your first chapter, they're never going to see another word you've written, so that first chapter is MEGA important.  In fact, Mark says an agent can decide if 95% of the manuscripts they get are right for them based on just the first page!

This webinar was geared exclusively toward YA authors, so keep that in mind as you absorb these tips.  Here are some of the more global pointers that Mark led off with:

*  Avoid "movie style" writing that starts off with a big bang or an action scene without letting the reader first know who the characters are
*  YA lit is primarily character-driven.  The reader needs to identify with the MC first and foremost.
*  Your first chapter is typically not the first thing you write.
*  Be SUBTLE.  No telling, no exposition, don't over-foreshadow, don't info-dump, don't overly set the stage of who, where, etc.
*  In the first chapter, you MUST establish: the MC, the voice (be sure to re-examine after the first chapter to make sure it's consistent), context/setting, and the conflict in some small way (need a sense of the conflict, but don't need to have a full understanding of it)
* shorter is better than longer
* just give a preview of what's to come - make the reader want to read more
*  focus on a particular element of the MC that will carry through; personality can have contradictory elements though.  You typically should have a likable main character.

Here are some more specific insights --

First Word: He doesn't like starting with a name (e.g. Mary sat on the couch...)

First Sentence:
*  Look at your first line like poetry.  Every single word must count.
*  Dialog can be a great way to start, but it must be provocative and tie into the story.
*  The first line must do one of two things: (1) drop the reader into the world OR (2) establish either the MC or the central conflict -- some element; don't have to give it all away.  An example is a dystopian novel that starts where something we take for granted no longer exists.
*  Too much info actually turns readers off.  Given them a general idea and sense of what's happening, but not much more.  Always leave the reader wanting more.

First Paragraph:
Here's how Mark views the first chapter. Imagine you're walking along a street and stop to tie your shoe next to a door that's slightly ajar.  You didn't mean to listen in, but you hear part of a conversation, and now you can't stop listening.  You've been dropped into a conversation and it's interesting and intriguing enough that you want to know what they're going to say next.

Your first paragraph should end strong.  He likes paragraphs that seem normal, but set the reader up for a fall/something unexpected.

First Chapter:
* if only can accomplish one thing, must have reader hooked on voice
*  also needs to end strong and have a tie-in to the next chapter

Last Sentence: should be charismatic, compelling, and be a good bookend with the first sentence.  While it can set the reader up for a fall, it cannot leave the reader wonder what's going on.  Be careful when handling large plot points in the last sentence because it can feel forced and not organic.

AVOID these things:
* being too long/expository
* telling - if doing that, take a step back and figure out how to "show" instead (an example of good showing can be found in Mindblind by Jennifer Roy)
*  lack of focus - need to be linear and specific
*  jumping back and forth with timeframe or POV - don't switch within chapters and especially not in the first chapter
*  foreshadowing past events is good; jumping completely back in time is bad.

Final Thought: check out the writing of Gillian Flynn, who wrote Dark Places and Sharp Objects.  She's  good with unreliable narrators, which can be a good way to hook the reader because it makes them question the information they're getting.  (While Gillian writes adult novels, she has strong teen voices.  Mark also recommends reading in the adult genres even if you only write YA).

There.  Hope that helps!  I probably won't be back until after Christmas, so I hope you all enjoy the season and take the time to count your blessings.  Glad Tidings!

Tuesday Tips: Do Something Unusual

Don't forget to enter my Happy (Early) Birthday to Me Contest - Ends Tomorrow (11/17)

My own little character got me thinking again today. What is it about our favorite MCs that we love so much? Why do we ride along with them, as emotionally invested in their lives as they are? I have a few theories (leaving aside the obvious: he's a gorgeous piece of man-flesh and I'd read on just so I don't have to stop drooling anytime soon).

1. They're Unique and Quirky. But in a good way.  Could you root for Miss Popularity who never had anything bad happen to her?  Hell no.  As readers, we can often relate to characters who share our own insecurities or quirks or shortcomings.  Or better yet - a character who has even "stronger" quirks than we do.  We can like the spunky girl who draws all over her hands in marker and wears funky necklaces without caring what anyone else thinks, right?

Like my little Scooby Doo wanna-be, I love looking at a character in a book and seeing something unexpected there.  Some fun, little surprise that makes the MC completely distinct from any MC who's come before.

2.  They Don't Do What You Expect.  This is along the same lines as being unique, but it's more action driven. For example, you could have a quirky, mask-wearing MC, but who always followed the rules and got along with everyone.  See the difference?

Sometimes characters infuriate me so much because just when I want them to either (a) kiss and make up or (b) say "to hell with you" and move on... they do the opposite. And I'm left pulling out my hair, wondering how they could possibly make that choice.  And I turn the page.  Aha.  See, there's the key.  Why would I bother reading on if the MC makes all the sensible choices?  The ones that don't leave me second-guessing?  There'd be no point because I could see the ending coming from a mile away.  But when you have characters who act outside of our expectations (without being out of character, of course), that's the good stuff.

What makes you get invested with the MCs in the books you read?

Middle Books (and why they sometimes annoy me)

Last week I reviewed Linger - the second in The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy.  Several months ago I reviewed Captivate - the sequel to Need.  And late last week I finished reading The Broken Lake, second in The Pace series.  All of these seconds followed first books that I loved.  LOVED!!  And all of these sequels let me down.

But I don't think it was because my expectations were too high.  You saw me rave about The Soul Screamers series, and not a one of those books suffered from "middle book syndrome" - I think I just made that term up.  (Ok, quick google search reveals I am not the first to recognize this problem.)

Which got me thinking, what really is my problem with these books?  Why did I keep flipping the pages waiting for something to freaking happen already?

The answer: Because nothing happens in them until the very end.  I loved Need, and Shiver, and The Pace because in each of them, you have this fierce, forbidden, impossible love and insurmountable odds.  Then you top it all off with a crisis.  But in book two, the author gives us all the gushy lovey-dovey stuff we hoped for for the characters in book one, but it just doesn't make for very interesting reading.  When everyone's happy, it's kind of boring actually.  Now, in all of them, you the reader are waiting for the hammer to drop, which is a little suspenseful, but not enough.  At least not enough for me.

So that realization made me think some more: as an author, how can I be sure I don't write a book that suffers from middle book syndrome (if, praise Jesus, I ever have a first book)? IMO, there are two ways to do this, but only one way to do it well - anymore.

The first way is to have the romance fall apart as soon as it gets started.  That's what made New Moon so damn agonizing, right?  (I confess, I almost burst into tears in the grocery store when I took a break from this book to pick up some food. How could Edward do that to Bella??) But I now exclude this as a way to inject action into middle books because everyone will say it's an obvious Twilight comparison.  Don't do that to yourself.

Which brings us to method two: actually write some action.  I know, it's a shocking idea.  That Boy and Girl have overcome impossible odds to be together and now something else crappy happens.  But it's going to happen in book 3, right?  Crappy is coming.  Crappy is what makes us turn the page to see how the problem gets resolved. Don't write a whole freakin' book of perpetual love scenes.  It's like book two is nothing but an overly-long (and largely unnecessary) bridge to book three.  Great - your characters are happy and in love and they're singing from the rooftops.  I'm snoring.

Well, this turned out to be more of a rant than I perhaps intended.  And of course, I'm certainly not the guru of publishing (seeing as how I've yet to catch the view from the published side of the industry).  But come on, there's got to be someone else who feels this way, right?

Oh, and any other tips I missed for overcoming the dreaded MBS (it's a syndrome now, so it should get a medical-like abbreviation)?

Copyright Insights

**Check this Out: I've been interviewed by Ebyss on her blog. How cool!**


Aspiring Authors Want to Know...

Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.

Did you know...
*  That everything you write is copyrighted whether you take the time to register for a copyright or not?  No formal notice of copyright is required.  (However, you will need to register if you want to bring a copyright infringement lawsuit)
*  You do not have to be published to have a copyright.
*  You cannot copyright the name of your book.
*  Copyright protection extends to the WAY you write down words and not your ideas.  Someone else can write on the exact same topic, they just can't copy the way in which you've ordered your words to do so.
*  The information you create on your website (and blog) are protected by copyright.  Your domain name is not.
* If you register your book and then make minor editorial changes, you do not have to re-register.  If you add another chapter, you would.
* There are separate filings for published and unpublished books, so if you seek official copyright protection prior to publication, you'll be paying two registration fees
* Generally speaking, copyright protection lasts the length of the author's life PLUS 70 years.
* Fan fiction technically violates copyright because it uses someone else's characters.
* To indicate you intend your work to be protected, use the (c) symbol or "copyright" [year] , [your name].

DON'T FORGET TO SCROLL DOWN & ENTER MY SOUL SCREAMERS GIVE-AWAY. CONTEST ENDS THURSDAY NIGHT.

Passive Voice: An Evil Whisper

** Image snatched from MistRaven at DeviantArt.com **

When I set out to write this post about one of my personal vices -- passive voice -- I thought of it like an evil whisper.  This little voice in my head that calls to me, saying, "Your writing will be more lyrical if you say it like this -- passively."  So I went looking for a picture that would represent an evil whisper and I found this lovely work of art, appropriately titled: A Whisper is Heard.  

The freakin' title is passive voice.

For those of you saying, what is passive voice anyway?, there are two ways to identify it: 

(1)  a sentence is passive when it has no actor.  Take the title again: A Whisper is Heard.  Were you to see that sentence in a book (and without a picture), you'd have no idea who heard the whisper.  The sentence is missing an actor.

(2) according to some UNC professors, you can always spot passive voice if you look for: form of "to be" + past participle = passive voice

For example:

The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath.

When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

But if you follow that up with, yeah so?, here's the reason passive voice will get you into trouble: it robs your writing of clarity.  Take the Penelope example above.  By changing the sentence to: After suitors invaded Penelope's house, she had to think of ways to fend them off., your reader now has no question about who did what.  

And here's another problem: passive voice is just... passive. We're in the business of telling stories. It's critical that our words convey the urgency of our tales in the most direct way possible.  By using active voice, you can up the tension and import of your words.  For example, The dragon's fiery breath scorched the metropolis. 

I'll leave you with this final thought from The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993):

Active voice makes subjects do something (to something); passive voice permits subjects to have something done to them (by someone or something). Some argue that active voice is more muscular, direct, and succinct, passive voice flabbier, more indirect, and wordier. If you want your words to seem impersonal, indirect, and noncommittal, passive is the choice, but otherwise, active voice is almost invariably likely to prove more effective.

Got it?  Do you find you struggle with passive voice in certain points of your writing more than others?

Tuesday Tip: Describe the Ordinary

Sometimes, I like to force myself to write creatively.  To exercise the often-under-used left side of my brain.  So I'll stop what I'm doing, look around, and pick something to describe.  When I do this, I come up with just one sentence that I hope would make a reader feel like they were right there with me: seeing, feeling, sensing, the same thing I am.  I've done this with the gentle kneading of a massage or the way too-hot coffee leaves your tongue all prickly.

My favorite one so far: 

Flames lapped at the once-solid logs, reducing them to brittle, glowing bones.

I wrote this as I stared into a waning fire on a cold, north Florida night (yes, we do have cold here).  And hopefully it - or something like it - will find it's way into one of my WIPs one of these days.


Maybe it's time to challenge yourself today too.  Describe something ordinary.  It could be something sitting right next to you on your desk.  It could be the way it feels when your children throw their sweaty, sticky arms around your neck when you pick them up from camp.  But if you do this -- really push yourself to find the essence of what you want to say -- I promise you the exercise won't be a waste of time.

Your Ending: The Rollercoaster Stop

I once heard the amazingly-talented Kathleen Duey say that your ending should be like a roller coaster stop.  You want to hit the climax and then coast to the end rather quickly.  When the ride is over, your reader wants off; there's no point in staying on any longer.

At the same time, we all know our readers need a little resolution - maybe have some loose ends tied up.  We don't want to slam readers into an abrupt ending that leaves them scratching their heads.

So where's the middle ground?  How do you end your novel in a way that satisfies without becoming stale?

Here are a few tips:

1.  Get to the Point.  Why did you write this story?  According to editor Victoria Mixon, your point in writing the story is your climax.  Once you've gotten to that point, there should not be much else of interest to write.  I'd suggest that if you've got a ton more to say, then either your climax is in the wrong place or (a la Stephanie Meyer), what you're actually writing is the sequel.

2.  Consider an Epilogue.  Author Edward Patterson provides an extensive on-line list of ways to end your book WRONG.  His main suggestion on how to get it right?  Consider an epilogue.*  He describes it beautifully as "that taste of sherbet between courses, "your novel" and "the reader's exit to the real world." And isn't that what we want?  The novel really ends when the climax is over, but rather than slamming into an ending, we ease our readers out of the story by tying up loose ends and letting them know how things work out for our characters.

*This is not to suggest that every story has to have an epilogue.

I really want to know your thoughts on this.  What are some of your favorite tips and tricks for creating a satisfying ending that doesn't go on forever?

Tuesday Tip: Writing Effective Dialog

I've been reading some first five pages over at the amazing YALitChat site, and I keep seeing the same dialog "mistakes" again and again.  (I hate to call anything a "mistake," but for ease of reference, I will.  Once you know and understand the "rules" though, you can break them with purpose rather than on accident.)  Here are a few pointers to keep in mind as your fingers click away on the keyboard.

art from www.cartoonstock.com

1.  Use Contractions.  We've been taught at every stage of our educations NOT to use contractions when writing. It's been so ingrained in my head, that when writing dialog, I'm apt to write something like, "It is great to see you again."  But that's simply not how most people (especially not teens) talk.  When we talk, contractions fly around faster than hooker flyers in Vegas.  Unless you're intentionally creating a stiff character, salt your dialog liberally with contractions.

2.  Don't Use Dialog Tags Other Than Said or Asked.  This is a really common newbie "mistake." (*raises hand here to be included in the group*)  A tag is what comes after the dialog, as in, "Oh my god, I won!" she shrieked.  Tags other than "said" or "asked" are not en vogue right now, falling into the telling rather than showing category.  If you need to punctuate your dialog with a description following it (and god-forbid don't include an adverb with your tag), then you're probably not doing a good enough job of showing your reader what's happening.  For a complete list of dialog tags NOT to use, check here.  As Nienke points out, "said" is invisible.  The reader's eye skips over it.  Whereas the tag injects the author back into the story.

3.  Avoid Mini-Monologs.  This is particularly true when writing dialog for guys.  I am always running my dialog by my hubby, who invariably tells me, "Guys don't talk like that."  (I'm also told that guys don't get into much description and don't really talk about feelings.)  By and large, no guy is going to speak more than 2 - maybe 3 - sentences at a time.  Even really chatty girls shouldn't have dialog that goes on and on.  When people are talking together, there is a give and take of information.  Skim through your dialog and if you see a block of text, mark it off to go back and revise.

4.  Don't Info Dump.  Don't have one character tell another something just to spoon feed info to the reader.  This is especially true if the other character would already know what he/she's being told.  The reader can immediately spot the info dump for what it is: the author being lazy.  Figure out another way to get your information into the story without being obvious about it.

5.  Punctuate Appropriately.  This is a pet peeve of mine and a lot of people mess it up.  It's not that hard.  If you have a tag following your dialog, DON'T end the dialog with a period. Use a comma, question mark or even an exclamation point (although these should be use INCREDIBLY sparingly).
       Wrong:  "I'm going out." Alice said.
       Right: "I'm going out," Alice said.
On the flip side, you need the comma before the tag.  Don't leave it out.
You would, however, use a period if what follows the dialog is not a tag.  For example:
       "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."  Sarah rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I bother."
Interspacing your dialog with action is a great way to break it up and clue your reader in to who's talking without having to use a tag.  If you want to get really fancy, try this:
"This, my dear Watson, " said Holmes, "is elementary."  Notice the placements of commas and the period.  If you have other punctuation questions, feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to answer.

6.  Have a Purpose.  This is one I actually don't see all that often myself, but I see this advice so often, that someone out there must be doing it.  Dialog in your book shouldn't sound like a normal conversation.  For example:
             "Hi," Sue said.
             "Hey, how's it going?" I answered.
             "Pretty good.  True Blood is on tonight."
             "Oh yeah. I love that show. Pretty crazy car accident Bill was in last week." I shuddered just remembering it.
             "Oh, that reminds me, did you hear about Sarah's car accident?"
SNOOZE!  Get right to the meat of your conversation.  If the point of the dialog in the example above is to break the news of the car accident, start there.  Dialog should be driving your plot forward.  Skip the pleasantries that we all engage in for regular conversation.  As with every other part of your story, make every word count!

These are all just mechanics - the basics really.  If you really want to take your dialog to the next level, I suggest reading this informative post at Dirty White Candy.

Any other words of wisdom you want to share? Things I've forgotten?  I feel like there are probably more rules out there than space on this blog, but hopefully I've hit the "biggies."  (Which reminds me of another thing I hate to see in punctuation - the period goes INSIDE the quotation marks, not outside.)

Tuesday Tip: POV

Point of view is more than just whether you use third person or first.  Authors - rightly so - spend loads of time agonizing over which POV to use in their manuscripts.  While first person is more intimate, third person gives you more freedom because you can describe things/events your MC might not otherwise know.  But once you've made that important decision, there's still more about point of view to consider as you're writing.

Point of view is also about describing the world from the unique perspective of your characters.  For example, how a child sees an oak tree likely will be very different from how an old man sees it.  (This, in fact, is a writing exercise given at SCBWI - Miami by Jen Rofe.)  Try this sometime.  While the child might think a knot in the trunk looks like a wrinkly elephant knee, the only man might see an arthritic joint.

Author Kathleen Duey advises to incorporate description through point of view.  But remember, you can only describe what your MC knows (or doesn't know) about the world.  For example, in Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty, she wouldn't even need to start the first chapter with the date and place.  It's all evident from the word choice and descriptions.
"Please tell me that's not going to be part of my birthday dinner this evening."

I am staring into the hissing face of a cobra. A surprisingly pink tongue slithers in and out of a cruel mouth while an Indian man whose eyes are the blue of blindness inclines his head toward my mother and explains in Hindi that cobras make very good eating.

Mother reaches out a white-gloved finger to stroke the snake's back. "What do you think, Gemma? Now that you're sixteen, will you be dining on cobra?"

The slithery thing makes me shudder. "I think not, thank you."

So did you guess the date and place?  1895, Bombay, India.  The date is obvious not only from the clues like "white-gloved hand" but also from the language.  Gemma doesn't say "gross" or "disgusting."  She responds in a centuries-gone clip.

Jill Santopolo said at that same SCBWI conference, "every word should world build and give context." Take a look back at some of your favorite novels.  How do the authors infuse their worlds with context just through word choice?  Who do you think does this best?