Why I didn't participate in the Plot Synopsis Project

[ksmith]

I've never written one, at least not one that I would be comfortable calling a synopsis.

I have written outlines, because they were required by my contracts. Very long outlines. 60-75 manuscript pages, of which my former agent used to say that all I had to do was add dialogue and I'd have the book. Except sometimes I did add dialogue. None of that dialogue ever wound up in the final books, that I recall.

My synopsis for the latest book is the closest I have come to something reasonable. 25 manuscript pages or so, with not a line of dialogue to be seen. I can't post it, of course, 'cause the book ain't writ yet.

My first book, CODE, was shopped as a completed manuscript. For the two other books in that contract, RULES and LAW, I wrote one paragraph mini-synopses along the lines of "Jani shows up. Weapons fire. The End." Not much detail, and not a lot of help with regards compressing a plot of a novel into a few pages.

So, follow the links and read these synopses by folks who wrote them, and wrote them well.

Comments

[kiviuq.livejournal.com]

Oh the dreaded synopsis. It's a lot of what I've been writing for the past 3 years, trying to find the right next project to work on or get approved. I've run the gamut from 10-15 page synopses to half a page ones. It's so difficult to write but I've learned to appreciate them for giving a nice broad roadmap, which I discovered I needed before working on a novel.

I honestly can't fathom a 60 page outline, so I take off my hat to you!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I honestly can't fathom a 60 page outline, so I take off my hat to you!

They were never worth much, though, as far as resemblance to the finished book. My editor learned to pretty much disregard them and wait for the finished draft.

[kiviuq.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think they must know that when it's actually written, things likely change. We need playroom!