Changing My Mind About Synopses

Like the picture? Okay, now that i have your attention, let's talk about synopses.  LOL. I know, no one wants to think, much less talk about these necessary evils. We only write them because sometimes we can't submit a book without them, we hope no one really reads them, and, most of the time, we write them after the book is finished. At least that has been true for me. But it changed this past week. Two reasons. First, i want to take advantage of an exciting submission opportunity that requires a proposal (a partial, pitch, and synopsis), and, for the first time in my short writing career, the book in question is only a little over a third done, so i have to write the synopsis first. The other reason it all changed is because, when facing a writing challenge, i take a workshop! This past week i went to my favorite workshop source, Savvy Authors, and took a short and informative class from Cindy Carroll. Called, appropriately, Synopsis A Necessary Evil, i suggest you check it out. Cindy told us a lot of basics -- present tense, third person, written in the same "voice" as the book, and above all, it should always , always, are you listening Tara, be written BEFORE the book.

Are you reacting like i did? Wait, i'm mostly a pantser. I have a general story idea when i begin a book, but nothing so formal as an outline. All the good stuff comes in the writing when the characters start talking and telling me the exciting things about the story. Oh, really? His boss is Chinese? No kidding? His mother refuses to admit he's gay and keeps trying to marry him to a woman? I didn't know that.  LOL. Now, Cindy gave us a lot of great ways to create a synopsis -- the heroes journey, Save the Cat -- but i couldn't quite see myself following any of them. Maybe you feel the same way, pantser that you are. Okay, so if you're a pantser, how do you write a synopsis of your story that just happens? The answer is, at least for me, you PANTS it.

That's what i learned by doing (and what veteran writers already know).I had to do it, so I sat down at the computer and, just as if i was writing the book, started writing the story. I thought of it as my "Out of Africa" experience. Do you remember, Karen tells stories to amuse her friends. They suggest a first line premise -- there was a man named Wong Foo and a woman called Shirley --and she takes up the story. That's the way i felt writing the synopsis. New plot points, complications, twists and turns, poured out of my fingers. The style was more upbeat, more exciting than any synopsis i had ever taken from a finished book. And i will now admit the worst of all possible truths that many of you already know and can't believe i don't. It was almost as much fun as writing the book. Why? Because i hadn't already written the book! The unexpected fun of creation got transferred to the synopsis. We still have to see how much having this synopsis helps me write the book. Chances are, i'll barely look at it, since the structure of the story will already have seeped into my unconscious. I'll just write like i always do.

If you're rolling your eyes at me right now and saying "Tara, how much of a newbie are you?", the answer is "pretty new, thanks". But the fun of writing fiction for me is that i learn something new literally every day. That's what i learned this week.

What is your secret to making a synopsis sing? Come on, share. I need the input! LOL  :  )

The Big Picture: Some Things Do Get Easier

With the start of 2011 came the revising phase of the two erotic romances I’ve been working on for the past few months. One is a suspense featuring Walter Simon from MORE; the other is a friends-to-lovers story, and both include a passionate romance that steams up the e-reader (or so I hope).

Since revising is where most of my energy is focused lately, that’s what today’s post is all about.

I’ll be editing these manuscripts for a while before I dig into a new project, but that doesn’t bother me. I enjoy going over and over a story, adding in the little details that build stronger characters and increase the emotions and sexual tension.

One of my writing goals for this year is to write faster, which means producing fewer drafts for each project. I thought I did pretty well on these latest “first drafts” until I started reviewing one of the manuscripts. There are more plot and pacing revisions needed than I had expected.

It’s not a bad thing, though. With one day of frustration and three productive days of making revision notes, I’ve figured out some of the issues. I feel good about that. There are many times I’m too close to my work and can’t see the big picture. I’m hoping this means I’m getting better at objectively examining my writing.

Working out these issues has taught me a few things:

1) It gets easier to cut scenes.
Not sure if it’s because I’m cutting scenes early in my self-editing process or because after working with Loose Id on two books, I’m able to see issues more clearly and accept that the story will be stronger if I make the cuts. Whatever the reason, I’ve spent the last two days cutting and combining scenes, and I can see the improvements at a higher level.

2) Listen to my internal reader.
When writing a scene, I shouldn’t focus solely on whether the scene is right for the story (is it moving the plot along, is it building characterization, etc.) but also ask myself if it’s a scene readers will find interesting. The most important scene for the story’s plot may very well be the most boring, non-essential scene for a romance reader.

3) Listen to my gut.
If my gut tells me to veer off the planned outline, I should do it! Many writers who plot out their books beforehand will admit this is an important point to accept when it comes to effective plotting, and I was reminded of that this week. Sometimes even the best laid plans need to be revised once they are put into action.

4) Magical things happen after that first draft.
As I took note of the necessary revisions and locations for adding details, I could see the story strengthening and was reminded that layering in emotions and characterizations is what makes a story unique. This is the part where I love being a writer.

So yeah, it might take some time to get these books ready to submit to my editor, but I feel like I’m on the right path and that’s a great place to be.

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com

My POV on POV

When I first submitted my manuscript for Genetic Attraction to Loose Id, I got a revise and resubmit letter that suggested that I needed to work on point-of-view.  Now, I’m new to fiction writing (although I’ve been a non-fiction writer for a lifetime), but I thought I knew about POV. I looked at my manuscript closely. I wasn’t head-hopping (jumping from one character’s point-of-view to another’s  a number of times in a scene). I always clearly indicated switches in POV.  What was the matter? I expressed my frustration to my editor who tried to help, but I just wasn’t getting it.

After weeks of bad trial and error, my editor sent me a document from a workshop that talked about deep point-of-view. (DPOV). I read it and the lights came on. It was the “wa-wa” experience (remember in the Miracle Worker when Helen finally connects the feel of water on her hand to the symbol for water Annie was making?) Suddenly, I understood the difference between skating lightly on a character’s viewpoint, and being locked into his or her thoughts and feelings, and that understanding literally transformed my writing on the spot. I got the difference between:

Omniscient POV- -It was a dark and stormy night.

Shallow POV --John saw it was a dark and stormy night.

Deep POV – John pushed against the door, fighting the intense wind that tried to slam it on him. He held up his hand in front of his face, but his eyes just couldn’t adjust to the darkness. Crap, he didn’t know it could get this dark. He hated the blackness. He couldn’t stand the sense of isolation. 

I understood that point-of-view wasn’t a thing that made writing good, it was in many ways, everything. It is the key to the reader’s emotional involvement and satisfaction. A reader doesn’t know necessarily why they feel unconnected with a book or scene in a novel, but, chances are, it’s because the writer has missed deep POV. Some pretty famous authors who are notorious for head-hopping likely get away with it because, while they are in a character’s head, they are in DPOV.

Since that first moment of understanding, I’ve gone on to workshops and readings in an effort to make my point-of-view expression deeper and more natural. While I went through my first two books line by line to edit the POV, I find that today I more automatically write in DPOV, and when I don’t, I catch myself more quickly.  I’m still a newbie and have much to learn, but I’ll be forever grateful to my editors for that guidance. Now, if they could just improve my commas! 

That very novel, Genetic Attraction, is available TODAY from Loose Id. When i saw it on the home page a few minutes ago, i cried. It was a journey of learning during which i changed my POV. 

See it here at Loose Id:  http://www.loose-id.com/Genetic-Attraction.aspx

Here's the delicious blurb:

At a conservative Long Island University, renowned researcher, Dr. Emmaline Silvay, has two great loves – her life-saving work, and her younger research partner, Jake Martin. The romantic love is impossible. She’s his boss and he lives with his girlfriend. The the “girlfriend” is actually a boyfriend, the beautiful and infamous supermodel, Roan Black.

Resigned to a platonic relationship, Em accepts a weekend invitation to their home, but the men have a menage on their minds. She can’t resist, doesn’t even want to. But their intentions go far beyond passion. They want her to “be a part of them”. Their three-way love defies propriety and the standards of the University that funds their work. The supermodel’s fame makes secrecy impossible. Their ménage threatens to crumble all she’s worked for. What will give way to make room for genetic attraction?

Want to say hi:  tara@taralain.com
http://www.taralain.com
http://taralain.blogspot.com
http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com

What Makes a Story Worth Reading Twice?

When I pick up a new book, I do so knowing I have much less than a 50-50 chance of finishing it.

Some I can't force myself to read past the first few pages, whether because it's a poor excuse for a story or because it's poorly told. By the bottom of page three or four, the author's voice and reality are solidified in my head. If I'm standing in the bookstore, this is where I pause to decide whether to buy the book. I am not great at predicting which stories I will read over and over, and push into the hands of friends and strangers. The more pressing question is whether I'll end up regretting having spent any portion of my life reading this.

Some books that pass the three-page test end up being those I wade grimly through, skipping half a page here or a chapter there, and struggling to the end in search of any clue that this will have turned out better than I'd hoped. This is often the fate of a book some friend liked, or by a previously enjoyable author who has hit the wrong note. Or even, I reluctantly admit, a book too complex and multilayered for the amount of mental energy I currently have available. After hearing it praised enough, I might start over. Sometimes on the second attempt I'm caught up in the current, delighting in what I'd missed previously. More often, I find myself chewing my way through the reading equivalent of one of those movies remembered chiefly in terms of seat hardness.

Then sometimes a book catches me up from the start and carries me along well enough to feel like a keeper; when life interrupts, I set the book down with every intention of coming back. But when the opportunity arises, I will look at my bookmark, judge how eager I am to immerse myself in that story as opposed to how much work it would take, and pick up something else instead. The unfinished book hits the shelf--or, more often, the giveaway box. As with a book I've skipped through, the book might get a second chance. But this time I'll be analyzing it: What works? What sags? What should have been handled differently? Why did I put it down and what makes it worth finishing this time?

I'm sure all readers can immediately name books they tried to like. The more difficult factor to identify is what stopped each book from being likable.

With the price of books, and the increasing rarity of my scraps of "spare" time, I make quicker and harsher judgment on what is worth reading. Which brings into focus the other side of the equation. What makes a story worth reading, and what makes the rare jewel of a story worth re-reading?

If you can put your hands on three books you've read repeatedly, can you put your finger on what makes each of them worth revisiting? Is it the same factor in all of them? Or the compelling lead male character in this one, the style of humor in that one, and the hmm-worthy philosophy in the last?

Being read is the primary compensation a writer receives. If we could identify and prioritize the factors that produce a story that is worth reading twice, what factors would we name, and how important--relative to one another--is each of them? What do you think?

Amber
Visit http://www.shapeshiftersinlust.com/ tonight!