Thursday 24 February 2011

HOW TO JUMP HIGH ENOUGH TO SCORE - A THRILLING SYNOPSIS

Alicia and Theresa at edittorrent.blogspot are conducting a two-week class - entirely in an email list – on the subject of writing a synopsis. There is a cost but it is a chance to get guidance and feedback from an expert. The art of distillation is not one of my strengths so I went to read their advice:

The trick is to leave the plot behind. Too many writers get bogged down in events, and end up with a boring chronicle of “this happened, then this happened.”

The idea that a synopsis like this will bore the reader is not a great surprise but writing a synopsis that reflects the writing and the story - not just the plot - is a challenge.

Theresa calls this her SCORE method:

Situation

Character

Organisation

Revelation

Epiphany

Using these key thoughts, it would be easier to evaluate and tighten the synopsis while weaving in plot events; maintaining coherence and representing the intensity you worked hard to create.

SCORE when writing a synopsis, with their key advice.

Did you find any advice useful when you were writing a synopsis?
Posted by Unknown at Thursday, February 24, 2011
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5 comments:

  1. Summer Ross24 February 2011 at 14:54

    I Haven't Had to do one yet because I mostly write in poetry and short stories.

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  2. MC Rogerson24 February 2011 at 21:22

    Thanks for the link. It took me ages to write my first synopsis. Hoping it'll be faster this time as I've written a proper outline.

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  3. Unknown25 February 2011 at 00:12

    Hi Summer
    Lucky you! :) How is the hunt for a Pen name going?

    Hi Melissa
    I'm impressed The Moonlocket was able to impress the judges enough to get a longlist place Good luck with the second ms. :D

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  4. Carolina M. Valdez Schneider25 February 2011 at 01:38

    That's great advice! It sounds like a worthy class to take. Most useful. I'm not a huge fan of synopses, but I know it's a skill that all writers should acquire. Even when we move past the query stage, you still need to be able to create synopses for book proposals. It never ends, these things! Good luck with your class!

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  5. Rachel Searles25 February 2011 at 07:20

    Thanks for sharing this! I'm trying to work on my synopsis right now and it's hard to write something that doesn't sound like bullet points.

    Def interested in critique swapping! Maybe we could start out with a few chapters and see how it goes? My entire ms isn't exactly coherent right now anyway because I'm in the middle of revisions...

    ReplyDelete

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