Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Synopsis Hell

I love every aspect of writing fiction except one. I’ll give you one guess as to what that is. Okay, so the title of the blog gave away my weakness.:) When a synopsis is complete and my critique partners give it the thumbs up, I forget what an effort it is to distil into a few pages the salient points of a story that comprises thousands of words. I suppose my mind blocks out the pain in the same way it did after giving birth. Otherwise, I’d never submit myself to the experience again. (Although after hearing about Trish's revision letter, I think I'm making a fuss!)

But I’m pleased to say I’ve wrestled the latest synopsis into submission and it’s almost ready to send out the door.

My husband’s theory is that writing a synopsis is a left-brain activity, so it’s obviously too organised and methodical for me. Anyone who’s seen my desk knows I’m neither organised nor methodical.

Now I have to decide what to cook for dinner, which has become rather difficult since my son became a vegetarian. A strange choice as he doesn’t like vegetables. He’s existing on a diet of doughnuts, pasta, and pop tarts because his latest girlfriend is a vegetarian. What young people do for love!

2 comments:

Evonne Wareham said...

Helen
Synopsis writing seems to be top of everyone's least favourite list. I think it's the thought of doing it, as much as the thing itself.

Savanna Kougar said...

Helen, synopsis used to be a daunting task until I first broke it down chapter by chapter, then distilled it down father.
Your husband is correct IMO. It's definitely more left-brained. Fortunately I have the ability to operate out of either side, naturally, and because I've trained myself to do it.
Now, I live in blurb-landia, which is more of a distillation down to your story. Or like that great blog we had on taglines.

Make sure your son gets extra B12 and the B vitamins in general, plus good quality vegetable protein, or he could be sacrificing his health. Although, I certainly understand why in the quest for love.