Silence of the Synopsis

First blog post on this. Apparently my publisher thinks it's best if I have one, so better get on that (my publisher can be pushy, but it's his job).  Wonder if I should jump up in the air or begrudgingly type this. I think i'll go for something in the middle. Now, let's talk about something freakishly evil, that no author ever wants to do because it is downright annoying. What is it? A SYNOPSIS.

syn·op·sis  /səˈnäpsis/
Noun

1. A brief summary or general survey of something.
2. An outline of the plot of a play, film, or book.

They define it so simply and user-friendly on the internet. Unfortunately, every author that has ever been or want to be apart of the publishing world has written one or will write one at some point.

It's inevitable and it's going happen. 

Let's go through the checklist:
1.) Will it be fun? NO.
2.) It is easy? NO.
3.) Does involve lots of chocolate? HECK NO.

So why do publishers make us do it? There are a number of reasons. One of them is to check for plot holes in your story. Are there inconsistencies that need to be remedied? They ask questions like: Why does your character do this? How does the first part connect with the last? How does this particular scene aide in moving the plot forward? Whatever the reason they throw at you, they're not messing around. It may seem intrusive, or even downright blunt at times, but these are your publishers and they are here to help make your story the best it can be. Intrusiveness aside, they are both your best friend and worst enemy. 

So, it's 12pm and i'm sitting in my room, harmlessly typing a chapter for DB. I've been procrastinating the synopsis for a long time (Yes, MT, I was procrastinating all this time). MT is my publisher, btw. Finally got to the point where it was just time for me to wo-MAN up and do it. But before that, let's rewind to our checklist. It wasn't going to be fun, easy, or get me any closer to free chocolate, but I had to do it. 

It was time to write the synopsis!

I stared at the blinking line on my word document, wondering how I should start writing it. I had no idea. How do I fit 112,000 words onto two pages? Was it even possible? The first words I began writing was "There was a girl." How cliche was that? Completely unoriginal, but i said to myself Gem, just start writing! So I did. I just started typing the first paragraph and before I knew it I was on the second. After half a day wasted typing a few paragraphs and seamlessly jumping back and forth on internet tabs I had finished an entire first page. SUCCESS. I had finally hit a milestone in this writing journey. I had successfully completed the first page of my first synopsis. I felt like I was on top of the world. I stood up from the position I had been in for 5 hours and stretched. 

Few seconds later I got a message from my publisher "Almost done?" 

That's when I immediately jumped back onto the computer and furiously typed away at the second page. At 12:00am I finished typing my 2-page synopsis. It was done. I was done. It went over 1 paragraph, but at that point I didn't care because the nightmare was over. To be honest it feels like I exaggerated a bit on how excruciating I thought writing it was, but it certainly felt that way at the time. After you've written an entire book, every detail seems important and needs to be written into the synopsis, but it doesn't. Am I happy at how my first one turned out? No. What I am is satisfied, and that's all fine and good with me.

I'll probably--no, I WILL have to write one again eventually, but for now i'm proud, happy and a little fried that my first one is over with. Thanks for the push MT, I definitely needed it.

Till next time!