Non Fiction

The Dreaded Synopsis

by

Barbara Karmazin

Show me a writer who enjoys writing a synopsis and you will have shown me a certified masochist. Writing a synopsis is one of the most excruciating ways to torture yourself.

I HATE writing a synopsis.

Okay, now that I've gotten that off my chest. Here's my short and sweet checklist for writing one. For SF/Fantasy, substitute the words, hero/alien for Hero/Heroine.


The Character-Based Synopsis is a great approach for a synopsis. Any editor who is biased toward character will favor this type of outline/synopsis.

The Character-Based Synopsis

STEP #1 THE HOOK: Either a unique opening line in the first character sketch, (a bold opening to the heroine/hero), or a snappy, humorous opening line over viewing the book's premise.

STEP #2 INTERNAL CONFLICT: Two paragraphs, one of the heroine, one for the hero, describing their relevant back story and the key internal conflict they must overcome. You want to focus a bit on the layers here, the past marriages, relationships with parents, or pivotal trauma that has molded your character and made her/him who she/he is. This internal conflict will be overcome in a black moment, when your character realizes her/his weakness and fears & leaves them behind in the name of love.

STEP #3 EXTERNAL CONFLICT. One paragraph, usually the set up that brings the hero and heroine together and establishes the external conflict blocking their way. It could be the hit men trying to kill them, a planet to save from extermination by another species, a murder to solve, brother's name to clear, serial killer ex-husband, etc.

STEP #4 HERO & HEROINE WORK TOGETHER. First plot point is usually the one that makes the hero & heroine temporarily overlook their differences and work together.

STEP # 5 INTIMACY The forced contact of working together, and of course, raging attraction, make the hero/heroine succumb to physical intimacy, whether it be the first kiss, or making love, whatever suits you at this point.

STEP #5 THE MORNING AFTER Hero/heroine promptly remember all their fears, fall back on their INTERNAL CONFLICT and reject each other.

STEP #6 HERO/HEROINE WORK TOGETHER AGAIN. This PLOT POINT normally brings them back together again. (Court case, space pirates, alien invasion, eviction proceedings, missing person, murder, whatever monkey wrench you want to toss into the story at this point.)

STEP #7 is the SHOWDOWN/BLACK MOMENT This is the PLOT POINT/ TURNING POINT where you need a big showdown to bring everything up to a high tension level.

STEP # 8 is the RESOLUTION. The bad guys are now revealed/caught. The situation changes and is reversed. The Hero/Heroine are reunited. The advantage of this type of story outline is that it uses the external conflict to develop your characters' relationship with each other. It also focuses on the layers of your characters and their journey to self-realization.


The PLOT BASED Synopsis is used for those publishers who prefer Action/Adventure instead of character interaction. It focuses on the plot and the antagonist in the story.

The PLOT BASED Synopsis

IDENTIFY A THEME: Especially if you have a big novel with a cast of a thousand characters, subplots and conflicts.

Trusting
Bonding
Facing the Past
Finding yourself
Adapting to adversity
Growing up

Finding a theme and sticking to it helps you reduce the book down to a three-page summary. It eliminates the 'laundry list' syndrome where every scene is given one sentence.

STAY FOCUSED: KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid)

The trick is to focus on the key plot points and turning points of the book. NOT the secondary plots and characters.

STEP #1.) THE HOOK: Use your opening paragraph/line to grab the editor's attention, then back up and cover the story. Then you want a quick, tight overview of the hero, heroine and conflict. If the editors don't know what your book is about by the fourth paragraph, you're in trouble.

START BOLD: For instance: If you write LANCE GOLDFOOT was a six foot four space engineer with blond hair and blue eyes...it gives you a bare bones, ho-hum description that puts the publisher to sleep. Yawn, yawn. zzzzzzz.

This Example:

LANCE GOLDFOOT knew he had only one chance to catch the wormhole, if he missed, he and his ship would become another batch of random particles skipping off the rings of Saturn has a bit more of a zing to it.

STEP #2.) HEROINE/ALIEN INTRO: Describe the heroine or alien, focus on the personality. List primary goals and motivations. For instance in DOWN CAME A BLACKBIRD, my heroine's intro is as follows:

CAIT O' KEEFE's mother is human and her father is Sidhe. Her sisterline is the last remnant of a once proud and populous people. How do you make friends and find suitable mates when most humans believe the Sidhe are imaginary creatures from old folk tales? And how do you explain to prospective mates that Sidhe culture expects every woman to have at least two husbands?

Her people don't hide under shamrocks and they don't have gauzy wings. They exist! And, at five foot eight, Cait hardly qualifies as a "wee person". Strong empathic senses are NOT magic powers and annual tetanus shots eliminate the need to avoid contact with "cold iron."

STEP #3.) HERO INTRO: State who the hero is now, his primary goal and motivation.

For instance: LANCE was once a brilliant nuclear physicist. Now he's a drunk trying to keep his derelict ship together with spit and prayers.

Of course in my book, I had two heroes, so I had to write two Hero Intros as follows:

The solar wing flight instructor for the expedition is EDELMIRO JESUS SANTIAGO DE ARROYO (INDIO). He's also an undercover agent whose terrible facial scars give him the appearance of a hardened criminal. Betrayed by a previous wife who tried to rob him blind, he conceals his emotions behind an abrupt demeanor.

TAMERLANE JEHU BARNETT (TINY) is the owner/creator of Tiny's Emporium on Sanctuary Station. Hardly anyone knows his real name and he likes it that way because Tiny sure beats the hell out of Tammy for a nickname. A black ex-Navy SEAL and explosives expert, Tiny is also Indio's undercover teammate. He hopes to mount a low-key courtship of Cait. But when Indio hooks up with her, Tiny finds himself in a win/lose situation between his best friend and the woman he wants to court.

STEP #4.) VILLIAN INTRO: State who the antagonist is, his/her/its primary goal and motivation.

Example: SLAN SOLO is a cyborg. He hates flesh-borns and wants to transform the universe into a vast cyborg interface.

STEP #5.) SET UP/PLOT POINT ONE: INTERNAL CONFLICT: Show the first encounter/meeting of Heroine & Hero., Alien & Heroine, or Alien & Hero.

STEP #6.) PLOT POINT TWO: EXTERNAL CONFLICT: Show the first conflict/dangerous event that separates/confuses/imprisons your main characters.

Examples:
A meteor disables the space station.
Pirates attack the space station.
Aliens appear on the horizon.
Heroine/hero discovers alien artifact.

STEP#7.) PLOT POINT THREE: Show what changes as a result of the first conflict.

Examples: The heroine is wounded or disappears into a space warp.
The alien/hero is the only survivor on the doomed space station as it spins wildly out of control towards the Moon.

STEP #8.) TURNING POINT ONE: Show what the heroine/hero/alien does as a result of the danger/conflict.

Example: Heroine/Hero/Alien jury rigs a catapult to throw parts of the space station away and uses the three basic laws of motion to move the station into a slightly different orbit.

STEP #9.) PLOT POINT FOUR: Bring the heroine/hero/alien back together again.

STEP #10.) PLOT POINT FIVE: Show the antagonist's next move. This plot point may also be a second catastrophic event like a power failure at a crucial moment.

STEP # 11.) TURNING POINT: The SHOWDOWN/BLACK MOMENT/FINAL CONFLICT where you bring the tension to its highest tension level.

STEP #12.) THE RESOLUTION: Stop/destroy/change the antagonist.

Examples:
LANCE sends his opponent into a Black Hole.
DAISY MAE uses her genetic engineering skills to alter the alien retro-virus into a benign symbiote.

STEP #13.) STATE A STRONG ENDING: Wrap up all the loose strings. Bring it back to a full circle. Don't say ... and they lived happily ever after.

Examples:
DAISY MAE finally learns how to trust herself.
LANCE decides that aliens aren't so bad after all.

§

I hope these step-by-step outlines help you understand the process of Writing the Character-Based and Plot-Based Synopsis.


Author Bio and Publisher Information:

Barbara Karmazin graduated from Penn State University in 1973 with a BA in Social Welfare and a minor in Spanish. Soon afterwards, she began working as a bilingual social worker for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.

She started writing Erotic Science Fiction in 1990. She incorporates a unique blend of on the job experience and multicultural knowledge for her novels and short stories.

Her first short story was published in 1997 with Hadrosaur Tales, a print SF magazine in New Mexico. Hadrosaur Tales published two more of short stories within the next two years.

Her first book, Down Came a Blackbird, was published 2001 by Atlantic Bridge Publishing www.atlanticbridge.net. Her second book, Covenants, the prequel to Down Came a Blackbird, debuted October 2003, with Atlantic Bridge Publishing.

Book number three, The Huntress, debuted 02/14/04 at Liquid Silver Books, www.liquidsilverbooks.com. Liquid Silver Books is the Erotica Imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing.

On 06/25/05, after twenty-nine and a half years of work as a bilingual social worker, Ms. Karmazin took early retirement in order to write full time. Her fourth book, Out of The Dark, the sequel to Blackbird, debuted 08/2004 with Liquid Silver Books. Book number five, On The Edge of Time, debuted with Loose Id Books, www.loose-id.com September 2004.

Christmas Noir, which debuted 12/01/04 in their Christmas Anthology entitled RATED: X-MAS. Christmas Noir features a hermaphrodite as its lead character. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun debuted 08/2005 at Loose id and this story takes two women into an Alternate Earth Reality adventure.

Flare Zone an Erotic SF Vampire story set on a space station debuted in the Fang's Anthology debuted 10/2006 at Loose Id. Hot Zone, her second SF/Vampire story for Loose Id debuted 01/2007. And, her most recent Loose Id novel is Night Moves, an Erotic Urban Fantasy that debuted 02/2007.

Free excerpts for all of Ms. Karmazin's books can be found at her website at www.sff.net/people/selkiewife. There is also a link at Ms. Karmazin's website to her Sensuous Alien newsletter that features free fiction, humor and author spotlights and excerpts.