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But I’ve been trying this new thing lately.
I’ve often heard writers talk about writing the synopsis before they write a single word of the manuscript. While this is something that never sounded particularly appealing to me (after all, synopsis writing = the tenth circle of hell Dante forgot to mention), I figured I’d try it out for a potential future WIP.
While I’m not currently done with this brainstorming/synopsis experiment, and it is absolutely more than a page (which I think is fine, considering this is the time to expand on ideas to turn into a book, not condense them), I’ve noticed a couple interesting things along the way.
Firstly, it’s been working surprisingly well as far as idea-generation goes. I’m a very linear writer—I tend to build up scenes and come up with ideas by working off of what I already know has happened—so writing a condensed, summary version of what I think will happen chronologically has definitely helped me come up with how to get from point A to point B, which is something I tend to struggle with while plotting.
Secondly, it is way easier to notice potential plot problems or places where I could tweak and expand when working on this summarized version. It’s actually kind of exciting, because I can look at the synopsis I have going and add a couple sentences a few pages back and voila! NEW PLOT THREAD. This synopsis brainstorming thing makes it so much easier to see macro issues and weave new plot threads in before I start writing, which will hopefully make revising easier in the future. I think.
All in all, the pre-draft synopsis has been a really fun experiment, and one that I’ll probably continue and do again in the future. And maybe, just maybe, having this early synopsis will make future synopsis writing a teensie bit less painful. Hey, I can dream, right?
Have you ever tried writing the synopsis before the first draft?
Twitter-sized bites:
Writer @Ava_Jae blogs about the pre-draft synopsis and how it can help with plotting. #writingtip (Click to tweet)
Have you ever written a synopsis before the first draft? Here's why you may want to consider it. (Click to tweet)
9 comments:
I'll have to try this method. What's worked for me in the past is to write a one paragraph summary of each chapter, then throw those together into one doc. Then I format it as a short story, usually about 20 pages. THen I cut that to 10 pages, then 5, then 3, then 2. Working backwards this way feels a lot less painful... I just cut what it least essential in each version.
Interesting! When I'm doing a normal synopsis (where I'm condensing a book rather than brainstorming) I use Susan Dennard's 1-Page Synopsis method. It's worked wonders for me in the past. :)
This is how I wrote TSOU's sequel, actually (heh), and it worked WORLDS better than trying to figure things out mid-draft. But, I have to say, I still have a lot of fun writing by the seat of my pants, too. Going by a synopsis sort of takes the thrill of the adventure out of the story, imo. At least part-ways, and then there's the problem with deviating from the summary when you have a REALLY SWELL IDEA and wondering how the heck you're going to loop the story back on-track with the synopsis. Sigh.
I wish I could o-e I might maybe write a good couple of start up sentences, but since I rarely ever know how things are going to go, I'd just stop less than two sentences in and give up.
I've yet to write a synopsis, even though my book is done. (Wellllll in the drafting process. The basic meat and bones is there, though). It's weird because I can certainly see my current story in the events, and I could map them out easily without adding superfluous stuff. What I struggle with is actually making that summary sound interesting >.>
Two words: snowflake method. You end up writing a one page synopsis as you are growing your novel from the one sentence idea you started with. I love it. All the planning becomes part of the novel writing process and seems meaningful. It's far easier to work up from a one page synopsis than it is to cram a written book onto one page
The way I look at my outlines/pre-plans, is they're less of a strict rule of what must happen and more like guidelines. There are so many times when I'm in the middle of writing a scene that I planned to go one way and it turns out ENTIRELY DIFFERENT from what I'd originally planned, and when that happens, I just go with it. Though sometimes, like you mentioned, you can get a really big plot-changing idea midway through and you just kind of have to work it in.
But pantsing! I haven't pantsed in a long time, but I definitely get that argument. I tend to combat the losing the thrill aspect by letting my characters do whatever they want once I start writing. I have a direction from the outline/synopsis/whatever and let the story go from there. :)
Post-draft synopses are ridiculously hard. Pretty sure they're actually a torture device in some countries. (No, not really, but they could be).
But yes, I'd imagine pre-draft synopses writing would be a little tougher for pantsers.
Snowflake method! You know, I haven't tried it (at least, not the exact step-by-step), but I totally see the logic behind it and I suppose what I did here is semi-similar. But I totally agree—working up is WAY easier than condensing down.
I haven't tried to do a synopsis prior to writing the book. I've tried it as an organizational sort of approach, with a novel I've spent too long screwing around with and too little time getting to the actual story, and I found it helpful in that regard. It's definitely a skill I should work on, synopsis writing.
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