So my writing friend asked me for my synopsis. My what? I said. Of course I knew what a synopsis was, but I didn’t have one. I don’t write that way. Usually. But she said it would help her see the flaws in my book, and I definitely want to catch flaws before sending it out, so I gave it a shot.
Twelve pages later, I ask her how long a synopsis should be. I knew twelve pages was too long. Guess what? A synopsis should be ONE page, single-spaced! ONE! How the heck are you supposed to explain a 500-page novel in one page? I know it can be done, I’ve seen it done, the best blurbs on books do it, but without giving away the surprises. In a synopsis you have to tell those. But how do you do it?
So I got it down to ten pages, doing a chapter-by-chapter description of events. That was as far as I could cut it. I sent it to her.
She forgot how it feels, sending stuff out for the first time. She didn’t comment on my work, just e-mailed back an outline thing she uses to write her synopsis. I e-mailed her three times asking how she liked my story, then gave up. She’ll e-mail me before I get up, I know.
In the meantime I’ll just keep telling myself she loves the book through chapter 7, she can’t change her mind entirely on getting an overview of the next thirty. Can she?