Writer's block on queries and synopses

[scarletpeaches]

I've had the first draft of something sitting here for a couple of months now and have only recently gotten enough distance from it to be able to edit. I now realise exactly what's wrong with it and how to 'tighten up' my first three chapters ready for submission (and while waiting for a reply the other thirty-odd will give me some work to do).

I'm having problems with the query letter and synopsis though. I have absolutely no clue where to start. I've looked back at my previous attempts and my letters and synopses have seemed short and well...rather dry. Which is good, because it means now I'm seeing the faults clearly.

I've looked through previous threads on synopses and the like but haven't quite found what I'm looking for. I guess what I'm asking for is a little help with starting it all off. How much do you have to 'sell' your novel in a synopsis or query letter? Do some agents want the bare facts, or is it acceptable to give it some welly, write it as if it were a jacket blurb? Should a synopsis read "On a dark and stormy night, Sally Smith experiences something so horrific her life will never be the same again," a la cinema voiceover, or more like, "One day, Sally Smith woke up and her legs fell off. She called her friend to take her to the hospital and X, Y Z happened, the end?"

The actual MS I'm working on is leaning towards chicklit, with strong elements of revenge. As I'm a naturally reserved person I'm nervous of sending it out the door at all, but I do want to get it right. I've had rejections on it before (and no wonder) but the more I work on the synopsis, I seem to get more favourable responses, even scribbled on back of the cover sheet mind you...but compliments none the less. Yet they still say no. Am I not selling myself enough? Or would it be the case in the publishing world that self praise is no recommendation?

I'm also unsure as to wordcounts for synopses. I've seen some that run to two thousand words, yet other people say no more than two pages. Is there a preference either way?

By the way, I live in Scotland, so I guess things may run slightly differently in the US but all advice is appreciated.

I guess I'm stuck as to whether to write a formal letter/synopsis or one that's more "You really need to take me on as a client, my book's the dog's bollocks" in tone.

God, this is hard.

[Danger Jane]

NOT THE "MY BOOK IS THE BEST THING EVER; TAKE ME ON". Definitely stay away from this.

I'd make it sound interesting, but not like a movie trailer. Then it'll come across as borderline cutesy and make you sound not-so-serious. There's a fine line...

Good job, though, that you keep submitting. You'll make it, I bet.

[zarch]

I feel your pain. I wrote what I thought was a marketable novel with funny, interesting characters and a good story, but I just kept getting rejections...just one request for a partial in my first twenty-five or so letters. I then decided to take a close look at my query and realized it was too...uh...boring, I think. I rewrote and rewrote and rewrote until I came up with something a little edgy but still professional. My first paragraph is a broad synopsis of the first fifty pages of the novel with a little cliff-hanger at the end of that paragraph. Also, I mention in my letter that my novel will appeal to fans of very famous writers.

I guess the goal is to pique the agent/publisher's interest and curiosity to the point where he/she absolutely must see more. And to be honest, I've learned that the line about "the business being very subjective blah blah blah" that agents like to use is quite true. My book focuses on a father-son relationship, so I assumed that mostly male agents would be interested. All requests for more material have come from female agents. Yeah, shows you what I know.

My advice: try to strike a balance between being professional and extremely confident in your work...but don't spill over into arrogance. I think if an agent senses any amount of self-doubt or unbridled egotism in a writer, he will pass on the work. Just my opinion. I could be wrong. Maybe agents love to work with self-doubters and huge egos. But I doubt it.

[maestrowork]

Start by writing a short summary of every chapter -- stick with the main characters and cut subplots. Just stay with the main plot. Synopses are written in 3rd person omniscient, present tense.

After you have the summary, rearrange them so you have a good flow (some chapters might be flashback or out of order or something). Then cut. Cut. Cut.

- cut useless adjectives and adverbs. Stick with specifics
- cut unnecessary details of the plot or character.
- keep it to "what happens next"
- but tie that to the emotional responses and actions of the main characters ("Jack feels betrayed, so he stabs Jane in the chest.")
- use strong words and nouns
- tell the ending!

[Katiba]

You definitely want to check out writers.net If you go to the forum on literary agents, you will see that many people post their queries there to get feedback on them. As people rewrite and revise, it's amazing to see how their queries improve. Many people then check back in and report getting numerous requests for manuscripts and even offers of representation.

Even if you don't feel comfortable posting your query, you will learn a lot from the feedback given to others.

[scarletpeaches]

Thanks to everyone for their advice!

I have dinner guests this evening so my query will be burning a hole in my desk 'til tomorrow. But I will nail it - I WILL! :D

[Saanen]

I went through this the other day and got lots of good advice. I know some publishers/agents want a full in-depth synopsis (mine runs 20 DS pages), but others want a very short synopsis. I got mine down to 1,000 words, but it's not easy. I feel your pain. :) I tried to keep some emotion tags in there (i.e. "Embarrassed by her reaction, Sally calls her sister to explain the mix-up"), but I had to keep them to a minimum. I didn't mention subplots, and named and focused on only the most important characters.

Enjoy your dinner guests--hopefully they'll fortify you for the long haul tomorrow! :)

[mschannon]

As you can see from the responses, there's no one right way. But you need to distinguish a query from a synopsis. A query is a sales pitch--short, one page if possible, that grabs their attention. You don't have to tell the whole story, you have to entice them into wanting to hear the whole story. Think of the the sales pitch of the back cover of a book.

A synopsis is completely different. Everything I've read says no sales pitch, no editorializing. You're telling the story as succinctly as you can while capturing whatever makes it intriguing. I have an article by Beth Anderson, "Writing the Tight (Bare Bones) Synopsis, presented at teh Autumn Author's Affair XIV. It's too long to cite here, but if you google her, I'm sure you can find it. I know I got it on line. I don't agree with everything she says, but it's helpful.

A bigger issue you need to think about--if you send a query or synopsis and the agent wants to see the entire manuscript, it sounds like you're hosed. Everyone I've ever talked to has told me that, for unpublished novelists, the entire book has to be done, edited, re-edited & re-edited before you send anything out. You can sell non-fiction with a proposal, but not fiction. So I'd finish the book first, then worry about the rest.

If other people have had other experiences, I'd love to hear.

[cwfgal]

I agree that you should first finish the book and have it as polished as you can get it. The urge to send out an unpolished ms when an agent requests it sooner than expected is a deadly but strong one. During the rewrite process, summarize whatever chapter you are working on in one sentence. By the time you get through the book you'll have the skeleton of a synopsis in those sentences and you can then rearrange, strengthen, and add where necessary.

Beth

[Arkie]

Did you ever see a movie that you couldn't wait to tell someone about. You sat down with a friend and said let me tell you about the movie I saw last night, and you describe the highpoints of the movie from beginning to end and the more you tell the more excited you become.

Take the mindset that your book is the best move you ever saw. Your best friend is an agent/publisher. Tell them about it just like they were sitting in front of you. That's a synopsis.

[reni]

The Zack Company (www.zackcompany.com (http://www.zackcompany.com)) out of New York has a sample query letter on its web site with a breakdown of the important information to include and why. Of course, not all agencies are the same, nor do they all want the same things. But it's a place to start.

[JerseyGirl1962]

A synopsis is completely different. Everything I've read says no sales pitch, no editorializing. You're telling the story as succinctly as you can while capturing whatever makes it intriguing. I have an article by Beth Anderson, "Writing the Tight (Bare Bones) Synopsis, presented at teh Autumn Author's Affair XIV. It's too long to cite here, but if you google her, I'm sure you can find it. I know I got it on line. I don't agree with everything she says, but it's helpful.

This is the way I went with my now current WIP (I put my prior one aside, because it's too messed up at this point - but I'm not giving up on it).

I started out with the big/main roadblocks or action points, then went to the finer details, etc. Instead of going all over the place as I did in my prior WIP, I had a concrete structure to work with. This is much better for me, as it took me about 20 days, give or take, to finish the 1st draft (in long hand; can you say writer's cramp? ;)). I'm now working on the 1st rewrite and will do at least one more before submitting to a critique group.

As Beth Anderson says on her website, some of the details going from main action point to main action point may change by the time you actually write the story. They have for this story, but the main action points are still intact.

I think the link above in mschannon's post is a good place to start. As for queries, I haven't gotten to that point yet, so I'm not going to worry about it right now.

And as others have said, make sure your manuscript is completed. I've read so many things on these boards that emphasize that. And since a lot of those people are published (as opposed to me), I'll take their advice over whatever I may think anytime.

Good luck! :D

~Nancy