Find a concept for your novel October 21, 2009

Concept
For my last novel and the one my mind is currently cooking up, I got the basic idea from quotes. Last time around, I found the following quote:

“We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.” ~ Blaise Pascal

I had spent some time around a friend who had once been a sniper, and he talked a lot about the secrecy and mental stress of the job. I then formed my novel around those two things. It’s called We Know the Truth and is currently with an agent. Here’s hoping!

Find the right quote
This time around (because of gearing up for NaNoWriMo), I went looking for the right quote again. My story begins with a girl who gets pregnant at seventeen and her mother is not impressed, to say the least. I specifically went in search of baby quotes and found a perfect quote that I can use part of as my title.

My basic concept is that the girl runs off to America with the aid of a rich man, but there are strings attached. Eventually she hears of her mother’s cancer and returns home to heal the relationship. This idea is still sorely lacking, though, because there is nothing to carry the story. I need a plot, a theme; novels based on daughters reuniting with their mothers don’t really sell in droves.

What if . . .
What if she falls for the older rich man? What if she still pines for her boyfriend? What if that boyfriend is a player? What if the child dies? What if she gives her up for adoption only to change her mind when the child is two because the father wants to marry her? What if the child is kidnapped? All these questions depend on which genre I want to write in, but no matter which one I choose, the reader must want to keep turning the pages to find out information.

What genre?
I could do some paranormal thing—she could discover a gift of mind reading and cause a lot of damage. Perhaps she gets into astral projection and visits her ex to torment him about impregnating her. I could make it a love story and a hunk of burning love shows up and she is in love in three days (although I hate the absurdness of that)l; I could take the suspense angle and have the child kidnapped, I could write Christian fiction and save them all in the process of love/suspense/paranormal activity.

What’s the goal?
So what if the child dies and the MC really loves kids and really wanted this baby once she was settled? What if the rich guy wants kids with her but she does not want them brought up by him? What if her biggest goal is to have kids and he is the chief antagonist to her having them? What if no publisher in the world will touch a novel with the chief goal of the protagonist being to have babies?

This, my friends, is the way a writer’s mind works. If you have any helpful suggestions that will turn me into a multi-millionaire, um, an inspiring writer, please let me know. In the meantime, see what you can come up with based on quotes you find.

All the best with your own search for a concept and plot-driven theme.

brainyquote.com
quotegarden.com
quotationspage.com
quoteland.com
thinkexist.com

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

How to find and list comparative fiction/non-fiction October 4, 2009

A good book proposal includes a comparative fiction/non-fiction search. This is the part of the proposal where you list a number of books that sound as if they might cover the same story line or theme of your book. Here’s how to find those books:

Scour the bookstore shelves
Go to the section where your future book will stand. (Mine would go in the inspirational romantic suspense section. Fortunately, there are only about twelve feet of that genre in our local store.) One by one, look at the book jacket blurbs of all the books there. If a book contains any of the main keywords your book is about, and it seems to cover the same things your book does, jot down the name of the book.

Once back on your computer, go to a large online bookstore like Amazon and do a search for each of the books on your list. Look at the blurbs again, and cut and paste (into a new Word doc) all of the outlines that are closest to yours, along with the name, author, publishing house and pub. date.

Search the main online bookstores
Amazon and Barnes and Noble are probably the most well known. If your book is about how to parent in love, search for groups of keywords like “love, parents, parenting, kids,” etc. Again, find the books that seem to be most like yours and add the descriptions to your Word doc.

Now you are ready to make your list. Narrow it down to just one Word page of similar books and write them like this (without the pictures).

COMPARATIVE CATEGORY FICTION (Romantic suspense, Christian)

• Dee Henderson, The Witness, Tyndale (2006). Amanda Griffin witnesses a multiple murder; Deputy Chief of Police Luke Granger befriends her. He fails to convince Amanda to come out of hiding, however. Three years later, Luke finds his interest in Amanda becoming more personal.

And The Guardian, (The O’Malley Series #2), Tyndale House Publishers, (2005). A judge has been gunned down, and someone wants to kill the only woman who saw the murder. Marcus’s heart gets a workout, too, as he finds himself charmed by the lovely speechwriter who witnessed the crime.

• Irene Hannon, An Eye for An Eye, (Heroes of Quantico #2), Revell; (September 1, 2009) FBI Hostage Rescue Team member has a chance encounter with an old flame, Emily Lawson. But their reunion is cut short by a sniper. Now Mark must find the shooter before he tries to strike again. Can Mark put the pieces together, keep Emily safe, and rekindle a long-dead relationship at the same time?

Although the closest in story line, We Know the Truth finds the male MC tormented between his choice to run from his wife’s discovery v. protect her life. This is the one relationship his heart will not let him cut the ties to.
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As you can see, I have added a comment under the second one to show how my novel is different. This is what the goal of your list is for—to show that you have come up with a new story line or new plot idea that is unlike anything else currently on the market.

When I did my own study, I was able to talk my husband into coming with me to the bookstore. It saved an aching arm and he found more comparative books than I did. I hope you can find some kind-hearted companion for your own search.

Good luck!

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM

 

 

Writing the synopsis September 24, 2009

A synopsis is a short summary of a novel, movie, play, etc. Apparently there is a huge benefit to doing this—you get to examine your story and see if there are any holes in the plot, any developmental lack in the main characters, or any unbelievable occurences throughout the story. For me, it’s as comforting as dissecting a (dead) cat and laying the parts on a gurney for inspection. I mean, come on, who wants to take a beautiful story and rip it into little scientific shreds?

Editors do.

Agents do.

Why?
Because they are busy people. They can see in the first three paragraphs if your writing is worthy of their time. If they like it, they can look at your summary/synopsis and decide in seconds if the story is worth reading. Some do it the other way around—they check out the storyline first and then look at your writing. Either way, they need that synopsis.

How long does it need to be?
It varies. Usually the submission guidelines will let you know exactly how long it needs to be. Some agents like it to be one page long and unspaced, others prefer the longer version of about five to six spaced pages.

How do I know if they want a synopsis at all?
Read the guidelines!

Where do I begin?
Skim through your novel and highlight all the important, key parts of the story. Then put them all together to see if you can tell the story on one page. Don’t worry about the subplots, they just make things more interesting. You are focusing on the two (or three) main characters because they rule the story you are trying to tell. Don’t worry about the sentence flow or grammar at the moment, just read it through to see if it includes all the key points. This will be your rough draft.

I’m already overwhelmed.
We all feel that way. You just have to grit your teeth and get on with it, though.

Here is a good list of more tips for writing the short version. (Ignore the “don’t give too much away” comment. The agents wants to know the whole thing. They just don’t need the smaller details. You’re giving the overview.)

And here are two great examples of what you’re going for.

Once you feel that you have nailed the key points, make the sentences flow and try and fit in a little of your voice. Sometimes, because you are limited to one page, the summary can sound stilted and boring. See if you can take out any more smaller details so that you can add in some suspense or humor to it.

N.B. DO NOT SEND IT IN until you feel that it covers exactly what you want to say, the way you want to say it. I know, I understand, you are excited; BUT if you can curb your enthusiasm a few more days until you are delighted with it, chances are, the agents/editors will be too.

The long synopsis
What? This is even worse than dissecting a cat! I couldn’t agree more, but like I said, grit your teeth, and get on with it. The long synopsis is going to be the long summary of your novel. It should fill about three pages before you double space it. Some evil people might even ask for a ten to fifteen page synopsis. . . . (Just pretend you didn’t see that.) What you’ll need to have in there for both MC 1 & 2 are:

1. Opening/intro/hook

2. Who are they, what do they want, what’s your promise to the reader

3. Main goal throughout the story, what kicks them into gear, flaws/fears in action

4. Internal and external tension, conflict, and POV (point of view)

—Keep developing the plot in each MC

—More conflict

—Some redeeming powers to overcome conflict (repeat these three ad nauseum as plot builds)

5. Darkest moment

6. Break free/wow moment

7. Wrap it all up

Here is a great example of a longer plot synopsis from My Book Therapy with the whys added in.

Lisa Gardner has some tips for writing an even longer synopsis.

And, as I’ve mentioned before, if you need a break to go and laugh about summarizing your novel, visit angry alien. Hopefully you will be refreshed and inspired upon viewing.

 

Every piece of writing needs to be clear and precise. With microscope in hand, Inksnatcher’s writing and editing service will hone any work until it glitters in the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. INKSNATCHER.COM