Who am I, and why am I here?

Another question about Writing a Synopsis for a First Person POV novel.

My  heroine has amnesia. How do you start off your synopsis with the heroine’s flaw when she doesn’t remember anything about herself? Or do we just tell the reader anyway? (I’ve been trying to weave in my voice via the way the heroine would view things as they happen – which doesn’t work so well at the start when you’re trying to introduce her baggage and she doesn’t remember it!)

This is only a problem if you’re trying to write your synopsis in your character’s first person POV.

Don’t forget; a synopsis is you (the writer) telling someone else  (the industry professional) what has already happened (which means you know how it ends) to someone you know really well (the characters). So it doesn’t matter that your heroine has amnesia and can’t remember who she is. Well, it does, but only to her. It’s not her responsibility to remember or to tell about it. It’s yours.

A synopsis also doesn’t have to be presented in the same chronological order as the story. You don’t digress in the middle of your synopsis to dump a load of backstory about your characters. Actually, you shouldn’t do that in the novel either, but that’s another post. You present your heroine as a flawed character with a compelling need and you feed the necessary information as to how she got that way as soon as it’s appropriate to do so.

In a novel, you show the reader what happens. In a synopsis you tell the reader what has happened.

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A Question about Writing a Synopsis for a First Person POV novel.

What if a novel has only mild romantic elements? Do you still think the hero’s background/internal conflict should be given emphasis in the synopsis? What about if the novel is chick lit and therefore heavily first person POV?

Yes. Regardless of the intensity of the romantic element in a novel, the hero’s background and internal conflict need to come into the synopsis. But how much you put in depends on how that background or conflict affects the heroine. Same applies to anything written in first person.

Don’t forget that–whether the novel is first person POV (point of view) or not–the synopsis must be written in the third person. This is a good thing, because it enables you to present the way the hero’s/romantic interest’s conflict, actions, and reactions affect your heroine and her journey.

If you think you should write your synopsis in the first person to mimic the voice of your novel, the short answer is: don’t. Maintain your light (or dark!) voice by all means, but always present your synopsis in third person. The synopsis is not the story. The story is the story. The synopsis tells about the story.

You, the author, are synopsizing what happens, not re-living it as a character.

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Tags: POV, Synopsis

From time to time I’ll be giving away a compilation of posts–with updates and additions–as a Craft Report in .pdf format.

Due to popular demand the first one is “How To Write A Synopsis Without Turning Homicidal”. You’ll find the link in the right hand side bar under Special Give-Away, or you can click here.

This is for all who find themselves in a position of having to write a synopsis under pressure. It’s not only helpful after you write your book, but is also an excellent planning tool for plotting. It’s also a great way of creating the marketing documents your [potential] agent and editor will love.

The two things I ask in return:

1. DON’T give the pdf away yourself. Send people here to the site to download their own copy.
2. Please leave a comment about what you found MOST HELPFUL in the report.

I’m always happy to hear suggestions for improvement or where you need more enlightenment, so don’t be backward about saying.

Popularity: 39%

Part 8 of Finding Your Writing Passion

We’ve looked at our bookshelves, found our favorite genres, delved deeper into their subgenres, selected our top authors, and discussed what turns us on about heroines, heroes, and secondary characters.

You might not realize it, but if you’ve done the exercises you hold in your hands the basic ingredients of a magic formula that will help you write your next book with passion.

You know what you love and why you love it.

Now, let’s take what we’ve discovered about our favorite elements in what we read, and translate it into what we write.

Genre /Subgenre

Practical application:

In the beginning, anyway, write what you like to read.

By this I mean if you love reading urban fantasy, then don’t write inspirational—even if it’s the up and coming thing. Write urban fantasy. Life’s too short to write what you don’t enjoy. Write what you love to read.

Why?

• Because you’ll already have unconciously absorbed many of the conventions of the subgenre you love.
• You’ll be familiar with the language—if you don’t know what the ton is, chances are you don’t read Regency era romance, and this lack of familiarity will show to those who know.
• You’ll have a certain familiarity with the structure of stories in your chosen subgenre—even if it’s a subconscious one.

Favorite Authors

Practical application: How do they do it?

A few years ago I took Margie Lawson’s excellent Empowering Characters’ Emotions course online. Of course I applied it to my own work. But because I wanted to write a series, I also took a series that I loved– Nora Roberts’ Three Sisters Island trilogy: Dance Upon the Air, Heaven and Earth, and Face the Fire–and went through it using Margie’s EDITS system;

• color coding page after page for Emotion, Internalization etc
• writing in where the tension was
• analyzing how the author used dialogue to move the story along
• learning how much information Nora revealed to whom, and where
• absorbing how she used setting to enhance her characterization and plot
• getting a “feel” for her pacing

It was worth the effort.

Top Pick Characters

Practical application: Heroes

Take your current Work In Progress in one hand and the character trait lists you’ve written for your favorite heroes in the other hand.

Compare the hero in your current WIP with the heroes you know you love.

1. How does he measure up?
2. What traits on the list does he have?
3. Where does his character miss the boat?
4. Why have you avoided using a trait that appeals to you as a reader?
5. When (in your WIP) can you introduce the reader to one of these positive character traits in your hero? How?
6. Who (in your story) is going to bring out the positive and negative sides of these traits?

Practical application: Heroines

Repeat the above exercises for your heroine

Do your heroes and heroines tend to fall into certain personality types?

For more information on personality—and how to maximize conflict and tension between the types—have a look at:

• using Enneagrams
• the Myers-Briggs system

Practical application: Secondary Characters

Rinse and repeat the above exercises for your secondary characters.

Angels and Demons

Practical application: Strengths and Flaws

Choose three of your personal strengths (of course you have them!) and three of your personal weaknesses (oh yeah, them too!). Now, to each main character (hero, heroine, and villain) allocate one of those strengths, and one of those weaknesses. You can mix and match them for maximum effect.

Why are we doing this?

Because as a writer you need to identify with your characters and if they have one of your own traits you’ll subconsciously sympathize and identify with them on a deeper level. The result is more believable characters.

Your Turn…

This concludes the series How To Find Your Writing Passion. You now have the basic ingredients for your “Perfect Mix” or “Magic Formula”. From these beginnings you can create your own unique recipe for writing your next book with passion.

If you’ve made a wonderful discovery about your writing process and passion please leave a comment in the comments section below!

Popularity: 45%

Part 7 of Finding Your Writing Passion

I wouldn’t mind betting you’ve all read a book where you’ve thought, “Man, I really hope she writes [this character’s] story. I so want to know about him.” This happens to me all the time. In fact, you might remember I said that I first fell for Dageus MacKeltar when I read about him in his twin brother’s book. Guess what I did—before I even finished Drustan’s book? Yup. That’s right. I ordered Dageus’ story. Then Adam Black’s story.

And the list goes on.

A well-written and “human” secondary character will have you coming back for more of that author’s work every bit as much as a gripping main character will.

So, today’s first task.

In each of your chosen books name the three secondary characters who made the biggest impression on you.

IMPORTANT: I want you to name them if possible. DO NOT refer to the book. If you can’t name them (first and surnames) then a brief one-sentence description will do. “The guy who…”

In this instance, I’m lumping villains in with secondary characters—although really villains should have a section on their own.

For example, my top three secondary characters in Naked in Death are:

1. Mavis Freestone
2. Ryan Feeney
3. Charlotte Mira

Your Turn:

For each secondary character write a brief phrase that describes his or her place with or influence on the appropriate main character.

For example:  In Naked in Death all three characters I’ve chosen are those who have most influence on the heroine—which probably makes sense because most of the book is the heroine’s journey.

1. My descriptive phrase for Mavis Freestone would be: quirky streetsmart sidekick
2. My descriptive phrase for Ryan Feeney would be: fatherly mentor
3. My descriptive phrase for Charlotte Mira would be: voice of reason and guidance

Your Turn:

What are the three character traits that most appeal to you in these secondary characters?

Examples:

I love Mavis’ joy in life, her realistic view of Eve, and her quirkiness in all aspects of her personality. She’s a foil to Eve, who is so straight and contained. She sees Eve for who she is, her softer side–one Eve herself doesn’t recognize as even being there.

Ryan Feeney is the kind of mentor everyone needs; one who encourages, teaches, guides, and then stands back to allow the student to grow beyond him. I love that he is not threatened by Eve’s ability and is quite happy to take a secondary role in the investigation although he has seniority. He recognizes Eve’s genius and facilitates things so she is able to use it to maximum effect.

Charlotte Mira is the kind of woman I want to be when I grow up. Dr. Mira is calm, nurturing, wise, and highly skilled at her job. But, while Eve sees where she has come from, and Mavis and Feeney see where she is currently, Mira sees Eve as she can be, as she has the potential for becoming. This long view enables Mira to give wise counsel in her words and perceptive support in her silences.

Your Turn:

Why do these aspects of the secondary characters particularly strike or appeal to you?

Often, things strike or appeal because we see in [that character] something we would like to have, be, become, or avoid in our own lives.  We can also see how the author has used strengths in the secondary characters to stimulate, reveal, and strengthen weaknesses in the main character.

For example:  Mira’s has a strength in her ability to be comfortable with emotion, and has come to terms with her own difficult past. Eve has not yet reached the point where she is able to take those steps. So we see her weakness. But we also see, through her interaction with Mira, Mavis, and Feeney (and a host of other characters) that she has within her the will and the determination to never again be a victim, or allow someone else to become a victim. This is a strength. But would Eve’s determination to prevent injustice in others’ live have as much impact on us if she’d come from a “normal” home, and had a “normal” upbringing? I don’t think so.

Food for thought: We identify with flaws in personality far more readily than we do with strengths simply because we believe we have so many more flaws than strengths ourselves.

One last thing. I did this exercise for all eight books and discovered something I didn’t realize. Of all the secondary characters who stood out for me in those examples, only one was a villain.

Does that mean the authors didn’t do a good job portraying their villains? No. It means that the one villain who stood out for me was the one whose villainy triggered one of my personal phobias. This made his villainy far more real to me as a reader. Gave it more emotional clout.

Your Turn:

Are there any places where you can see some of your own personal demons being stirred up by what your chosen secondary characters do, or the way they relate to the hero or heroine?

Making it real in your own writing:

Do you use some of your own hope and fears in your characters personalities?

• If not, why not?
• If so, where? What are they?

Your Turn:

Take one secondary character in your current Work In Progress and give him or her one of your personal flaws or strengths. Now write a scene where that flaw comes to light in his relationship to the main character.

• How does it change how you view the secondary character?
• How does it change how the main character sees him or her?
• How can you use this scene and this flaw or strength to increase the power of this character?

I’d love to know what you’re discovering. Please do visit the comments section and let me know.

Popularity: 75%

Tags: Character, Secondary Characters, Writing Passion