Make Your Book Notable

The New York Times has posted their list of the 100 Notable Books of 2007. The list will run in their December 2nd issue, but you can read it online now.

Whether you agree with the decisions of the New York Times or not, it’s worth a look. The books are broken down into two categories: Fiction & Poetry and Nonfiction. For writers, the list is a great reference source.

Here is one way you might want to peruse the list:
Start by doing what we all do – run through the list to see if you’ve read any of the choices. Then be happy that you have and agree with their choice, or disappointed because they didn’t list your favorites.

Now, go back through the list and read through the one sentence description. Make note of the ones that catch your attention. Could you describe your book in such a way that it would entice someone else to stop and pay attention? Maybe copy and paste your favorites into a document so you can analyze what caught your eye.

Of those that you noted, click on the title and go see the original review of the book. Could you envision someone writing such a review of your book? Does your book have the depth and layers that would get a reviewer to read it or an agent to look at it? Could you write such a review of your book? Of the top reviews on the list that you read, could you take each and extrapolate enough to create a short synopsis of the book? Try it as an exercise in writing a one-page synopsis of a book, then write a synopsis for your book.

Now, go back and look closely at all of the titles on the list. Which ones intrigue you? Why? Do they give you any ideas for your own titles? Do you like short snappy titles? Longer, more involved titles? Do you prefer the ones that tell you exactly what the book will be about? Or do you like the ones that you know you’ll have to read the book in order to figure them out? What about your own title for your book? Why did you choose it? Do you think it will make a bookstore browser pick it up, buy it?

After reading titles, one sentence write-ups, and the longer reviews of your favorites, narrow your choices down to two or three. Then go read those books.

Doesn’t matter whether you live in New York or not or whether you’ve ever read the New York Times, as a writer, you can use this list to improve your own writing.

The Synopsis as a Class

Happy Memorial Day everyone. Thank you to all service men and women, past and present, who have served this country so valiantly.

I’m back from College Station. Had a good time at the Brazos Writers’ conference. One of the benefits of attending a conference is getting to meet other writers. All the members of the Brazos Writers group weren’t at the conference of course, but I met the ones who were – and they were enthusiastic and fun. I had about 40 people in my workshop and they, also, were enthusiastic. Great questions, interesting comments. And like any conference, those people who “work” the conference, setting up tables and chairs, readying the lunch and snacks, manning the book table, doing the nametags, work hard and are often not thanked. So, thank you to all the members of the Brazos Writers for asking me to speak and for making it a great conference and thank you to all the attendees for making it a great workshop.

I’ve done this workshop on The Synopsis: Four Steps the Ultimate SALES Tool before and each time I wish I had more time. I can present all the information in three hours and have time for Q and A, but it would be nice to have more time for individual and partner writing and more time for sharing and discussing the exercises. I could easily see this as a three or four week class.

Don’t know how many takers I’d get. The synopsis is usually a subject writers try to avoid. After this past weekend, I hope that’s not true for the people who came to the workshop.

Resources for Writers

I’m teaching a workshop, The Synopsis: Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool, this weekend in College Station, so, I’ve been reviewing my notes and getting ready.

I decided to add a handout of resources for writers. That means going through my books on writing and also finding sites about agents and writing. I used to maintain a website of over 50 pages. A lot of those pages housed the archives for my e-newsletter, Doing It Write. About seven or eight of the pages were links. When I re-did my website, I cut those pages out. Going from over 50 pages to about eight pages sure made the site more manageable. It also meant that before I put some of those sites onto a resource list, I had to check to make sure they were still viable.

Even when I still had the links on my website, they were constantly changing. Sites disappear, URLs change – most of the time I didn’t know a link was broken unless someone emailed me. I definitely appreciated it when visitors to the site let me know. I had literally hundreds of links, too many to keep up with.

So far I’ve got about three pages of resource sites, as well as books. I’ll need to quit tonight, print it out and take it to Kinko’s in order to make copies to take with me on Friday. The other handouts have already been sent to Mark Troy at Brazos Writers to be put into attendees’ packets.

Then, hopefully, I’m all set to teach the workshop. Yea! Who wouldn’t be excited about three hours talking about writing the synopsis and using it as a selling tool for your book?

Cutting Characters

As I work on more synopses from students in last month’s The Synopsis: Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool, I’m coming across writers having a common problem. Their books are so full of interesting characters, each with their own story, and interweaving story lines, they’re having trouble cutting the story down to one or two pages. The synopsis will sound almost like a laundry list of characters and so many story lines, you can’t understand it all.

Of course you can’t! If you take 300 or 400 pages and condense it into two pages, you’ve got to kill characters and story lines. For such a short synopsis, focus on the protagonist, the opponent or antagonist, the main story line (protagonist’s problem), and one or two supporting characters. To get just this much in while making it read like a mini-me of your book both in story and voice, that’s all you’ll have room for.

And don’t forget to tell the ending. You don’t tell the ending in the query letter, but you DO in the synopsis.

Synopses

Last month I taught a workshop called “Writing the Synopsis: Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool” for the North Texas Professional Writers Association (and I’ll be teaching it again next month for the Brazos Writers’ This Business of Writing Conference). Attendees to the workshop in Bedford could send me their up-to-3-page synopsis and I would look at it for them. I’m starting to get some of them now.

Writers tend to dread writing a synopsis. When they do write one, it often reads like a dry piece of toast. No flavor. It’s a listing of events that take place in the story. Even a book that’s exciting and a real page-turner can seem drab and lifeless if only the major events are presented like a paragraphed grocery list in the synopsis.

I can tell that the people sending me their synopses paid attention in class. They’re working to make the synopsis read like a “mini me” of their book. Put flavor into your synopsis. The voice of your synopsis should be the same as the voice of your book. An agent or editor should be able to read the synopsis and know exactly how the book will sound.

There is so much that goes into producing a “good” synopsis, but if there’s one key element it’s the voice of the synopsis.

Synopsis Workshop in College Station

For those struggling with writing a synopsis for your book, I’ll be teaching my workshop, The Synopsis: Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool, again next month. I’ll be at the Brazos Writers This Business of Writing 2007 Mini-Conference in College Station, Texas.

The workshop will take you step by step through your synopsis -- how to make the process less intimidating, what to put in the synopsis, and how to use the synopsis as a selling tool. The odds are that sooner or later you’re going to have to write a synopsis. By learning the tools, you’ll feel more comfortable with writing a synopsis -- whatever length an agent or editor asks for – and using it to create your query letter copy ad and your pitch.

Also at the conference will be Mike Farris and Susan Morgan Farris of The Farris Literary Agency. There will be a reception Friday night then the conference on Saturday.

So if you missed the workshop last month, join me in College Station May 25th and 26th.

Synopsis Workshop

I’m back in Austin after driving up to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to lead a workshop at the North Texas Professional Writers’ Association’s mini-conference. Had a great time.

Friday afternoon started off with Doris Lakey, president of the NTPWA, taking me to see her office. Via email, she had been describing it to me. I was anxious to see if it lived up to what I envisioned in my mind. It did. Big room, lots of windows for light, ample flat desk space, storage galore, and personalized with all kinds of pictures and mementos.

Later, the NTPWA Board took me out to dinner. It was an opportunity to sit and talk and get to know each other. The NTPWA is a group focused on their work and careers. You have to apply to join. And judging by everyone I met at dinner and at the conference, a great group of writers.

Saturday morning I was first on the line-up. Had a full room of writers, from beginners to multi-published authors. All of them with great questions and a few with really wild imaginations. Everyone was eager to participate. My topic was The Synopsis: Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool. We discussed the basics of writing a synopsis, took time to do some work on synopses, then moved into ways to use the synopsis to promote and sell your manuscript.

I had two and a half hours, but this could be a full day workshop, easy. The time goes by quickly, especially with such a fun topic. And everybody knows what fun writing a synopsis can be! If you don’t, then come the next time I teach this workshop – in May for the Brazos Writers in College Station.

The Synopsis: Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool

It’s interesting how much time it takes to prepare to lead a workshop, even one you’ve done before.

You have to research to make sure you’re up-to-date on your information. You try to get new examples to share with the attendees. All of that, of course, causes changes in your handouts so those have to be re-worked then printed out.

For the workshop on writing the synopsis that I’ve been preparing to lead at the North Texas Professional Writers Association this weekend, the examples include different books, so I’ve been going through some of my novels. That takes a while, especially since my books have been in flux, what with a lot of them still boxed up in the storage room, and others scattered or hidden away while we’ve been building the bookcase in my office closet. Then there are current magazines and publishers’ catalogs to gather.

Plus, I did a new evaluation form to hand out. I like to have feedback so I know what to change or work on, and so I get an idea of what writers are looking for when they attend a workshop, such as topics and participation.

I’ve been doing something just about every day for the last month. Of course, it gets more intense as the workshop date gets closer. Today I ran to Kinko’s and made copies of the handouts. Wouldn’t you know it – I forgot to copy the evaluation form. Guess I’ll do that here.

And of course, when you’re going to be talking for two to three hours, you have to practice. Every time I do that, I change things around, which means changing my talking notes. I’ve printed out my notes for the last time today – maybe. I put it into a bigger font so I won’t have to squint at it. Hopefully, I won’t have to look at it too often, since I have no idea if I’ll have a table or lectern.

Even though it takes a lot of work to prepare for a workshop, I always look forward to leading one. It’s fun to meet writers, hear what they’re doing and what questions they have, and hopefully make new friends.

If you’re coming to the workshop this Saturday, I’ll see you there!

Websites and Workshops

This week has been really frustrating for me. Over the weekend I lost email, then yesterday, my website disappeared. I’ve tried everything I know how to do to bring it back up. If I knew how to delete the current site and put up a new one, I’d do that. My next choice is to change hosts to one that has tech support.

So, the last couple of days have been consumed with reading Dummies books and manuals, searching Help, and banging my forehead on the keyboard.

Isn’t it amazing how we can get distracted from what needs to be done? My to-do list has gone by the wayside. And I’ve got nothing to show for it.

I think I have to set the website aside for today, let my boil drop to a simmer, and work on other projects.

I’ve heard from some of you that you had trouble finding out more about the workshop, The Synopsis: Four Steps to the Ultimate SALES Tool, I’m doing in Bedford (near Dallas/Ft.Worth) on March 24. Apparently the link I gave proved troublesome for some folks. If you’re having a problem, go to the North Texas Professional Writers Association home page (http://www.ntpwa.org) and click “visitors.” That’ll take you to the page about my workshop.

For those of you who live more toward southeast Texas, it looks like I’ll be doing the Synopsis workshop in College Station in May. I’ll give details about that when it becomes definite.

And if you’re knowledgeable in Dreamweaver, email me. Oh wait, I can’t get email, at least not through my domain. Email me at mermaidhel@gmail.com. But you’ll have to speak English. I went to the Dreamweaver Forum and discovered that I don’t speak tech and they guys there are so advanced they don’t speak bumbler.

Editing Your Manuscript: Stages 4-6

To recap: We’ve covered the first four stages of editing your manuscript –

• Stage 1: Put it aside
• Stage 2: Edit by steps, not marathons
• Stage 3: Let your baby go

On to Stages 4, 5 & 6:

• Stage 4: Re-write some more
• Stage 5: Read it aloud
• Stage 6: Synopsize

Stage 4: Re-write some more

Once you have all the comments, both written and oral, from your readers, work on the manuscript some more. Spend some time thinking about what your group has said and how you can incorporate their ideas and suggestions. Once you’ve decided what to change (and what not to change) and how to work those changes into the manuscript, then sit down and do the work. If you’ve thought it out ahead of time and even worked out the logistics of how to make the changes and have those changes flow smoothly, the work will be not only easy but fun (by fun, I mean enjoyable as you see the improvements you’re making).

If, after another draft, you feel you've made major changes in the manuscript, consider sending it back through your group or onto new, fresh readers.

Stage 5: Read it aloud.

Try reading your manuscript aloud. Either to yourself to get the flow of the dialogue and the pacing -- or onto tapes so you can play it back while you take notes.

If you tape the book, maybe you could give the tapes to a trusted friend or reader and ask them to comment on the flow and pacing, characterization, all those things you've labored over during the re-write.

Stage 6: Synopsize.

Write a logline -- condense the essence of your manuscript down to 20 or 25 words. Can you do it? If not, then spend some time thinking of the theme or major turning point of your book. Once the logline is done, expand it into a one-page summary. Then expand that into a three-page synopsis. Not only is this a good thing to do in terms of being ready to query the book -- agents often ask for a synopsis - it forces you to know the skeleton, the backbone, of your story. I put this as Stage 6, but it works just as well as Stage 2, before you begin the major re-write.