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Yes, I have finished the synopsis I was asked to write and am now working on my three sample chapters for the possible new series.

Well, “finished” is maybe too strong of a word…considering the synopsis is 21 pages long and needs to be 8. (I’d thought they wanted a short synopsis, but they need a longer one. Not, however, 21 pages long.)

I think it would take me longer to write a short synopsis. I’d obsess over what was going into it too much. Just like Twain said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

Good things about writing synopses

• Planning ahead
• Seeing how the story all fits together
• Finding weaknesses in the story before starting
• Knowing exactly where the story is heading.
• Discovering plot holes.
• Having fewer things to work out later—names, clues, red herrings, and the murderer’s identity are all included in the synopsis.

Bad things about writing synopses

• Planning ahead
• The time it takes—about 4 hours to write a complete synopsis (at least, this is as long as it took me)
• Feeling like I’m writing to an outline, which saps a little of the creative mojo. Feels like writing-by-numbers.
• Looking back and forth from my synopsis to my manuscript as I write. “Now, what did I say I was going to write here…?”
• Not having the story surprise me as I go. It feels more calculated.

Will I do this again? I’m sure I will—many editors want a synopsis before giving the go-ahead on a book or new series. Will I choose to do this again when I don’t have to? I’m not so sure. I might do it on a much smaller scale.

How about you? Which side of the fence are you on?

When I was a younger mom, I ruined several loads of laundry by forgetting to check my pockets before tossing my stuff in the washing machine.

Now I’ve gotten used to the drill of checking those pockets out.

There’s always stuff in them because when I vacuum I pick up marbles, Barbie shoes, crayons, Nerf bullets, and small metal objects off the floor and shove them in my pockets so I can continue vacuuming and won’t totally destroy the appliance (which has also happened before.)

At the end of the day, all kinds of craziness is in my pockets.

When I’m working on a first draft I just keep on going, too. The computer equivalent of my pockets is Word’s highlighting function. I just select the problem area.

Then I just keep on going.

What are the Barbie shoes and Nerf bullets in my manuscript?

Facts that I’m not sure of and need to research.

Character last names that I haven’t made up yet (I do *** for those)

Something that seems out of character

A setting that needs more of an in-depth description

Something I’ve realized isn’t in sequential place in the story

A continuity error I’ve noticed

When I’ve somehow lapsed into passive voice

Too many/too few dialogue tags

Bad transitions

Rambling

Boring. Lack of conflict.

The nice thing about the highlighting function, is that you can choose a different color for different things you need to correct. Or you can use Word’s Track Changes function to make comments to yourself in the margins.

What things do you put in your pocket for later as you write? Or do you jump in and make corrections while it’s on your mind?

Yesterday I couldn’t seem to get anything done. My focus was completely shot.

And…naturally…I’m under a deadline. A couple of them, actually.

I’d start working on my synopsis and the phone would ring. I’d start working again and the dishwasher would stop running. I’d try again and the dryer buzzer would go off.

Then I realized I needed to send an email before I forgot. Suddenly, a bunch of messages popped up for me on Twitter. And another email popped up. And…

I decided to run away from home. To a place with no Wi-Fi. And no appliances.

Finding a place with no Wi-Fi or available connections is getting more and more difficult.

It was 10:00 in the morning and if I went to my usual coffeehouses, I’d have Wi-Fi access. There would also be people I knew there that would talk with me (ordinarily not a bad thing, but bad on a day when I needed to get 2 1/2 hours of work done.)

I live in a small town that’s a suburb of Charlotte, NC. But to get to a spot where I’d have no hope of jumping on a Wi-Fi or seeing someone I know, I was going to have to drive.

Over the railroad tracks, out into the country.

Past silos.

Past fields.

And…fortunately, this wasn’t too far away. Because I do have kids to get from the bus stop at 2:00.

There was a restaurant that claimed to have “family style cooking.” I pulled up. I checked my cell phone and it did still have a signal (good, since I needed to be in touch if my children’s schools called me.)

I checked my laptop in the parking lot. Nope. No connection. What’s more, there was no possible available Wi-Fi connection listed anywhere. Perfect!

I walked in and the restaurant was full of retired people and blue collar workers eating breakfast before heading to the next job. I knew no one there! Perfect!

The wall next to my booth had a black and white picture of an old man on a tractor. I’m writing a rural setting. Even more perfect!!

A waitress was singing to the 60s music that was playing. If the waitress was happy then I could loiter for a while. That was perfect, too!

I wanted eggs and toast and coffee. But this place is so small they only offered 3 things for breakfast each day. But I could have coffee and an omelet. I placed my order. Perfect!

I opened up my internet-ridded computer and started working. I looked up. People were staring at me. This meant I had to keep looking down at my computer…and my words….so I wouldn’t notice the odd looks I was getting. That worked…perfectly!

“Would you like more coffee?”

Why yes! Yes, I would.

45 minutes after getting there, the people who were in the restaurant when I walked in the door were still there. Even better—I wasn’t the only one lingering. These people had nothing else to do with their day. Perfect!

Two hours later and I’d finished all the writing I needed to get done. There were absolutely no interruptions besides someone occasionally asking if I’d like more coffee. There was no laundry to tend to. There was no one to talk to.

It was drastic, but it worked. Perfectly.

How do you get back on-track when your writing day is derailed?

Mystery writer and blogger Jean Henry Mead ran an interview Saturday with thriller writer Chris Grabenstein.

The entire interview was interesting (this is a guy who used to write for the Muppet Show…and I loved that show as a kid. And he’s written copy with James Patterson, back in the day.) but the snippet I’m pulling out below is something I thought was most interesting:

Keep writing every day. And–this was the hardest advice I was ever given–decide whether you want to be a writer or to write the one book you have written and keep rewriting because you know it will be a best seller just as soon as people stop rejecting it. To be a writer means becoming someone who is constantly writing something new, not constantly reworking the same idea until someone buys it. Eventually, you need to put that first book away and move on to the second or third. Tilt a Whirl, my “first” book, was my fourth manuscript.

When I read this, I almost started clapping. Because I think some writers are so in love with one particular manuscript that they can’t move past it.

When the manuscript gets rejected, they revise it. They rework it and send it back out again. If it continues getting rejected, some writers will either continue reworking it and sending it out, or else give up completely.

That’s not to say that you should give up on this manuscript. You could continue revising and submitting it, but work on something else in the meantime.

A writer writes. It’s the most important part. If you’re using the past tense “I’ve written a book,” then you’re not continuing the process.

The second book might be even better. The second book might be just what the market needs at that particular time.

If you had one book in you, you’ve got another.

I know an author who put everything into one book. And it was a good book. After a lot of hard work, the book was actually even published by a well-known publisher. The sales were disappointing for the book, though, and the author was so discouraged that she decided to stop writing.

I just hated that. It is your choice to stop writing, but if you know you have talent, keep trying.

Try writing different types of books.

But keep stretching and challenging yourself. Keep writing.

Don’t pin it all on the one manuscript or book.

Did you read the recent story about Keith Richards?

It wasn’t anything scandalous this time. No inappropriate behavior.

It was the fact that he’d always had a secret longing to be a librarian (see this Times UK article. )

The article reveals a whole other facet to Keith Richards that I hadn’t realized existed. Actually, I found this article much more surprising than his hospitalization in 2006 when he fell from a coconut tree in Fiji.

He has thousands of books in his homes in Sussex and Connecticut and considered professional training to learn to manage those libraries.

According to the article:

In his autobiography, Life, due to be published in October, Richards will reveal how, as a child growing up in the post-war-austerity of 1950s London, he found refuge in books before he discovered the blues.

There are hidden depths to every person, though. Old dreams, new dreams, hopes, fears, interests.

I’ve read quite a few sort of midlife-crisisy books where the protagonist realizes they’ve been going the wrong direction with their life. The book follows their voyage of self-discovery as they break from the shackles of their old life and pick up a new one.

I’ll admit that usually I don’t find those books really satisfying and I’ve never been able to put my finger on exactly why they’re not enjoyable for me. I enjoy these type of books when the book is a memoir or a biography–because the characters are real people who have overcome major obstacles in their lives to become better people.

In a novel? Eh. I just don’t like them as much.

I think it’s because, although we do have these hidden facets to ourselves, it can be very difficult to change course in our life.

Imagine if Keith Richards suddenly decided he’d become a librarian, after all. Not, I’m thinking, going back to school and getting his Masters in Library Science, but maybe working as a library tech.

Think about how disruptive his presence in the library would be. There would be fans there—and paparazzi. The library is a public place, after all. It probably wouldn’t be the peaceful oasis he seems to be craving…because his old life, his celebrity, would intrude in his new one.

Maybe the life change is something completely different—maybe a character suddenly discovers his spiritual side and decides to become involved in a church or synagogue. Which is great…except maybe this character’s old buddies aren’t on board with his spiritual transformation and set up roadblocks for him so they can keep their relationship on the same course.

The same buddies could be there to sabotage their old buddy’s new marriage…undercutting her so they won’t lose the hanging out time with their friend.

I think many times life changes can create more conflict than not…even when the life changes are ostensibly good.

Of course, the story could go completely the opposite way. The protagonist makes a life change from a nonproductive course to a completely different one—she ditches her unhelpful spouse, gets in touch with her spirituality, discovers she’s a wonderful artist—and it all goes well. It’s a transformation story.

But where’s the fun of that? I think it’s not quite so easy. There are set-backs and conflicts between the old life and the new one.

Read any good life transformation/midlife crisis stories? Did the protagonist suffer many setbacks on their road to self-discovery?