Sunday, July 05, 2009

"call me ishmael"

so, i've been hunting this illusive great white whale of publishing submissions known as the synopsis. ...harder to write than the actual story itself, the synopsis has been kicking my ass! really, how can a person be expected to condense tens of thousands of words into a mere thousand or so?

in an attempt to ease my burden, i have written an author's outline. which came out roughly double the size of what my synopsis will have to be, yet drastically shorter than the novella i have written. a perfectionist, i rarely pat myself on the back but i might just have to this time. *pat pat* after hours of mental labor (and some physical) i was able to summarize each chapter into a coherent paragraph or two. however, now i can't possibly imagine whittling my currently four page summary down to less than two pages. yes, every how-to guide i have encountered has stressed the term "bare-bones" but i don't think my synopsis is meant to have an eating disorder. it can't possibly spare the weight-loss...can it?

i know, i know, why should my synopsis get special treatment. submission guidelines are in place for a reason - i get it. yet i hesitate. could it be nerves? i suspect so. all of those horror stories about an author's work being rejected simply as a result of a poorly written synopsis scares the stuffins out of me. however, i will not falter. i am enjoying this writing thing a bit too much to not see it through. ...who knows? maybe someone will actually be crazy enough to publish my shiznit. *fingers crossed* here's a hoping!

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