Cooking the Perfect Synopsis

So, I've been working on my synopsis for my middle grade novel, which means I've scoured sources for suggestions, formats and instruction on getting it right. 

Why? Three reasons: 

1- It's a vital marketing tool, next to the Query.

2- If it isn't right you may have a flaw in your story. 

3- At some point someone is going to request one.

I've coalesced what I've researched into a basic recipe. 

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Rockin' Synopsis
Preheat: Present Tense
Serves: Agents, Publishers anyone looking 

1 cup Voice               [Gives a taste of your unique voice.] 

1/3 cup   Who       [Main characters: What do they want?]

1/3 cup   Why       [Why should we care?]

1/3 cup   How       [How is he/she going to get it?]

1/2 cup   What      [What goes wrong, who/what gets in the way?]

1/2  cup  Risk            [What is he/she risk? No risk, no story.]

1/2 cup  Reward    [Do he/she get what they want or version of it?]

Mix well trimming extra words, unnecessary phrases until you have a succinct mix. Set aside for several days. With fresh eyes, revise again perfecting every sentence until you have the exact flavor you want. Then share it with several  CP's or Beta's to see if they see what you see, feel what you want them to feel. If not, revise again. Repeat this until the synopsis has risen to the desired level. 
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I found several excellent suggestions for how to obtain the perfect ingredients and boiling them down to the exact proportions. Here are a few links you may find helpful!

How to Write A Synopsis
How to Write A Book Synopsis: Tips, Techniques
Writing A Synopsis
Synopsis
Writing a Synopsis That Rocks

I know there are tons more out there! Do you have a post on your blog? Share a link in your comments! 

*Check in next Monday for Middle School Review of Savvy and Scumble by Ingrid Law

XVI by Julia Karr

About The Book: Nina is going to turn sixteen very soon but right now her life is spinning out of control. The story is set in futuristic Chicago where consumer culture has finally divided the city into tiers based on affluence. Nina discovers that not only her father may be alive but there is a world that exists outside the tiers. A world where scramblers, GPS trackers, government cover-ups, secret organizations and turning sixteen for girls means succumbing to sexual objectification. Sequel? Yes, I can't wait...
Order XVI here.
One Great Line: The threat of being chosen retreated to the edge of my thoughts, hovering there, waiting to return faster than a wing beat. (XVI, 271) Poetry!!!

What Others Are Saying:   "Karr’s novel is perfect for girls who have begun to ask questions about themselves and about how they are supposed to act under the barrage of sexual influences. Our heroine Nina lives within every girl who is willing to fight to define herself all on her own." ( Bookpage)    

       "In her unsettling debut, Karr depicts a sex-obsessed future where women are the perpetual victims of predatory marketing, and other societal ills seen in our present...taken to terrifying ends. ...there’s no doubt this well-written, accessible sci-fi thriller will provoke discussion." ( Booklist)

Logline:  In the year 2150, being a girl isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when your sixteenth (read sex-teenth) birthday is fast approaching. That in itself would be enough to make anyone more than a little nuts, what with the tattoo and all – but Nina Oberon’s life has taken a definite turn for the worse.


First Five Pages: Karr quickly introduces the main character and what her public and private stakes will be. Her premise of consumer culture run a muck is, while not original, takes a fascinating tangent using sex as the focus, appealing to 14-16 year olds questioning their own sexuality. When Nina asks, "What would it be like to be able to go someplace where you were untraceable?" Karr intuitively addresses the age old question of coming of age and being free of parental constraints. By the fifth page Nina is carefully situated in the time and place of Karr's dystopian world.

Other Observations: Some have questioned plausibility by pointing to Karr's "dysfunctional gender politics". They seem unable to reconcile the fact that there are teenagers that subvert the system. Really? Name one group or country for that matter, that doesn't have minority populations that live outside bounds of accepted norms. That is why we cheer for Nina, she is fighting to live her own life free from the constraints of a controlling government. Can you say, pilgrims? I'm just saying. I love Karr's exploration of consumer culture!

 Writer Info

Website: juliakarr.com

Blog: juliakarr.livejournal.com 

Twitter: @juliaakarr

Facebook: facebook.com/juliakarr 

Email: juliakarr@me.com

Check her at @ The League of Extraordinary Writers

Rating:  ♥♥♥♥♥

Rating Key:
♥         Couldn't finish the book, wouldn't even give it to my worst enemy.
♥♥       Read most of it but had to skim through slow parts.
♥♥♥     Solid book with a few holes in the plot or inconsistencies, pacing issues.
♥♥♥♥   Great premise, plot and pace. Writing is engaging with a strong voice.
♥♥♥♥♥ Totally awesome ride, tell everyone to read it, give me some more.

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Discovery Friday

     Today I was thinking about all the cool things I have discovered through my reading, blogging and writing  this week and thought I would share them with you. Maybe you will find something useful that you can use...

Cool books:

XVI  by Julia Karr  Totally enjoying this and will review it in the near future. Suffice it to say it is awesome! 

Hero by Mike Lupika  (I hope he has a sequel) MG  One of his best. A very fast ride!

Diary of a Bad Year by J.M. Coetzee A post modern divisive chapter structure that in the end delivers a coherent plot. Talk about writing outside of the box.


Cool Blogs:  
The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment by Matthew Rush His posts are meaty writing and his blog is loaded with useful links!
A Torch in the Tempest by Christi Goddard Snarky writing with real literary pizazz!
A Writer of Wrongs by Terry Towry Terry unabashedly shares his conference experience in NY. Go Terry!
Writing YA in the Midwest by Julia Karr  Follow the journey of XVI and her other writing projects. Congrats Julia!

WIP Thursday: The Catalyst Synopsis

 So I've been lost in a murky, can't-get-it-up week (out of the gutter, I can't pick up my pen!)  that has the distinct possibility of stretching into two. Only the end left to write; sequence 8 of the 3rd Act, for any "outliners" out there in Blogland. This morning after trudging through my manuscript for the umpteenth time, I grabbed Laurie Anderson's Speak, great book by the way, and headed back to bed. Within six pages I was off in dreamland. (No reflection on the book!)

When I woke up feeling guilty, I went to my computer and decided to update my library hold list. I'm not comfortable if I don't have at least 15 books on hold. I thought I would cruise the recommendations for middle school books, since that is who my story is about. Reading through the synopsis blurbs I realized that I still hadn't boiled my book down to the essential, you-want-to-read-me pitch. Could I do it?

Funny thing on the way to the synopsis, I started having spurts of muse. She was back and I began to feel the energy of my idea cough, sputter and rev-up again. Damn, I feel so good I might even do a sit-up or two. (Well... maybe,  no commitment on that.)

Here are a few helpful links on writing one:
Elana Johnson Young Adult Author
Nathan Bransford: Literary Agent
Takeshita Demons: Cristy Burne
Dark Angel Fiction Writing
Saavy Authors
Kathy Temean

Have you found a link you would like to share? Do you Like or Dislike Synopses?