Synopsis Progress

I hate synopses. Heck, I don’t even like pronouncing the word, let alone writing them.

I’ve been working on mine off and on for the last few months and have not been satisfied with the result. So, I wasn’t surprised when I had my critique (a review of my manuscript and synopsis by a published author) and she said something like, “I love your manuscript and really don’t suggest you make many changes, but your synopsis is another story.”

Sigh. Don’t I know it.

As far as my synopsis goes I’ve been in writer’s block mode for a long time. Well, maybe it’s been more like just plain avoidance mode.

Then last week I decided to show it to my new critique partner, let’s call her P. She’s a non-published writer like myself. She analyzed my synopsis and had some great suggestions. After working with her I went home and got busy. I’ve made lots of changes, even some she hadn’t thought about. Before, I was just listing the action and not including the emotions that drive the plot as well. Now I feel my synopsis gives a better account of my protagonist’s story. All I have left is to work out a few of the transitions between the paragraphs so it flows smoothly - then I think it will finally be done. Yay!

I’ll be seeing P. again on Wednesday and will probably have her take a post revision look.

It’s so nice to have a support system, sometimes all you need is a little push.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney

“Put it on the list!”

My family members are always saying things like “We’re almost out of milk,” and I usually respond with “Put it on the list.” A list of some sort is a fixture on our kitchen counter. It seems no sooner do I run errands and get to throw away a list that we have a new list starting.

Sometimes I think we’re so preoccupied with the busywork detail kind of stuff on our day to day list, we miss the big picture. So today I decided to write my own “Bucket” list. It’s sort of my husband’s, too, since our lives are so intertwined. I figure writing these goals down will make them seem more tangible and less like dreams. One of the things toward the top of my list will be no surprise to you. It's to become published, and not just once, but again and again.

“Great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next!”

Michael E. Gerber, The E Myth

RMC-SCBWI Conference

The RMC-SCBWI writers’ conference in Denver on September 18th and 19th was fun and beneficial. From a networking perspective, I was thrilled to meet several writers who live nearby and we set up a new critique group. In addition, I got to listen to published authors give inspirational speeches and share writing tips. Oddly enough, the best lesson I learned from the conference came a few days later, when I was home curled up with a good book.

I enjoyed listening to Elizabeth Law, publisher at Egmont USA, moderate a First Pages session in which she evaluated the beginnings of manuscripts submitted by attendees. During her literary discussions she made countless references to classic novels. I took notice because I hadn’t heard any of the other industry professionals who spoke during the week-end make these kinds of comments. Curious to find out more about Egmont, I bought Scones and Sensibility, one of its 2010 publications. It’s written by Lindsay Eland, who happened to be at the conference and was kind enough to autograph the book for me. (I loved rubbing elbows with published authors like Lindsay, it makes my goal to be published seem more attainable.)

Anyway, when I got home and began reading Scones and Sensibility--a cute novel about a modern day girl captivated by the romance of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice--I found it less than a coincidence that Elizabeth Law chose to publish a book about a classic. Clearly, she is partial to these kinds of books.

I’ve always heard publishing is a subjective business, but this experience really hit the concept home for me. When I’m ready to submit my manuscript (which better be soon -- if I could ever stop editing) I really need to seek out an agent who likes my kind of writing. In turn, that agent will know the tastes of specific editors and will know the right perspective publishing house for my manuscript.

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

The Eye of the Beholder

On my daily walk this morning I heard someone coming up behind me. I turned and noticed a young man. Oh, I see people on my walk everyday, many have backpacks and lunch boxes. They move at a quick pace in the direction of the bus stop near Walmart. I also see dog walkers with their customary poop bags, joggers with ipods, and clusters of retired people chatting as they amble along.

I knew right away, this guy was different. He was tall, wore a muscle shirt and green fatigue colored pants. I kept glancing behind me at him, intrigued, but not sure why. His arms swung back and forth with each gangly stride. In spite of his quick pace there seemed to be an indifference to his demeanor. Something about him made me nervous. When he was about to overtake me, I dodged into a commercial parking lot. After he passed I headed back to the sidewalk and followed him up the hill. He had unruly dark hair that hadn’t seen a scissors in some time. When he got to Walmart, he passed the bus stop, and plopped himself down on the grass median between parking spaces. He just sat there, his long legs sprawled out in front of him. I realized he was undoubtedly a street person and probably had no where to go.

I think it’s odd how I immediately sensed there was something different about him. Periodically, I see street people. They usually have old weathered faces and faded clothing, unlike this kid, who had to have been between 15 and 25 years old. The biggest tip was something about the way he walked. He had a sense of energy the beaten down typical street people don’t have, yet there was no direction, no plan, every step was a new agenda.

As a mother, my heart went out to him. What horrible circumstances could possibly have brought him to the streets? As a writer, I thought about the characteristics about him that intrigued me and held my interest. I wondered, wouldn’t a character like him have a great story to tell in a young adult novel?

And then I laughed, had my “the glass is half-full” husband encountered the young man he may have never noticed him or he would have assumed he sat down on the ground to enjoy the nice weather. I hope my “the glass is half-empty” attitude is wrong and that young man is okay, but if my instincts were right I hope he realizes he does have a lot to offer. He fed my creativity without even knowing it.

“It is generally admitted that with woman the powers of intuition, of rapid perception and perhaps of imitation, are more strongly marked than in man . . .” Charles Darwin

On a personal note . . .

Things are pretty exciting around here. Our oldest daughter, let’s call her “T”, became engaged last Tuesday. Her finance, “R”, is a wonderful young man from Rochester, New York. I’m so happy for them both. We were just catching our breath from that big news, when on Thursday “R” got a fantastic job offer in Grand Junction Colorado, three and a half hours from Denver, where my husband and I and our youngest daughter live. He gave notice to his employer in Rochester on Monday and starts work in Grand Junction on August 1st.

Life moves pretty fast. In a matter of days I went from “I’m sure going to be traveling to the east coast a lot,” to “Omigosh, they’re going to be living in our home state.” I’m so happy. Of course, they’ll be on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, but still, same state.

It’s all very complicated, as they will be getting married in Milwaukee, the town where they attended school (Marquette University) and met. Milwaukee feels like my daughter’s home town since she was born there and has gone back to visit often. We moved so much, our most recent home towns, Denver and Seattle, have been summer and holiday visiting locations, but places she’s never permanently settled in. We still have plenty of family in the midwest and both of their college friends are there, so Milwaukee will be the perfect spot for the big day. Long distance wedding planning will be the name of game for the most part, but “T” is in Milwaukee, now and will stay there temporarily while she gets things started. Later she’ll move to Denver to live with us until after the wedding, when she’ll go to Grand Junction.

I’m so excited, I've decided to start writing a personal wedding journal. As the year unfolds I'm going to write dated blurbs about what’s going on with the wedding from my “mother of the bride” perspective. I’m going to ask “T” to do the same thing from the bride’s perspective. She’s a gifted writer. It will be interesting to look back later and see our different perspectives as the big day approaches. It’s funny how just about any event can become another topic to write about.

Marriage is a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters in prose. Beverly Nichols

The Subconscious Mind is Always at Work

A few months ago, heavy rains and melting snow widened the creek near my home. My dog Charlie and I walk along it’s banks almost everyday. For a week or so I went by unaffected by the creek’s changes, never missing the ducks and geese who had vacated it’s rough surface opting for the calmer lake, never noticing the beaver dam had washed away.

Then one day the changes hit me. I was overwhelmed by the sound of the rushing water, mesmerized by the white foam on the waves and felt a sense of urgency as the creek raced by. I was bombarded with ideas to embellish the flood chapter in my book (something I had considered finished prior to that moment.) I ran home, planted myself at the computer and typed for several hours. I added loads of descriptive details and even a new dangerous flood related plot twist to the story.

The incident got me to thinking about the different roles observation plays in my writing. Here’s the definition of “observe” from my Merriam Webster Dictionary - “to see or sense especially through careful attention.”

I got to thinking about the “careful attention” part and decided that’s really only half of it. Yes, in fiction writing we sometimes make deliberate ‘scientific’ observations. Okay, I’m using the word scientific somewhat loosely here, but what I mean is we do research on a particular aspect of a story to make our writing seem more realistic. I read about flooding before I wrote the first draft of that chapter and it was helpful, but another type of observation evoked my recent changes and it shouldn’t be underestimated.

It’s subconscious observations. We take in details all day long, but are unaware of it. Our minds sort through incoming information, look for patterns and file the knowledge away without our knowing it until our mind perceives a particular file as helpful and it hits us like a lightning bolt and says, “Hey, this relates to what is going on in my life, this is important, I need to use this!” That’s what happened to me with the creek.

I think this subconscious observation process happens to all writers, and all people in general. It’s a gift that improves our perception. Next time you get a fantastic idea that seems to come out of nowhere, thank your subconscious mind.

I am a part of all that I have met. Alfred Lord Tennyson

Market Test: Twelve Year-Old Seventh Grader

I had a great Fourth of July, and so did my manuscript. We had family over to celebrate. When my sister-in-law asked how my writing is going, her friend’s twelve year-old daughter, Molly, whom I’d met for the first time that day, overheard. Molly was taken up with the idea of getting to read a book before it is in print. She asked, “Well if it’s not in a book yet, where is it? Can I read it?” She was so cute I went ahead and printed off the first chapter for her. She read it and came back asking for the second. After the third she asked. “Is this book going to be long enough to make a movie?” When she finished the fourth chapter she said, “If I go play with the kids would you print the rest of the book for me to take with me? If not I won’t play, I’ll finish reading it now. I really want to know what happens.” I agreed to give her a copy to take home.

When I gave it to her later, she spouted out several theories about the villain and about what she thinks is going to happen next. This was my first experience witnessing a reader become emotionally involved with my fictional characters. It felt fantastic and was meaningful to have a non-relative, (family members are too biased) in the target age group read the manuscript and enjoy it so much. Yay! It makes me feel more confident about sending it out to agents. This was a big win!

Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating. Denis Waitley