Recently I asked whether I was getting my “message” across, and the immediate responses gave me a clue that I might need to make some changes. When I did, another group of people said they preferred the way I had summarized things originally. Ordinarily this might have left me confused and indecisive, but in reality there was something of value in each response – they made me think.<\/p>\n
I realized I’d made the same mistake with the synopsis as I had early on with the story. I’ve mentioned before that my wife kept asking me “what’s it about” and I’d ramble off a whole book of explanation, to which she’d reply, “no, what’s it really about?” Eventually I was able to figure that out and really write the story I needed to.<\/p>\n
The synopsis is a bit of a different animal. This is the summary, the make or break piece that’s either going to lead to glory or heartache. It has to be right. Scratch that; just being good enough would suffice (for people who are satisfied by such) but I’ve set my goal to hit on both those notes. But how?<\/p>\n
What’s been giving me fits recently is the “what’s expected” aspect. Most memoirs, it seems, are about some kind of resolution to a devastating problem, and some of those I’ve read are seemingly endless grinds I had to force myself to get through. Indeed, my current “long” summary of Over the Hills and Far Away makes it sound like a long grind session, too. I imply a promise of relief but give no indication of delivering. Back to the drawing board.<\/p>\n
My second iteration threw in more information including some detail of the promised “fun” to counter the additional detail of grind. I then also threw in the international travel and finished with some attempt to nail the stakes. This version felt like I’d rebuilt the entire presentation and only gotten a little closer to the goal. Not good.<\/p>\n
I could go on rewording but, in reality, what I need to do is rip open the soul of the story and ask “what’s it about?” If I’m honest with myself, the answer will be chillingly obvious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently I asked whether I was getting my “message” across, and the immediate responses gave me a clue that I might need to make some changes. When I did, another group of people said they preferred the way I had … Continue reading