Pandemonium Synopses
Joshua Palmatier—friend, fantasy writer, math whiz, and fellow
SF Novelist—is the
author of Throne of Amenkor fantasy series,
The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne, , and The Vacant Throne, and is also the brain behind
the Plot Synopsis Project. I'll let Joshua explain what that is:
Essentially, I gathered together a group of authors who were willing to post an entry about their own plot synopsis writing technique as well as a sample copy of one of their own plot synopses OR post an entry about how they got published without using a plot synopsis, to show everyone how different people write their synopses, and that it isn’t necessarily required to get published.
I missed Part 1 of the project, but I hopped on board with several other writers for Part 2.
Writing the synopsis for Pandemonium was terribly difficult for me. I'd worked on
the book for 18
months or so, and then, in order to attract an agent, had to distill this complicated
story that I only barely understood myself down to a few pages. How much plot
was enough? What do I say about themes? And how was I supposed to
capture the flavor of the book in such a short space?
The first synopsis I wrote was very long, almost 9 pages. Then I kept trimming
and trimming and trimming. For the morbidly curious, here's the path I took from
first draft to cogent 2-pager.
Other writers participating in the Plot Synopsis Project: