About Me
- Satima Flavell
- Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.
My books
The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places.
The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell
Buy The Talismans
The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.
The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.
The Dagger of Dresnia
The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Mythic Resonance
Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon.
Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.
Follow me on Twitter
Share a link on Twitter
For Readers, Writers & Editors
- A dilemma about characters
- Adelaide Writers Week, 2009
- Adjectives, commas and confusion
- An artist's conflict
- An editor's role
- Authorial voice, passive writing and the passive voice
- Common misuses: common expressions
- Common misuses: confusing words
- Common misuses: pronouns - subject and object
- Conversations with a character
- Critiquing Groups
- Does length matter?
- Dont sweat the small stuff: formatting
- Free help for writers
- How much magic is too much?
- Know your characters via astrology
- Like to be an editor?
- Modern Writing Techniques
- My best reads of 2007
- My best reads of 2008
- My favourite dead authors
- My favourite modern authors
- My influential authors
- Planning and Flimmering
- Planning vs Flimmering again
- Psychological Spec-Fic
- Readers' pet hates
- Reading, 2009
- Reality check: so you want to be a writer?
- Sensory detail is important!
- Speculative Fiction - what is it?
- Spelling reform?
- Substantive or linking verbs
- The creative cycle
- The promiscuous artist
- The revenge of omni rampant
- The value of "how-to" lists for writers
- Write a decent synopsis
- Write a review worth reading
- Writers block 1
- Writers block 2
- Writers block 3
- Writers need editors!
- Writers, Depression and Addiction
- Writing in dialect, accent or register
- Writing it Right: notes for apprentice authors
Interviews with authors
My Blog List
-
Happy Birthday, Krissy - She’s fabulous and I just think she’s neat. And it’s also her birthday! If you are so inclined, wish her a happy one. — JS1 hour ago
-
Estelle Pinney books… - Here’s another author I’ve met at a Gold Coast Writers meeting. She talked about her book ‘A Net Full of Honey’ which I purchased on the day. Her character...10 hours ago
-
Veronica Speedwell, Pirates, Mermaids, and Houseplant Care on Sale! - *A Perilous Undertaking* *RECOMMENDED: A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn is $2.99 as a KDD today! This is book two in the Veronica Speedwell seri...12 hours ago
-
The US South: A deadly front during World War II - The US South: A deadly front during World War II The US Army recently gave a full military funeral to Albert King, a Black soldier killed by a white mili...14 hours ago
-
5 Common Problems With Beginnings - *By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy* *If your beginning isn't working, no one will get to the ending.* A novel’s beginning is under a lot of pressure. It has...15 hours ago
-
Vikings! ‘Tis But A Scratch: Fact & Fiction About the Middle Ages - In this episode of the podcast "'Tis But A Scratch": Fact & Fiction About the Middle Ages, co-hosts Richard Abels and his wife Ellen Abels explain who and ...15 hours ago
-
Flog a Pro: Would You Turn the First Page of this Bestseller? - Trained by reading hundreds of submissions, editors and agents often make their read/not-read decision on *the first page*. In a customarily formatted bo...16 hours ago
-
I promised photos from the trip - I feel like a slacker but I have been busy. There’s so much going on, so much to write about. We’ve been back six weeks. It feels like a short time and a l...19 hours ago
-
I promised photos from the trip - I feel like a slacker but I have been busy. There’s so much going on, so much to write about. We’ve been back six weeks. It feels like a short time and a l...19 hours ago
-
A To Z Blogging Challenge 2024 - Villains! - Peter Pettigrew - Peter Pettigrew is one of the villains of the Harry Potter series. He was at school with Harry’s parents and was one of the four Marauders, “Moony, Wor...20 hours ago
-
Mastering Blog Post Creation: 10 Essential Steps to Enhance Your Writing Process - The post Mastering Blog Post Creation: 10 Essential Steps to Enhance Your Writing Process appeared first on ProBlogger. It hits you like a TON of BRICKS!...20 hours ago
-
Edward Ashton - Edward Ashton is the author of the novels Mal Goes to War, Antimatter Blues, Mickey7 (now a motion picture directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Robert Pat...2 days ago
-
Newsletter 16th April 2024 - Here’s a copy of my newsletter from April 16th, 2024. Sign up via my website to get newsletters directly to your inbox (and remember to check your Spam f...2 days ago
-
Are You Schrödinger’s Writer? Here’s How To Break Out Of This Destructive Mindset - Schrödinger’s Cat Versus Writers Schrödinger’s Cat is a thought experiment devised by the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, which he designed to illu...4 days ago
-
Art, Colonialism and Change by Stephanie Williams - If you move fast, you can just catch the fabulous exhibition *Entangled Pasts 1768-Now, Art, Colonialism and Change* at the Royal Academy in London which ...1 week ago
-
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 13: Small Gods - There’s a phenomenon known as “capturing lightning in a bottle” that describes the sensation of being in a particular place at precisely the right time to ...1 week ago
-
'The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople' in the revered The Conversation as one of five "Australian literary works of particular relevance to national conversations about AI" - I've always respected and admired *The Conversation, *so it is a humbling privilege to have 'The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople' written about in *The Con...1 week ago
-
Ourselves: 100 Micro Memoirs - I am lucky enough to have a non-fiction piece, ‘Helicopter Parents’, in this new release from Night Parrot Press, Ourselves: 100 Micro Memoirs. This is the...1 week ago
-
The Dead Boys Detective Agency. It is a very silly name. But accurate. - April 25th. DEAD BOY DETECTIVES. It's really good -- it's funny, it's smart, it's scary, and it even has a few familiar faces... (And no, you won...2 weeks ago
-
#3 WEP GET TOGETHER - APRIL 2024 - IT'S THE A - Z CHALLENGE! - Hi WEPpers and friends! Already time for out third Get Together. Life is flashing by! Hit us with your news, writerly or personal. We'd love to hear fro...2 weeks ago
-
Henry of Lancaster and His Children - The close bonds which Edward II's cousin Henry of Lancaster, earl of Lancaster and Leicester, forged with his children have fascinated me for a long time...2 weeks ago
-
Urbenville Adventure - Wow, Urbenville, what an adventure! An approach so tough I nearly threw up. Climbs so hard I’m still hurting. Plants so vicious, one grass-spike tore my co...2 weeks ago
-
Researching the birth of the first domestic violence refuge - Read a researcher's journey exploring the first few years of Chiswick Women's Aid. The post Researching the birth of the first domestic violence refuge ...4 weeks ago
-
Trip to Brazil 2024 - Landing in the Megalopolis of Sao Paulo On February 7th I flew to Sao Paulo, Brazil to start a 17 day teachi...1 month ago
-
Photo Parade 2023 - A bit of fun at the beginning of the new year. I’m following several German travel blogs, and that way came across the annual Photo Parade (Fotoparade) on ...3 months ago
-
Happy Public Domain Day 2024, the end of copyright for 1928 works - My annual reminder that January 1st is Public Domain Day, and this year copyright has ended for books, movies, and music first published in the U.S. in 192...3 months ago
-
The White Horse Band - Live Blues/Rock - 31 March 2023 Hi All, Time for some LIVE Video Music from me… (as opposed to my original stuff)…. I got into a blues/rock band for a one off gig at ...4 months ago
-
Konrath Thanksgiving - Black Friday - Cyber Monday Kindle Bundle Sale - *Get all of my ebook box sets on Amazon Kindle for 99 cents each, November 23 - 28.* *THAT'S 33¢ PER BOOK!* Almost my entire backlist of fifty-four ebooks...5 months ago
-
Questions from year 9 students - Recently – actually, not very recently but I somehow forgot to write this sooner – I did what has become an annual online Q&A with the Year 9 girls at Bedf...5 months ago
-
On Ohio, and the novels, and the new class - Just small news here. The new class is finished in first draft, and I’m now (and for the first time ever) doing the complete course bug-hunt and clean-up B...6 months ago
-
Big disruption hit book publishing before AI showed up - Publishers Weekly recently hosted a stimulating and smart online session about AI and publishing, thanks to the organizing and moderating skills of Peter...6 months ago
-
Flogometer 1180 for Christian—will you be moved to turn the page? - Submissions sought. Get fresh eyes on your opening page. Submission directions below. The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me ...8 months ago
-
Storny Weather - I've just been out fixing up the damage from last night's storm. This is pretty much the first time I've been able to spend much time outside and do any...8 months ago
-
#347 - I've been querying agents for the last 6-months and have over 50 rejections. I'm not sure if my novel isn't very interesting/sellable or if my query let...8 months ago
-
Parody - The other day, for the first time in a very long time, I heard the Barbie Song. So, being me, I decided to parody it, in hour of Alianore Audley and *The...8 months ago
-
Parody - The other day, for the first time in a very long time, I heard the Barbie Song. So, being me, I decided to write a parody. Hope you like it! *Hiya, Ali...8 months ago
-
To Live and Love - To live and love for the both of us Ten years ago today I made that vow I've struggled in the decade since Not always knowing exactly how Ten years you've...9 months ago
-
“It’s Random” – a random scribble - “Why am I even here? It’s random. No Divine Thing. No actual “purpose” except what we make of it. I haven’t made anything of it except to be restless, to a...9 months ago
-
#MemorialDay, remembering a female patriot ancestor - *© 2022 Christy K Robinson* We are taught stories about heroic men who gave their lives to bring independence and liberty to their families, friends--and...10 months ago
-
A tale of two titles - I have done something notably foolish. Which is perhaps nothing new, though the circumstances on this occasion are unusual. To whit, I am publishing two bo...1 year ago
-
Poem: If Wishes were horses - A team of horses racing toward me Brown like the uniforms of soldiers fortressing me around Speckled like a found family, salt of the earth Whit...1 year ago
-
another review for the Christmas Maze - *The Christmas Maze by Danny Fahey – a Review by David Collis* Why do we seek to be good, to make the world a better place? Why do we seek to be ethi...1 year ago
-
-
-
Children’s Rights QLD Ambassador - Children’s Rights QLD appointed Karen Tyrrell (me) Ambassador for Logan City, ahead of Children’s Week, 24-29 Oct 2022. I’m an award-winning child-empowe...1 year ago
-
ANWERING THE CALL: LESSONS FROM THE THRESHOLD - NEXT STORY SANCTUARY "Anwering the Call: Lessons from the Threshold" Sept. 20, 7 pm eastern $30 Online Whether you're starting a project, a school year, ...1 year ago
-
The Green House, Chapters 1-4 (Revised) - [Dear Reader: Having refined my intentions for this novel based on a lot of recent thinking about life and art, I have restructured and revised the first f...1 year ago
-
Publishing Contracts 101: Beware Internal Contradications - It should probably go without saying that you don't want your publishing contract to include clauses that contradict one another. Beyond any potential l...1 year ago
-
Tara Sharp is back and in audio book - SHARP IS BACK! Marianne Delacourt and Twelfth Planet Press are delighted to announce the fifth Tara Sharp story, a novella entitled RAZOR SHARP, will be ...1 year ago
-
Website Update - My website www.stephendedman.com has been updated, with details of my latest books; please check it out!2 years ago
-
Non-Binary Authors To Read: July 2021 - Non-Binary Authors To Read is a regular column from A.C. Wise highlighting non-binary authors of speculative fiction and recommending a starting place fo...2 years ago
-
ATTENTION: YOU CAN’T LOG IN HERE - Hey YOU! This isn’t the forum. You’re trying to login to the Web site. THE FORUMS ARE HERE: CLICK THIS The post ATTENTION: YOU CAN’T LOG IN HERE a...2 years ago
-
I'M INSIDE A SHORT STORY!! - Ok everyone, you have to read this very short short story. Firstly because it is good, (check out the Bligh story within it too), but also because I'm ...2 years ago
-
Grandmother Dragon Forever - It feels like centuries since the last time I wrote something for the Dragon Cave. Only something of great importance would drag me out of my retirement...3 years ago
-
-
What communicates power? - Well, I have to say, I wasn't expecting to get this far behind on my reports on the show, but the launch month was very busy, and then the next month turne...4 years ago
-
The Legendary Game Pac-Man Has No Meaning. - [image: The Legendary Game Pac-Man Has No Meaning.] The Legendary Game Pac-Man Has No Meaning. Let's take a look at how this word came about. Actually, P...4 years ago
-
Readers Notice and They Care - Readers care about story details and they care about characters. Both last night and this afternoon I had conversations with readers upset about the way au...4 years ago
-
Review of Verdi's MacBeth (WA Opera) - *Our president, Frances Dharmalingham, has written a critique of a recent visit to the opera: Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’.* At Christmas 2018, my family’s gift to ...4 years ago
-
Breakout 3: tips for engaging your audience - Tips for engaging your audience: how to improve presentation, public speaking confidence and presence on stage, no matter how small the stage is. Present...4 years ago
-
The Trains Don't Stop Here - It's been a long, long time since my last blog post. One of the main reasons for this – apart from life being way too busy in general – is that, in my dwin...4 years ago
-
Portrait of a first generation freed African American family - Sanford Huggins (c.1844–1889) and Mary Ellen Pryor (c.1851–1889), his wife, passed the early years of their lives in Woodford County, Kentucky, and later...4 years ago
-
Revisiting the Comma Splice - One of the difficulties as an editor, particularly when working with fiction, is to know when to be a stickler for the rules. For some people this is not a...4 years ago
-
New releases - SFFBookBonanza - StoryOrigin - SciFi and Fantasy Book Sale - New Releases – Jul 2019 The latest and greatest new releases in Science Fiction and Fantasy books! New releases July 2019 99 cent sale - July 22nd - 28t...4 years ago
-
Assassin’s Apprentice Read Along - This month, in preparation for the October release of the Illustrated 25th Anniversary edition of Assassin’s Apprentice, with interior art by Magali Villan...4 years ago
-
STOLEN PICTURE OPTIONS TELEVISION RIGHTS TO BEN AARONOVITCH’S RIVERS OF LONDON - *STOLEN PICTURE OPTIONS TELEVISION RIGHTS TO BEN AARONOVITCH’S * *RIVERS OF LONDON* *London, UK: 29April 2019*: Nick Frost and Simon Pegg’s UK-based ...4 years ago
-
A Movie That No Writer Should See Alone - Really. REALLY. Trust me on this. particularly since this film, ‘Can you ever forgive me?’, is based on a ‘True story’ – and too many writers will see too...5 years ago
-
Review: Trace: who killed Maria James? - [image: Trace: who killed Maria James?] Trace: who killed Maria James? by Rachael Brown My rating: 5 of 5 stars Absolutely jaw-dropping, compelling readin...5 years ago
-
Dance Photo Shoots - Photo Session Planning & Preparation Have you ever wanted to do a photo shoot for dance but have been a little unsure about how and what really happens? ...5 years ago
-
On Indefinite Hiatus - (Which I pretty much have been from this site for a while already, but for real now.) You can find most archive content through the On Writing page, and li...6 years ago
-
2017 Ditmar Winners Announced - Over the Queen’s Birthday weekend, spec fic fans gathered for Continuum 13: Triskaidekaphilia. Continuum is always a great convention, and this year it was...6 years ago
-
Writing about the Crusades and talking about a "meddlesome priest" - The Middle Ages are in the news again, so here is a roundup of recent news articles. We start with three good reads from historians talking about the crusa...6 years ago
-
The One and the Many – every Sunday - My first serious girlfriend came from good Roman Catholic stock. Having tried (and failed) to be raised as a Christian child and finding nothing but lifele...6 years ago
-
A Shameless Plug Ian Likes: Bibliorati.com - A little-known fact is that I once had a gig reviewing books for five years. It was for a now-defunct website known as The Specusphere. It was awesome fun:...7 years ago
-
Book Review - Nobody by Threasa Meads - Available from BooktopiaThe subtitle for this work is *A Liminal Autobiography*. Liminal: 1. relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process. 2...7 years ago
-
A whole 'nother year-and-a-bit - Well, we have let this blog slip, haven't we? I guess Facebook has taken over from blogs to a very large degree, but I think there is still a need for blo...7 years ago
-
2017 Potential Bee Calendar – & ladybirds and butterflies - Bees on flowers – all sorts of flowers (& bees) – and lady birds and butterflies. There were hundreds (literally) of photos to choose from. This is a small...7 years ago
-
What is dyslexia? - *" **The bottob line it thit it doet exitt, no bitter whit nibe teottle give it(i.e ttecific lierning ditibility, etc) iccording to Thilly Thiywitz ( 2003)...8 years ago
-
Rai stones - *(Paraphrased from Wikipedia)*: Rai stones were, and in some cases are still, the currency of the island once called Yap. *They are stone coins which at th...10 years ago
-
Cherries In The Snow - This recipe is delicious and can also be made as a diet dessert by using fat and/or sugar free ingredients. It’s delicious and guests will think it took ...11 years ago
-
Al Milgrom’s connection to “Iron Man” - Via the Ann Arbor online newspaper - I felt it was worth repeating as a great example of Marvel doing the right thing by a former employee and without the ...13 years ago
Favourite Sites
- Alan Baxter
- Andrew McKiernan
- Bren McDibble
- Celestine Lyons
- Guy Gavriel Kay
- Hal Spacejock (Simon Haynes)
- Inventing Reality
- Jacqueline Carey
- Jennifer Fallon
- Jessica Rydill
- Jessica Vivien
- Joel Fagin
- Juliet Marillier
- KA Bedford
- Karen Miller
- KSP Writers Centre
- Lynn Flewelling
- Marianne de Pierres
- Phill Berrie
- Ryan Flavell
- Satima's Professional Editing Services
- SF Novelists' Blog
- SF Signal
- Shane Jiraiya Cummings
- Society of Editors, WA
- Stephen Thompson
- Yellow wallpaper
Blog Archive
Places I've lived: Manchester, UK
Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia
Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia
Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW
Places I've Lived - Sydney
Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ
Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA
Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
Places I've lived: High View, WV
Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK
Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland
Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA
Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
Search This Blog
Write a decent synopsis
Sunday, December 14, 2014 |
Posted by
Satima Flavell
When an
agent or an editor at a publishing house asks for a sample of your work, s/he
will usually want to see a synopsis as well. Even if you’re self-publishing and
have done the right thing by engaging a freelance editor to help prepare your
manuscript, you will usually find that she’ll want a synopsis. In fact, when I
do a mini-assessment for you, it’s one of the things I’ll ask for, too.
Why?
Because from a decent synopsis, an agent or editor can see whether your story
will 'work'. Does it have interesting characters doing interesting things? Is
there an underlying conflict that holds the plot together? Can the climaxes be
made to occur in the right places? Is it original? Does it remind the reader of
another book? (This can be either a good thing or a bad thing – a good thing if
your book has an original take on an idea that has sold well before: a bad
thing if you’ve obviously written still another re-hash of Lord of the Rings,
Harry Potter or Twilight.)
The first
time you sit down to write a synopsis, you’ll probably tear your hair out when
you realise that it’s going to take a lot more than the standard one or two
pages to fit the whole story in. (It’s usually fine, BTW, to present your
synopsis with single spacing – but be sure to note the requirements, if any,
expressed by the person who will receive it.)
The very
idea of compressing a 120k story into 700ww or even less throws many people
into a tizzy as the task looks impossible! But relax! There’s trick to it – and
that trick is that you don’t need to tell the whole story.
The Four
Essentials
Any story
can be summed up by looking at four things:
1.
Who is the main character?
2.
What does s/he want?
3.
What's stopping him/her from getting it?
4.
How does the MC set about defeating this opposition?
As an
example, let’s take a look at Pride and Prejudice. (I’ve chosen this
rather than a spec-fic novel because almost everyone has read it, seen the
movie, seen the TV series — or all three!)
1.
Elizabeth Bennet, the second of five daughters in a family whose estate is
entailed to the nearest male heir, is a self-sufficient young woman who
disapproves of her mother’s determination to marry the girls off
advantageously.
2.
Elizabeth wants to marry for love.
3.
There is a dearth of even halfway-loveable men in her social circle, yet when
two new eligible bachelors arrive in the area, she soon becomes prejudiced
against Mr Darcy, a proud man of good family who looks down on those who don’t
meet his high expectations.
4.
Elizabeth must conquer her prejudice and convince Mr Darcy that he needs to
overcome his pride before they can find happiness together.
Ok,
that’s the bare bones of the story. Now, to put flesh on those bones we need to
add:
1.
Other important characters, their goals and motivations
2.
Important events in the story
3.
The eventual outcome, at least in general terms.
What
you
need to do first is to meld those four things into what’s often called
an 'elevator pitch' – a short resumĂ© that you could use to interest
someone in
your story in a very short space of time. It’s really just like a back
cover
blurb.
So, a
blurb for Pride and Prejudice:
Elizabeth
Bennet longs to marry for love, but for financial reasons it has to be to a
wealthy man, and finding one who is both rich and loveable isn’t easy. When she
meets the proud Mr Darcy, she quickly becomes prejudiced against his snobbery
and his critical manner. Yet Mr Darcy is not all bad – and he is the one who
can save the reputation of Elizabeth’s admittedly embarrassing, socially inept
family. But can he overcome his pride, and she her prejudice, so they can learn
to love each other?
Once
you’ve done this, you have a handy tool for promoting your book – at the start
of a query letter, for example.
Now let’s
add more flesh to make our blurb into a real synopsis:
Elizabeth
Bennet is the second of five daughters. Their family’s estate is entailed to
the nearest male heir, the sisters’ obnoxious cousin, Mr Collins. Elizabeth
wants to marry for love, and resents her mother’s determination to marry the
girls off advantageously – but at least one of them must marry well to ensure
the welfare of all five, once their parents have died and the estate has passed
to Mr Collins.
The five
sisters are quite un-alike, varying in character from sweet (Jane, the eldest)
to sinful (Kitty and Lydia, the two youngest, whose main interests revolve
around shopping – and flirting with army officers from a nearby garrison.)
When a
wealthy bachelor, Mr Bingley, rents a nearby estate, Mrs Bennet’s hopes of
pairing off her daughters rise. Mr Bingley, with his two condescending sisters
and a well-born friend, Mr Darcy, attends a ball at the local assembly rooms,
and it is apparent that Jane and Mr Bingley are attracted to each other. But
Elizabeth overhears Mr Darcy criticising the company in general and her in
particular, and she immediately writes him off as proud and snobbish.
One of
the army officers, Mr Wickham, befriends Elizabeth. He tells her that he has
been cheated out of his true vocation — the church — by Darcy’s mean behaviour,
and Elizabeth, already prejudiced against Darcy, believes him.
Mr
Collins proposes to Elizabeth. She dislikes his obsequious yet conceited manner
and turns him down, much to her mother’s ire. The angry Mr Collins then
proposes to Elizabeth’s best friend, Charlotte. Being just as poor as Elizabeth
but more practical, Charlotte marries Collins at once.
On a
visit to the newly-weds, Elizabeth runs into Mr Darcy and his cousin Colonel
Fitzwilliam, who tells her that Darcy has separated Bingley from Jane. Then,
unprepared, Elizabeth receives a declaration of love from Darcy. She confronts
him about his ruin of the budding relationship between Jane and Bingley and
Wickham's account of Darcy's mistreatment of him. Darcy leaves, too shocked to
reply, but he sends Elizabeth a letter telling of his estrangement from
Wickham, who had tried to seduce Darcy’s young sister, Georgiana. Darcy also
confesses his repugnance for the behaviour of certain members of Elizabeth’s
family, which is why he persuaded Bingley to stop courting Jane. In this
Elizabeth has to admit he is right — her mother and younger sisters often
exhibit quite unseemly behaviour. Her opinion of Darcy softens.
Elizabeth,
with her aunt and uncle, visits Darcy's estate. He unexpectedly returns home.
To Elizabeth’s astonishment, once they have both overcome their embarrassment,
he makes an obvious effort to be friendly.
The
cautious new start to their relationship is interrupted by news that Lydia has
run away with Wickham, apparently with no intention of marriage. This will reflect
badly on the entire family, and Elizabeth is convinced that any chance of a
relationship between her and Darcy is in ruins.
However,
news comes that Lydia and Wickham are married. Elizabeth learns that this was
almost entirely due to Mr Darcy’s intervention – he paid Wickham to marry
Lydia. Bingley returns and proposes to Jane – and Darcy once again proposes to
Elizabeth!
Et VoilĂ !
That’s
just over 500 words – one single spaced A4 page. The bare bones of the story
are there — enough to give agents and publishers an idea of whether or not you
have a workable storyline, and whether or not it’s the kind of thing they are
looking for. You don't need to mention all the characters and you can leave
sub-plots out altogether unless they impinge on the main plot in a big way. You
will notice that I haven't mentioned Eliza's father or Lady de Vere at all, and
the story still hangs together.
If you
start with those four basic elements - the main character, what s/he wants,
what’s stopping him/her from getting it and how s/he sets about defeating the
opposition – and build up from there, you’ll come up with a decent synopsis
every time.
This article first appeared in the now-defunct webzine, The Specusphere, on 10 September 2011.
This article first appeared in the now-defunct webzine, The Specusphere, on 10 September 2011.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)