How to Write a Synopsis

Hello everyone!

After months of perfecting the first book in my chapter book mystery series, I am finally ready to query it to agents and editors. The query letter is super important, so I took my time composing a good one. Once I finished that, I began looking for agents and editors who would be a natural match for my book. I thought I had finished the hardest part. I was wrong. Some agents’ and editors’ submission guidelines listed a synopsis as one of the things to include in the pitch package.

I had no idea how to write an outstanding book synopsis. So, I researched how to write one. Below are three articles which guided me in the creation of my own synopsis. I hope that you also find them helpful!

“6 Steps for Writing a Book Synopsis” by Marissa Meyer

“4 Ways to Write a Book Synopsis” by wikiHow and Megan Morgan, PhD

“Learn How to Write a Synopsis Like a Pro” by Courtney Carpenter

Happy writing!

Katie

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Subplots: Natural Complicators

Hello everyone!

As I’ve begun querying the first book in my chapter book mystery series, my mind has wandered back to the novel that I put on hold. While thinking through the plot, I realized I was too nice to my characters. They’re an intelligent lot, and I allowed many of their well-thought-out plans to succeed. But then, while reading The Lost Kingdom by Matthew J. Kirby, I realized that all the characters, despite being geniuses, had the worst luck in the world. If it could go wrong, it did. I then read Scouts by Shannon Greenland. The story was another fine example of Murphy’s law.

I decided to outline my novel so I could see where I needed to throw in some unfortunate events, misunderstandings, and disasters. That led to my thinking about the characters themselves and questioning whether or not their motivation was strong enough. And that made me wonder if the stakes were high enough. (This was a real-life example of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.) It all culminated in my pondering the purpose of subplots within a novel.

My dear friend Olivia Berrier, who is a fantastic storyteller, recently talked to me about how she edits through each subplot to make her story stronger. I decided that the issues with my novel might be due to an insufficient amount of subplots. So, I began researching what they are and how to create good ones. Here are some articles that I found very interesting and helpful. If you think your novel could use a little extra spice or more tension, maybe what you need is to add one or more subplots.

“Writing Subplots in a Novel and Other Subplot Ideas” by Mary Kole

“How to Skillfully Use Subplots in Your Novel” by Jane Friedman

“Subplot ideas: 5 tips for writing better subplots” by Now Novel

Happy writing!

Katie

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This blog post contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase using a link I share. There is no additional cost for you, and it helps me to keep creating awesome content.

COVID-19 Life Revisions

Hello everyone! I hope you are all staying healthy!

As writers, the concept of needing to revise something should not be a new one to us. We write something, and then we revise it again, and again, and again, and a few more times for good measure before we finally query or publish it.

However, the idea of revising our lives due to COVID-19 has come as a shock to even those of us who are most experienced in making revisions. You’d think that the one activity that wouldn’t be affected by social distancing is writing. (Think about it. You usually do it by yourself at home or in a coffee shop.) But even writing hasn’t been safe from unplanned changes. Libraries are closed, writer’s groups have to find new ways to meet, and conferences are postponed or canceled.

At the beginning of 2020, I designed my entire yearly plan for writing around a conference in June that I was planning on attending. I devoted the first six months of the year to writing and the last six to querying. Now, that conference may or may not take place; the organizers are still waiting to see where we’re at with social distancing come June. On a more positive note, some alternative workshops and online activities for writers that didn’t exist when I created my 2020 writing goals have become available.

As a result of all the changes, I had to seriously consider whether or not my original writing plan for this year was still the best one to follow. To give myself some much needed clarity on what to do, I summarized my writing priority for the year in one sentence: My goal for 2020 is to get something published. With that goal in mind, and after a lot of thought, I gave myself permission to scrap my original writing plan and adjust it for our current, everchanging situation. I then started looking at the options available to me and chose the ones that would get me closer to my end goal of publication.

My Revised Writing Plan for 2020:

1. Start querying the materials that are ready for agents and editors to read.
2. Write a picture book and participate in the free online Peer-to-Peer Picture Book & Chapter Book Manuscript Critiques program offered through the Pennsylvania: East chapter of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators.

During this time of constant change and uncertainty, give yourself permission to adjust your plans (this does not only apply to writing plans). Life looks different right now. It’s not comfortable, but if you search for the positives in the situation, you might be surprised by what you find.

Stay healthy, and happy writing!

Katie

Coronavirus: Three Ways to Handle Fear

Hello everyone!

Right now, it seems like you can’t turn on the news or open a web browser without seeing something about coronavirus. And it’s easy to feel afraid.

These are three things that help me when I feel afraid:

1. Jesus: I ask for God’s help and perspective by praying and reading the Bible. Psalm 91 and Isaiah 41:10 are especially comforting when sickness or physical violence are the fears.
2. Emotional Release: I find a way to get out my strong, negative emotions, so I can return to a calmer state. Sometimes I do this through dancing or running short distances, but usually I talk to someone I trust and/or journal about my feelings and the cause of those feelings. As Fred Rodgers says in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), “Anything mentionable is manageable.”
3. Happy Place: I practice self care by doing things I enjoy. Going on walks, watching a favorite TV show, playing games with my family, and laughing at my parakeets’ antics are a few of those activities.

My challenge to you during this time of unknown is to take what you’re feeling and find a positive release for it.

From a writing standpoint, it might look like one of these ideas:

• Journaling
• Finding the humor in the situation and writing jokes or anecdotes about what’s going on (Laughter is good medicine, but please be sensitive about who you share these with.)
• Writing about events from a fictional standpoint so that you can process your emotions from a distance (I’ve used fictional characters to work through difficult situations and feelings.)
• Researching what’s going on and writing an essay or informative posts about it

However you choose to express yourself, be honest. I also challenge you to try to be positive. Fear and panic are contagious, but so is hope.

One final thought: be wise and take preventative measures, like handwashing, but don’t be afraid. “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4 NIV).

Happy writing and stay healthy!

Katie

P.S.

If you’re looking for information about coronavirus, including prevention and what to do if you get sick, check out the CDC and World Health Organization’s websites.

True Confessions of an Advancing Writer

Hello everyone!

This year has been one of many ups and downs.  Some really great things have happened to me and my family, but we’ve also had some tragedies.  Overall, I’d say that 2019 has been a good year, but I am ready to welcome 2020.

Something that I learned in 2019 is that life can get crazy really quickly, and that it is important to have a backup plan for when that happens.

When I started blogging back in 2016, I tried to pump out blog posts on a weekly basis, but I didn’t know anything about writing a blog, and the content I produced was terrible.  As I learned what makes a good blog post, I realized that putting out a quality post takes time and isn’t something I can commit to doing every week.  That was when I changed my posting schedule to one blog post every two weeks, which, for the most part, I was faithful in doing…until the 2019 craziness hit.

Whenever it was a blog post week, I would ask myself what was inspiring me or what I wanted to learn about, and then I’d spend several hours researching, writing, and editing.  That method worked until this year.  When the 2019 craziness hit and I got overwhelmed, I didn’t feel inspired to write and I didn’t have the energy to do research.  As a result, I missed several blog posts and was late with others.  I am not proud of my blogging frequency for 2019, so I asked myself, “What am I going to do so that I post consistently in 2020?”  The answer: Pre-planning.  (I know, I should have been pre-planning all along, but I have always been a procrastinator, and it wasn’t until 2018 that I finally decided to start pre-planning and outlining my books.  I hadn’t gotten around to applying that epiphany to my blog.)

I sat down and wrote out the months of the year.  Then, I looked up holidays, seasonal events, and writers’ birthdays.  Using that as inspiration, I came up with two or three themes that I wanted to cover for each month in 2020.  I look forward to returning to posting regularly and am proud that I found a way that will work for me to meet my blogging goals.

One theme that seems to repeat itself in my life is this: You will never get everything right, but if you learn from your mistakes, you can do better next time.

If there is an area in your writing, or in any part of your life, that you are not satisfied with, I would encourage you to honestly evaluate that area to find out what you can do to improve it.  Then, make and implement a plan.  The first plan might fail.  That’s okay.  You’re moving in the right direction.  Keep re-evaluating and trying new things until you find what works for you.  You only fail when you stop trying.

Caveat: Unless a plan bombs so badly that you know there is no way it will ever work, give the plan four to eight weeks of a fair try before you discard it for a new one.  New habits take time to form, so give yourself the time you need.

Happy writing!

Katie

Yes!

Hello everyone!

“Yes” is a pretty important word, but it can also be rather pesky from a spelling standpoint.  If you’ve ever wondered how to pluralize “yes” or how to spell it’s less formal form “yeah,” check out Erin Servais’ blog posts: “What is the plural of ‘no’ and ‘yes’?” and “Yea, yeah, yay.”  I hope they leave you saying, “Oh, yes!”

Happy writing!

Katie

Honest Goal Assessment

Hello everyone!

As a writer, and as a person in general, it is important to self-evaluate to see what we are doing well and where we need to improve.  One way I do this is by setting goals and then reviewing them to see how well I met them.

This year, I had three writing related goals:

1. Complete the re-write of The Four Crystals.
2. Write at least the first book in my chapter book mystery series.
3. Read 50 books.

When I created my goals for 2019, I thought they were achievable.  And, for the most part, they were.

Goal #3: I’ve read or listened to over 70 books.

Goal #2: I got Book 1 of my chapter book mystery series to a polished state and completed a rough draft of Book 2.

Goal #1: Although I made progress, I will not complete the re-write of The Four Crystals this year.

Meeting two out of three goals is not bad, and I have to remind myself of that, but my failure to complete my number one goal bothered me.  When I reflected over why I had failed to achieve what seemed like a perfectly reasonable goal at the beginning of 2019, I came up with the following list of reasons I had not succeeded.

1. I was in a musical during the summer, and between my day job and rehearsals, I did not have time to write.
2. Instead of treating the re-write like the creation of a new rough draft, I attempted to create a first draft, which is a little more polished and takes more time to write.  (My definition of a rough draft is the same as Allison K. Williams’ vomit draft, and my first draft is a hybrid between her story and character drafts.  See “Optimal Editing.”)
3. I am part of two writer’s groups and teach a weekly German class, so some of my free time is devoted to participating in and preparing for those activities.

Once I gave myself that reality check, I had to decide what to do with my discoveries so that I would meet my future goals.

1. Summer Musical: I enjoy acting.  Theater has been a big part of my life, but at this stage, writing has become more important to me than performing.  I decided that unless a local theater was putting on one of my dream shows, I would take a break from acting until at least autumn 2020.
2. Rough Draft versus First Draft: Although writing a first draft instead of a rough draft would not be time efficient for a new project, it is the right choice for The Four Crystals.  I have a very clear idea of what I want the story to be, and I need to see whether or not my vision for the book is working.  A rough draft would not help me to determine that, but a first draft would.  I need to adjust my timeline for the re-write.
3. Writer’s Groups and Teaching: Being involved in writer’s groups exposes me to genres I would not choose to read on my own, which benefits me as a writer.  The feedback I get from the groups is beneficial and helps me to hone my craft.  At this point, I think that staying active in both groups is the right choice.  As for teaching, I made a commitment for the 2019-20 school year, but come 2020-21, I need to consider if offering a weekly language class is in the best interest of my writing career.

What I took away from my goal evaluation is that I still have room for improvement when it comes to time management and that I need to be even more selective when committing to different activities.  At least my 2019 goals were more realistic than the ones I set for 2018.  I am learning and improving!

As 2019 comes to a close, I highly encourage you to look over your own goals for 2019 and determined what worked, what didn’t, and why.  Then, apply what you learned when creating your 2020 goals.

Happy writing!

Katie

Do Your Research

Hello everyone!

When I first decided that I wanted to be a fiction writer, I had no idea how much research would be required.  One of the reasons I chose to write fiction instead of non-fiction was so I could avoid doing research; however, I have learned that in order to have a believable story, a certain amount of research is required.

My search history must make me look like a lunatic.  I have researched some really interesting things like cooking over lava, swarms of wasps, and how to sharpen a sword, and some more normal stuff like hay harvesting and hours of operation for pools.  Needless to say, I am extremely grateful for the Internet.

One thing I often struggle with is knowing when to stop researching.  There is always more to learn on a topic than you actually have to include in your story.  In her article, “How To Research Your Novel … And When To Stop,” Joanna Penn offers some tips for different ways to conduct research and how to balance conducting research with writing.  She uses examples from her own novels to demonstrate how to apply both concepts.  In “Top 7 Tips For Researching Your Novel,” Claire Bradshaw offers much of the same advice as Penn and includes advice on how to access research resources.

I hope you also find the articles helpful!

Happy writing!

Katie

What Can Happen at a Tea Party?

Hello everyone!

What can happen at a tea party?  Lewis Carroll already took a crack at answering this question.  A tea party can be bizarre, romantic, tragic, comedic…It all depends on three things: characters, situation, and setting.

Characters

Who is at this tea party?  The guests will shape the events.  For example, a tea party where Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty are both attendees will have a very different feel, and level of dialogue complexity, from one hosted by Pollyanna for her friends.

Situation

Something has to happen.  For any scene to be interesting, the protagonist must have a goal that he/she can succeed or fail at.  The goal could be as simple as hosting a tea party that goes off without a hitch (anyone who’s planned a party will tell you that’s not so simple) or as complicated as charming a malicious ruler into sparing a loved one’s life.

Setting

Where is the tea party, in an English garden or on a spaceship 1,000 years in the future?  At what time of day does the tea party take place?  How many guests are in attendance?  The setting needs to affect the protagonist in some way (e.g. he/she grew up here, he/she thinks this place is haunted, he/she has always wanted to see inside of this location).  Descriptions of the setting should be given through the five senses and enhance the emotions stirred up by the situation.  One way to do this is to compare and/or contrast the description of the location to the protagonist’s or antagonist’s physical appearance, emotions, or personal preferences.

Example Scenario

The day before her rehearsal dinner, the bride-to-be is invited to a formal tea at her fiancé’s family’s country club.  It is a tradition in her fiancé’s family for the mother of the groom to give the family heirloom, a diamond bracelet, to the bride before the wedding rehearsal, but his mother does not think the bride is good enough for her son and has announced that she won’t give her the bracelet.  The groom is very upset and the bride is worried that he might be having second thoughts about marrying her.  This tea party is her last chance to earn his mother’s approval, get the bracelet, and save her wedding.

Prompt

Your writing challenge is to write a scene or short story that answers the question “What can happen at a tea party?”

Have fun, drink tea, and happy writing!

Katie

Seven Books that Shaped Who I Am

Hello everyone!

The other day I had a conversation with sci-fi and fantasy author Olivia Berrier about the seven books that have had the greatest impact on us.  I was able to come up with two lists of seven books: seven that shaped who I am as a writer and seven that influenced who I am as a person.

Your challenge is to come up with a list of the seven books that have had the greatest impact on you.  Think about how and why they influenced you.  Then, send each author a short message letting them know what their book meant to you.  You will make their day!

To help you get started, I have included my list of the seven books that helped shape who I am as a writer.  (I cheated a little – If the series as a whole influenced me rather than a specific book from the series, I listed the title of the series.)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Waredrobe by C.S. Lewis – This was the first story I ever fangirled over.  It established my love for allegories and fantasy worlds.

The Seven Sleepers Series by Gilbert Morris – It built upon the foundation Narnia had laid.  My love of allegories and fantasy worlds was solidified.

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini – The Inheritance Cycle showed me how to explore different belief systems in a fictional setting and introduced me to the idea that magic can have rules.  From a technical standpoint, I learned a trick for minimizing use of the auxiliary verb “had” when relating something that had happened before the story began.  (This only applies to books that are narrated in the past tense.)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – This book was my introduction to first-person narration.  It is my favorite go-to example for how to set your reader firmly in a world without having an info dump and for what information to include in the first chapter of a novel.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson – This book showed me that children’s books can cover difficult, real-life situations which young people sadly face but society often considers too mature to discuss with children.

Main Street Series by Ann M. Martin – This series showed me how to grow characters over the course of several books.  It also demonstrated how to write about real-life, too-mature-to-discuss-with-children situations in a tasteful way.

A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy – This series showed me how to structure a chapter book mystery series.

Happy writing!

Katie