The inventor of the synopsis should be taken out and shot

As per my heading, I’m sure you writers out there know what I’ve been going through. Trying to take a 375 page novel and condense it into a 2-page summary makes me want to throw myself through a wall. Especially when, as my critique partners will tell you, I am the Queen of Complicated Plots.

My first book is completely unsalvageable. I’ve given it a burial and though my husband really liked it, I’m convinced it needs to just stay dead.

My second book was written with a horribly complicated, unmarketable plot, and I stripped it down to the bare bones. Once I did that, I found the heart of the novel and rebuilt it from scratch. That novel became His Chosen Bride which I now adore. There was a good book hidden in the mess, but I had to go in with a shovel and pickaxe and find the darned thing.

I finished my third book August 15th, and I let it stew until now. I’m not very good at seeing the flaws until I have some space, so over the past week, I’ve been trying to redo the synopsis. My thought process was that, if I can streamline the synopsis and find the heart of the book, I can then revise it.

Four days later, half a pound of chocolate added to my thighs, and after a great deal of swearing at the computer, I think I did it. I took out everything from the synopsis except the emotional journey of the hero and heroine. And when I took a close look at the heart of my story, I found something I liked. It will take a good deal of revising, but the core is there. I’m now ready to sharpen my machete and chop this thing into oblivion. I know what has to be done.

I also entered it in the Golden Heart to give myself a deadline. I paid the fee today and now I have until December 2nd to mail it in its final form to Dallas. The countdown is on!