The Agony and Ecstacy of Synopsis Writing

Remember my new idea? The one that came to me so perfectly formed that I knew the book would write itself? Well, it may be true that the book will write itself, but the synopsis is another matter altogether. A good synopsis is incredibly important. Even if you’ve already written your book, you will still…

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Feelings. . .

This post will be of most interest to you new fiction writers out there. I’ve been revising my current synopsis for the past week, and today I did the part I love most: I wrote my “feelings essays.” As of this morning, the synopsis was in great shape. All the action was there and the characters’…

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Resolutions for the New Year

I’ve got plenty! We’re closing in on 2009, and I think it’s going to be a good one for me, and I hope for all of you as well. I know many people pooh-pooh New Year’s resolutions, but I love them. I love that “fresh start” each year. So I’m going public with mine, in…

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Welcome to My Roller Coaster

In my last post, I was celebrating. My editor had emailed me with the news that The Midwife’s Confession was a go. My celebration was premature, I’m afraid. A couple of posts before that one, I wrote about some of the reasons a synopsis might not be accepted, remember that? One of the reasons was…

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Creating A Story, Cont'd: Are We There Yet?

Those of you’ve who’ve been following the synopsis saga are surely asking yourselves what’s taking so long. It’s a slow process, for sure, but I’m closing in on the finish line. I’ll wrap it up this weekend, without a doubt. The past couple of days, I’ve been making a list (in prose form) of certain scenes…

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Creating a Story, Cont'd: Suspense

  After taking a break for the election and to talk about my cute new UK cover, I’m following up on my recent posts about creating a story. You may recall that I hadn’t quite finished the synopsis for my next book while in the Outer Banks. Once I got home, I whipped through to…

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Vote! Especially you Eighteen-Year-Olds

I’ve nearly finished my synopsis, but I need to take a minute to urge everyone to get to the polls Tuesday, especially you 18-21 year olds, because my generation fought hard to get you the vote and I’d really love it if you’d exercise that right. We hear often about women getting the right to vote in…

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Creating a Story: Day 3

I’m sitting cramped in a corner of the library at the First Colony Inn in Nags Head, where all the photographers at John’s workshop are buzzing around me, working on their images. We’ve already checked out of our room, thus the reason I’m in the library. Not sure how much more work I’ll be able…

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