If you’ve never heard of a synopsis, it’s a brief summary or general survey of something. As a writer talking about writing, the type of synopsis I’m referencing here is a synopsis of a book manuscript, which is basically an outline of what happens in your book. 

Publishers and agents may ask you to send them a synopsis, often along with the first chapter or first 3 chapters of your manuscript, so that they can get a feel for your work and quickly decide if they’d like to read your whole manuscript. It can also be requested before you’ve actually written the manuscript by an agent or publisher you’re working with so they can tell if your story’s on the right track before you go ahead and write 40,000 words of a book which doesn’t fit what they’re looking for.

Authors, including myself, can spend hours, even days, tearing their hair out about writing a synopsis, but hopefully these tips will make the whole process at least a little bit easier.

1: Your synopsis should not only tell the reader what happens in your book, but also make them want to read it, for this reason it must be well-written and not just a list of bullet points. It must showcase your ‘author voice’ meaning it must read like your writing. It must show the story’s full progression or ‘narrative arc’ and it must include the ending. 

2: Keep your synopsis to the correct length. This is usually 1-2 single spaced pages, or 2-5 double-spaced pages. Some authors recommend keeping it to about 500 words. Individual publishers and agents may specify how long they want a synopsis to be, make sure you send them what they want.

3: Your synopsis should be written in third person, present tense, regardless of the tense or point of view of your actual book. This helps the story to be told smoothly. 

Right now, it’s time to actually write the stupid thing…

4: Start at the beginning and when you get to the end stop. Start typing what happens in your manuscript from beginning to end. This does not have to be beautiful prose, just spew it out and make sure you keep events in chronological order.

5: Now, go back through what you’ve written and emphasise the important plot points, such as the inciting incident which sparks the conflict in your story, the climax and the resolution. Emphasise any plot twists – readers love a good plot twist.

6: Next, add character motivations at the beginning and end of the synopsis. Why did the character decide to do what they did at the inciting incident? Maybe your heroine has been looking for her long lost brother for years and the reason she gets on a plane to Venice is because she sees a man she believes to be him boarding it. That’s her motivation. The end of your manuscript should resolve this motivation: maybe the man boarding the plane wasn’t her brother but he helps her find him and they fall in love along the way. (That’s not actually a terrible story idea, I should be making notes on this).

7: If your book is told in the first person, say at the beginning of the synopsis who this is, e.g: The book is told from the point of view of a… whoever it is.

8: Make sure your storyline is clear and to the point – now is not the time to be vague and intriguing.

9: Edit out any excess words to get it down to the right length – take out any information and details that aren’t necessary. Check for word repetition! Look and just are my two overused words, I bet you’ve got a few.

10: Read your synopsis out loud to yourself. This is the best way to be able to see if your writing flows. It should read like a good book review – one of a book you’d really want to read.

Ta-da, that’s it! With any luck you now have a fantastic synopsis to send off to interested publishers and agents. I’d love to know of any which result in a contract!

x

https://www.facebook.com/emmabennetwriter

https://www.instagram.com/romanceemma/

Tweets by romanceemma

https://www.tiktok.com/@emmabennetromance?lang=en

So, how are writers, and romance writers in particular, dealing with setting their fictional works in either 2020 or 2021 i.e. a world dominated by Covid-19? A world where we haven’t been able to hug, kiss, go out to meet new people, or get stuck in a log cabin in Colorado with a hunky cowboy for two weeks.

My own romances aren’t set in any particular year, so I’ve been able to skirt around this issue with my latest book, ‘Her Sister’s Baby’, due out June 1^st, but I asked around to see what others are planning to do.

A few authors have embraced the challenge. During the first lockdown, I can remember the cover image of an erotic novella doing the rounds on Facebook. Apparently the book depicted a ‘romance’ between a woman and the Coronavirus… not my cup of tea, but good on the author for coming up with an (extremely) original idea and getting it out there, I say.

But for more ‘regular’ romance authors, staid enough to want the focus of their book to be on love between humans, are any brave/daft/imaginative enough to set a contemporary romance in the middle of a global pandemic? Perhaps unsurprisingly, most say they wouldn’t touch Covid with a barge pole:

“…my books are a complete Covid-free zone. Had so many readers thanking me for the escapism and I think that’s why so many of us read. And I don’t want to write about it either. Been a grim year & just want to escape from it between the pages.” Jessica Redland.

https://www.jessicaredland.com/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jessica-Redland/e/B00PO9I1Y4?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1619691102&sr=1-3

“I’m definitely pretending COVID doesn’t exist in my books, but what I am including is lots of crowd scenes, hand holding, hugs and closeness because we need to see and feel these things again after 12 months missing out!”  Kiley Dunbar

http://www.kileydunbar.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kiley-Dunbar/e/B07NQKQS64?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1619702433&sr=1-1

Others, like romantic comedy author, Jane Lovering, may write about it in the future:

“I won’t be writing about Covid until it’s all well in the past. Rather like with the war, I think people want to know how the end works out before they start reading about the subject. I don’t think they can suspend disbelief enough to enjoy fiction on the subject just yet.” Jane Lovering.

https://www.janelovering.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jane-Lovering/e/B003NYBX9M?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1619702487&sr=1-1

Of course, some writers are lucky enough not to have to worry about whether or not to include the C word in their books:

“Good question! I’m able to avoid mentioning it because my novels are set in the medieval era. As a reader, I’m loving escaping to parallel contemporary worlds where the craziness of real life is not happening and people are able to hug and travel.” Ella Matthews.

https://www.ellamatthews.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ella-Matthews/e/B085WN62LF?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1619702297&sr=1-1

                I’ve recently begun work on a very different type of story set in a different genre. For part of this tale, I’m actually going to ‘utilise’ the lockdown period. I want to place my protagonists in this very unusual situation, where they’re stuck together with all their joint and individual issues, and wait to see the sparks fly! I’ll let you know if it all comes together as I hope!

I was interested to find out how the pandemic has affected writers in particular, both in how they go about their writing and taking into account how the publishing process may have changed.

My husband and I already worked from home and so our day to day work lives haven’t really been very different, but I’m aware that an awful lot of writers have had to change their writing habits, either because they are now needing to teach children who are usually at school, or because their house is now too noisy or their previous writing ‘spot’ has been taken over by a spouse because it’s the ideal place to make Zoom calls and it’s close to a kettle!

Corners in bedrooms have been turned into home offices, spare rooms and attics have been tidied up, given a lick of paint, and brought into play. I know a couple of people who’ve turned camper vans into writing sheds. I’ve even heard of writers renting hotel rooms to work in during the first lockdown, but that’s financially not possible for most authors!

What I found when I spoke to writers on Facebook was that the biggest struggle was staying motivated during these strange times. They may have plenty of time to write, even somewhere perfect to do so, but being able to is quite another thing! Sharon Booth said:

‘It’s been a case of having to get on with it by sheer will power. I’ve really struggled to write. Last year I only released two books – usually it’s three or, more often, four. I’ve had to resort to force. I got a planner, which includes a weekly to-do list. I write down what needs to be done for the month, the week and then each day. I set a target of 2,000 words per day and tick each block off my to-do list as I finish it. It’s satisfying to see all those ticks, and the sense of achievement keeps me going. I allow myself weekends off now and that’s helped a lot. I try to get all my writing done in the morning because my concentration’s much worse in the afternoons, so that’s a good time to make social media posts, update my website, admin etc.’

 https://sharonboothwriter.com/

Some have tweaked their writing habits to help, like Jen Gilroy:

‘For the first time ever, I’m lighting a scented candle when I write. It’s a sensory way to delineate writing time and help me focus on getting words on the page no matter what else is going on around me. I’m also giving myself ‘permission’ to be flexible with my usual approach and write a very rough, occasionally non-linear, first draft. I’m a linear writer (and thinker) so the latter is hard but it’s also helping me keep my word count going at present.’

www.jengilroy.com

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jen-Gilroy/e/B01NCI49QS?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1611237351&sr=8-1

Others said that writing has been their lifetime, a bit of normal when everything else seems turned upside down. Judith Barrow said:

‘I escape into my writing and it’s been my way of not having to think about why we’re in lockdown; a way of escaping the real world for a time.’

https://judithbarrowblog.com/

and Jane Cable wrote:

‘Having a deadline helps and I have been busy writing my second novel as Eva Glyn for One More Chapter. Overall though, writing has been something of a saviour as it’s a joy to escape into a different world.’

http://www.janecable.com
http://getbook.at/AnotherYou

http://getbook.at/EndlessSkies

David Thorpe had some very interesting points to make about how the world of publishing itself has changed in the last year, and how it’s affected him:

‘Because libraries have not been open, like many others I have suffered a 90% drop in payments from PLS send ALCS. Many of my books are academic and universities’ libraries have been closed. The support of a grant from the Society of Authors pandemic fund was invaluable. Editors and agents have been taking much much longer to look at manuscripts. I was teaching a creative writing class in the real world before the first lockdown and this had to stop. We went online for a few weeks, but then the group has petered out – there’s nothing like meeting people in real life. However I have got a few students on an online writing course. A lot more people are writing books during the time that the lockdown has given them. To begin with in the first lockdown there was support for running online workshops on well-being and writing, and I did run one for Literature Wales and one for another community organisation but in the subsequent lockdown these haven’t happened. I’m glad now that I haven’t had a book published during the pandemic as those writers who have have been unable to have any physical launches and sales have suffered. I do understand that people are reading more books according to figures from Nielsens, but I’m not sure that these translate into sales for most authors, it’s mostly the A list writers who seem to be benefiting –and authors of cookery books! What publishers are looking for has also changed… More escapism and more uplifting, feelgood narratives. Fortunately I also write journalism and there has been no reduction in the need for this.’

https://davidthorpe.info/

It seems the key is to roll with the punches somewhat! Writers have gotta do what they’ve gotta do to get those words on the page. They may have to be more patient when waiting to hear back from publishers and agents, and accept that they may either have to hold on to submit a manuscript which might not fit with what’s been taken on right now, self-publish, or change what they are writing, at least temporarily.

Beginnings

I’m an independent author based near Windsor, UK. Whilst undergoing skin cancer treatment in 2013, I found I had time on my hands to try something new, so I did an online creative writing course and started writing short stories. I joined a writing group in Windsor and this helped me with writing tips and developed my confidence. By 2015 I had a collection of short stories and sought the help of a copy editor to knock them into shape. I taught myself how to format e-books and paperbacks using the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform, designed my own cover and published Thames Valley Tales.

Book Series

In 2015 I visited the site of a former Roman town not far from where I lived – Silchester – and felt the call of history! I pondered the question, ‘what would it have been like for the local inhabitants living under Roman rule, and then to suddenly be free to revert to their tribal customs and authority once the Romans left, around the year 410 C.E.? This led me to research the period and to start writing a fictional story about an auxiliary cavalry commander who was out on patrol when a hurried evacuation took place of his unit. Having seen a roving Saxon warband nearby, he decides to ignore his orders and agrees to the plea from the local tribal chief to help him form a defence of the town. The Saxons follow the long, straight road to their gate and a tense siege ensues.

Abandoned was published as a long short story/short novella (about 20,000 words) in December 2015, and soon attracted both praise for the action-packed tale, and criticism/frustration for its brevity. In the meantime, my research had led me onto Geoffrey of Monmouth’s timeline of post-Roman kings of Britain in a translation of his 1136 work, The History of the Kings of Britain. Although widely dismissed by historians as more fiction than history, I decided to base my second story on Geoffrey’s nebulous character of Ambrosius Aurelianus, described by monk Gildas (On the Ruin of Britain c. 540 C.E.) as of noble birth and ‘the last of the Romans’ (meaning the Romano-British nobility). So, with the publication of Ambrosius: Last of the Romans in 2017, I then re-visited Abandoned and re-wrote it, keeping the short story bit as the middle part. Abandoned was re-launched as a much longer second edition in 2018, and I began working on book three in my emerging series, Uther’s Destiny (2018). By now the series had a name – A Light in the Dark Ages, and I found a graphic designer, Cathy Walker, to re-design my Abandoned book cover in the same style as Ambrosius and Uther’s Destiny.

King Arthur

I then had a dilemma – should I roll up my sleeves and write my own story of Uther’s son, Arthur, and enter the world of the Arthurian legend? I was somewhat intimidated by the prospect, owing to the number of other authors who had already entered this popular territory. There seemed to me to be two strands – those who embraced the romantic Middle Ages King Arthur, he of the shining armour, Camelot, the Holy Grail and the knights of the round table; or the gritty 5^th – 6^th century warlord, located in the post-Roman world where the Anglo-Saxons were busy colonising coastal areas and steadily moving inland.

My choice had already made for me by my approach in the earlier books – it would be the latter – a believable quasi-historical Arthur, organising and leading Briton resistance to the spread of the Anglo-Saxons. And so, I continued from where Uther’s Destiny finished, with a teenager Arthur having gone along with Merlyn’s trick and pulled the sword of Ambrosius (Excalibur) from the stone. Arthur Dux Bellorum, published in 2019, is the story of Arthur’s escape from the clutches of his half-sister, Morgana, to undertake a dangerous journey northward with his band of followers, learning his trade as both warrior and leader.

Arthur and his followers finally settle at the former Roman fort of Vindolanda, on Hadrian’s Wall, where they find an unexpected ally. The battles and skirmishes Arthur fights in this novel are loosely based on the surmised locations of Nennius’s twelve battles of Arthur (in his 820 C.E. work, The History of the Britons) by historian Nash-Ford. Nennius describes Arthur as ‘Dux Bellorum’ (leader of battles), giving the novel its title. This theme continues with part two of Arthur’s story, in 2020’s Arthur Rex Brittonum (‘King of the Britons’). Arthur here is a middle-aged, married man, who travels south to answer his sister, Ann’s, call for help. She is Queen to Owain’s King of the Kingdom of Powys (mid-Wales and the West Midlands of England). Arthur joins them at the former Roman town of Viriconium, where he addresses a council of kings and chiefs and pleads with them to join his cause in repelling Angle and Saxon invaders.

And so, this is how I came to research and write my own version of a ‘real’ Arthur’s story, drawing an historical fixing point from a recent interpretation of the Welsh Annal’s dating of Arthur’s last battle at Camlann to 539 C.E. This is contentious and historians still argue that there is insufficient evidence to move Arthur from the realm of legend into verifiable history. What fascinated me was that if it was at all possible that a King Arthur fought and died at the Battle of Camlann on or near the year 539 C.E., then assuming he was 50 years old, then he would have been born around the year 489, just 79 years after the date given for Rome’s final separation from Britannia. Arthur could well have been descended from a Romano-Briton elite family who held a powerful regional tribal title. This goes some way to explaining my tag line, ‘A light in the Dark Ages, where history meets legend’.

Arthur Rex Brittonum (2020) has been short-listed for the Historical Book of the Year (early Medieval period) Award in the Coffee Pot Book Club Awards 2020. Although in a series, it can be read as a standalone, as it covers the latter half of Arthur’s life.

Kindle/paperback link: http://mybook.to/ArthurRex

ibooks, Kobo, Nook link: https://books2read.com/ap/ngjpb2/Tim-N-Walker

Find out more about Tim Walker and his books at his website – http://www.timwalkerwrites.co.uk

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/678710.Tim_Walker

Amazon Author Page: http://Author.to/TimWalkerWrites

…and follow him on social media:

Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/TimWalkerWrites

Twitter: https://twitter.com/timwalker1666

Instagram: https://instagram.com/timwalker1666

1: Make as detailed a plan of your storyline as you possibly can before you actually start ‘writing’. The plan can always be changed and updated, but it will give you a guide.

2: Set yourself a REALISTIC daily word target, and really, really try to stick to it. 500-2000 words is generally sensible.

3: Turn off the internet – Facebook and Twitter are very, very useful when it comes to marketing your book and making contacts BUT they do not help write your book! Unplug that internet and only plug it back in again when you’ve reached your word target!

4: Set aside proper time for your writing, even if that can only be a few minutes some days! Many of my best scenes were sketched out whilst waiting for my son to finish Judo.

5: Before you end your writing session, make a plan for what you’re going to tackle in the next one, that way you won’t sit down with no idea what to write! (Hopefully!)

6: I find it useful to write a first draft as quickly as possible, getting all key events in, so I have a really good idea of chronology in the story.

7: Read everything you can, but especially books from your chosen genre. This will give you a great idea of all manner of helpful things like how quickly the stories in this type of book progress and how long each chapter should be.

8: Try not to leave your manuscript for long periods, if you really want to finish it it’s important to be immersed in your work. If you go on holiday, you can always scribble down a few scenes by the pool!

9: Get feedback from someone you trust and respect, ideally another writer in your genre. If you’re heading in the wrong direction hopefully their advice will get you back on track.

10: And finally, there’s nothing wrong with a little reward for some good work. It’s amazing how quickly my daily word target is completed if I’m promised a KitKat at the end of it!

Right, I’m off to take some of my own advice now! 1000 words here I come!

For someone who’s already a professional author, and is hopefully being paid good money to write, it’s their job, they can write 9 til 5, or whatever hours they choose. But it’s not so easy for those unpublished, or not-quite-making-enough-to-give-up-their-day-jobs writers. Even the most dedicated writer will have times when they get in from a long day at work, or they’ve finally got the kids into bed, and the very last thing they feel like doing is turning on the computer and fiddling around with a tricky scene. The thing is though, no one else is going to finish that novel for you, so if you really want it, you have to find the time to write it! And often this is a case of changing priorities. Yes, it would be nice to settle down in front of your favourite soap with a glass of wine, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s a prime example of a time when you could be writing!

Here are a few tips on carving out some writing time that I picked up whilst writing my romances, I hope they help!

1: If you’re a morning person, maybe you could get up a little bit earlier and fit some writing in before the day starts? If you’re more of a night owl, get something down before you head to bed!

2: At the end of your writing session, plan what you’re going to write next, not only will you look forward to getting back to it, but you won’t waste time by wondering where to start when you next settle down to work, and you may have been able to do some planning in your head in the interim.

3: Try to make the most of every writing opportunity you have, however short, and always carry a notepad and pen around with you. It’s amazing how much you can scribble down in ten minutes waiting for someone to meet you for coffee.

4: Similarly, keep writing materials next to your bed so that if you have an amazingly, fantabulous idea during the night, you’re able to jot it down quickly before you forget it.

5: Be very time aware, if you have an hour to write in, make the most of it. Don’t faff around checking Facebook and Twitter for the first twenty minutes, get down to work!

6: And finally, make sure everyone around you knows that, short of an emergency, your writing time is sacred, YOU ARE NOT TO BE DISTURBED! If you prioritise your writing, others will too!

Best of luck!