Back cover description

[Miskatonic]

Do any of you come up with the synopsis that's going to be on the back of the book cover before starting the actual story? Or anything resembling that.

I've put down a lot of ideas but I'm now trying to condense down the main idea so I can remind myself what it is I'm trying to express, as well as come up with a title.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Part of my process in the planning stages is a 300-400 word synopsis. Obviously, a lot longer than a back cover blurb.

 

[Fluffypoodel]

I've thought about it a little. My problem is that I know that something will happen when I am writing the actual book that will change the meaning of what I have written for the back cover. I like that level of spontaneity. It keeps me on my toes and give my writing a level of unpredictability that I hope is engaging.

 

[MineOwnKing]

Do any of you come up with the synopsis that's going to be on the back of the book cover before starting the actual story? Or anything resembling that.

I've put down a lot of ideas but I'm now trying to condense down the main idea so I can remind myself what it is I'm trying to express, as well as come up with a title.

Seems counter productive to me.

If you're already so well planned out that no changes in the story will occur after writing an outline, then personally I would become bored writing it.

If changes do occur then you would have to change the synopsis both creatively and editorially.

Even after writing a full 6 page synopsis and paying for editing on my first novel I had to go back and chop it up per the requirements of nit picky literary agents.

Why not write a blurb instead? If you meant blurb and not synopsis then that would be different, but that also would be an exercise in futility in my opinion.

Blurb=back jacket, and the blurb will also double as your query letter for literary agents, a synopsis is created for a publisher.

 

[Heliotrope]

Are you using the Snow Flake method? I have used this method before and found it very helpful in really getting to the nitty gritty of my ideas (admittedly, not for a novel, but for a short). I am using this method now for planning my current short and I really like it.

How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method

The author describing this method also uses the term "synopsis" instead of "blurb". He means the same thing though. So, yes, I guess my answer would be that yes I do do that, and I like it.

 

[Penpilot]

I've used this method to get me started, then I modify and refine from there.

Mike Wells Official Website: A "Secret" Formula for Creating a Short Synopsis for Your Book

 

[spectre]

I have before but never fully refined except the sci fi novel I've not even really attempted to write.

Sent from my LGMS345 using Tapatalk

 

[PaulineMRoss]

The author describing this method also uses the term "synopsis" instead of "blurb". He means the same thing though.

I would have thought they were very different things. To me, a synopsis is a brief summary of the whole story, including all the major plot events. A blurb, on the other hand, is an enticement to a reader to pick up the book and read it, and the last thing you'd want to do is reveal all (or any!) major plot points. It's designed to give a flavour of the book, so it might describe the main character, the setting, the initial problem and so forth, as well as suggesting the style (romance, action-packed, etc).

The blurb is the last thing I write, when the book is about to be published, or put up for pre-order. I've never needed to write a synopsis.

 

[spectre]

Yeah unfortunately a wholly online community isn't the best place to relish over ideas.

Sent from my LGMS345 using Tapatalk

 

[Miskatonic]

Seems counter productive to me.

If you're already so well planned out that no changes in the story will occur after writing an outline, then personally I would become bored writing it.

If changes do occur then you would have to change the synopsis both creatively and editorially.

Even after writing a full 6 page synopsis and paying for editing on my first novel I had to go back and chop it up per the requirements of nit picky literary agents.

Why not write a blurb instead? If you meant blurb and not synopsis then that would be different, but that also would be an exercise in futility in my opinion.

Blurb=back jacket, and the blurb will also double as your query letter for literary agents, a synopsis is created for a publisher.

Yeah blurb is what I meant. What you would use to create interest in the reader.

 

[Miskatonic]

Are you using the Snow Flake method? I have used this method before and found it very helpful in really getting to the nitty gritty of my ideas (admittedly, not for a novel, but for a short). I am using this method now for planning my current short and I really like it.

How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method

The author describing this method also uses the term "synopsis" instead of "blurb". He means the same thing though. So, yes, I guess my answer would be that yes I do do that, and I like it.

Would you be able to sum up a fantasy series in one sentence?

 

[Heliotrope]

I don't know... Possibly. I would think he means a sentence for each book... But some series' could work.

"An unlikely fellowship attempts to destroy a ring in order to save middle earth from an evil sorcerer." (LOTR)

"A young boys years at a magical school give him the skills required to combat an evil wizard and save his world from ruin." (Harry potter)

"Armed with a magical sword of truth, a simple woods guide learns his true destiny and saves his world from destruction." (Sword of truth... Embarrassing example…)

"A group of zany toys face many challenges while trying to stay loyal to the boy who loves them." (Toy Story).

"A rugged history professor uses his brains and his brawn to protect his world from supernatural artifacts." (Indiana Jones)

 

[Miskatonic]

I could see coming up with a sentence for each book in the series, but 15 words to describe the whole thing is going to take awhile!

 

[Heliotrope]

lol. Another strategy I learned that I really like (From K.M Weiland's book Outlining Your Novel: Map You Way to Success)
was to first write a perfect review as if you were a reviewer of the book. What sort of review would you want? Close your eyes and pretend you are the reviewer:

Miskatonic's new book Redemption's Path is a fast passed action fantasy bordering on the epic. Miskatonic has managed to create a world of such beauty, compassion and humility that one cannot come away from reading it without feeling as though they have gained a better understanding of what makes mankind truly redeemable. The deep and brooding tone of the novel fully immerses you into the realm…. etc etc. You get the idea.

He next says to craft your premise, not as a single sentence, but as a what if question.

What if a an orphan were given a fortune by an unknown benefactor? (Great Expectations).

I think this strategy might work well for getting to the key theme of a series.

 

[BWFoster78]

First a minor quibble: while the term "blurb" is widely becoming used to refer to the short description of a book, I think it's original definition was actually more along the lines of a short advertising endorsement. Thus, you wouldn't write a blurb for your book; you'd solicit blurbs from others. I think the more accurate term for the short description is "pitch."

That being said, the term is being used so widely on forums, maybe the definition is changing ...

In my experience, the pitch tends to summarize the key conflicts in the book. I've recently found that developing the pitch in advance of writing can help crystallize those key conflicts in my mind so that I don't lose sight of them while outlining and writing. I think, though, that, when it comes to the creative process, it's hard to say even postulate that what works for me will help anyone else.

 

[spectre]

Blurb is something you do with soda in your mouth to gross out the other patrons. But you're right by contrast.

Sent from my LGMS345 using Tapatalk

 

[Penpilot]

Would you be able to sum up a fantasy series in one sentence?

The trick is being able to see the series with a big picture view. Here's a one sentence synopsis for ASOIAF. (34 words)

Entrenched in a civil war for the crown, will the lords of the land anoint a new King in time to prepare for the long winter ahead and survive the return of The Others?

 

[Miskatonic]

The trick is being able to see the series with a big picture view. Here's a one sentence synopsis for ASOIAF. (34 words)

Entrenched in a civil war for the crown, will the lords of the land anoint a new King in time to prepare for the long winter ahead and survive the return of The Others?

Yeah that's a pretty good example. I guess the issue I'm having is the first and second half of the books are radically different. The first half is pretty much set in a realistic medieval setting with magic and a few supernaturals, such as vampires, werewolves and undead constructs. Their origins are not overly fantastical.

Werewolves are basically shaman that learned shapeshifting. Vampires came into being via a chieftain's pact with a mysterious entity deep within the woods of his ancestral homeland. The undead constructs are the product of necromancy, created from already dead corpses and parts of corpses.

So they are all human in origin, so nothing that spectacular.

After a cataclysmic event at the end of the first half takes place, another continent that was locked away from the realm of man emerges again in the modern world, and that's where you have a smorgasbord of supernatural creatures, from Dragons on down.

The first half of the story focuses on the MC, a young boy, who has premonitions in his dreams that his childhood friends are in danger after having moved away to live in the land of what he believes to be a tyrannical ruler hiding behind the mask of civility.

He sets out from his home to find them, and during his adventure he finds himself on a continent on the verge of all out war. The war takes place and then he he sets out to rescue his friends with the aid of his new companions.

So the character starts out relatively innocent, but his experience in war begins to shape his personality and outlook on life as he moves into his teenage years. This experience has better prepared him to rescue his friends. Meanwhile other events are taking place in another land that will ultimately lead to a great disaster.

Once the disastrous event happens, another of the prominent figures, who has aided the boy, travels to this new land to find a way of stopping what an old nemesis of his perceives as the extinction of mankind via the retribution of the first god that slowly grew to hate them in the old days. This new figure becomes the main MC. The young boy and his companions stay in the human world, going on a different quest to find a way to help stop mankind's destruction as creatures from the realm of the supernatural are slowly crossing the barrier into the human realm.

That's a lot to sum up in a sentence. At least I can't figure it out yet.