Sunday, September 02, 2007

The Afterbirth: Synopses and Query Letters

Ooh! That was fast.

Kudos to Elektra and her Crapometer! I emailed her my query letter (for Dark Heir) this morning and it's already up on the site for critiquing. Do feel free to pop by and thrash it within an inch of its sorry life. Inquiring minds want to know: does this suck?

And really, no matter how much it sucks, it couldn't possibly suck more than my synopsis currently does. *sigh*

Has anyone advice on how to write a good synopsis? I've scoured many a website, but I seem to find little except synopsis-writing-for-romance-writers, and this is not too applicable. I know a synopsis should:

1) outline the plot clearly,
2) capture a bit of the novel's "voice", and
3) not induce spontaneous power-napping.

Currently, my synopsis fails on points 2 and 3. Should I go for a juicy back-flap-flavoured tone? The query letter I linked to above was written that way.

I humbly grovel for the wise advice of my highly-talented readers. *grovel, grovel*

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