Monday, June 29, 2009

Exercises from WILL WRITE FOR SHOES

The next book is WILL WRITE FOR SHOES: HOW TO WRITE A CHICK LIT NOVEL by Cathy Yardley (St. Martin's Press, 2006). For me, this book is relevant for my mystery from the angle of Mom Lit; the protagonist struggles with the demands of caring for two young children and it is partly her need for adult companionship and a place to take her children that account for her involvement with the victim. It is also relevant when I think about my teen book TEEN TIME WITCH because YA fiction is often written in a breezy, first person narrative, and a central element is often the romance.

The first exercise will involve chapter 16 on writing a synopsis, which links to chapter 7, plot. A synopsis outlines the book for a publisher or agent, but it's got to be done in a way that is not simply a linear retelling of events. Basically, Yardley states that the synopsis should include the introduction of the character, the story goal, inciting incident, the three sequential plot points, the black moment, the climax, and the resolution. She says it is also important to infuse your voice into the synopsis. She has an interesting idea about writing the synopsis in first person voice, although she advises that it is typically written in third person.

In my next posting, I will try writing a synopsis for my YA novel that is being revised as a paranormal mystery.

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