My synopsis writing progress

I'm in the decidedly non-glamorous part of writing a synposis for the next 2-3 books. Actually, come to think of it, not one danged bit of it is glamorous, but in a way it is kinda fun, because since I only know the big things that happen, everything else is wide open. I can go anywhere and do anything. Well, I can do that IF I can tie it all into the main story, otherwise I'd have a collection of nifty scenes and not a book. (Been there, done that, it wasn't pretty and there was nothing fun about it -- but it all worked out very well in the end.) BTW -- that's the topic of my column in the October issue of The Writer.

Yesterday, I went through all of my notes (about 107 pages worth now), and highlighted the phrases/scenes/ideas that I think will be part of the synops that I'm writing. I then copied and pasted (never cut and paste, always leave the master notes file intact) all of the highlighted copy into a fresh Word document and named it "Raine Benares book synopsis #5." Then I un-highlighted it so I could actually read the stuff.

Once I've gotten in there and dug around awhile (kind of like cleaning out an attic and locating the treasures), I'll glean out the stuff that belongs in the next book and open a new file and call it "synopsis #6." And I'm actually planning on doing the same with Book 7. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one. I may be able to go that far, maybe not. Generally I've only been able to think two books ahead. But I have a reason to try for three -- and no, I can't tell you yet. ; )

For the rest of the month, that's what I'll be doing, sifting through my notes, scribbling new ideas that link the old ideas together, doing some research reading, and slowly but surely a plot will take shape. I'm rather relaxed about the whole thing (at least I am now), because I've been through it before (twice) and I know that I may have a mess of notes now, but it'll all come together. Though I'm really pushing for it to all to come together before the end of the month. I should have my editor's feedback on Bewitched & Betrayed by then, and I'll need to drop everything at that point to work on those edits.

Coming up tomorrow: A question from Marie -- What is the best way to set up a series when you may only be able to sell the first book? Should I tell agents it's a series? And how cliff hangery of an ending should one do if there may be a chance that book one will have to stand alone?

If you have any writing-related questions, either respond to the blog or email me at lisa @ lisashearin.com. You all know I love to hear from you.

Lisa