Thesis Writing II MFA Lessons 6 -8

Synopsis

It can be hard to sum up your story, but there's a lot of support out there to help you write your synopsis.  Ammi-Joan Paquette offers some great tips in her Writer's Digest Article  "Taming the Synopsis: 4 Steps for Perfecting One-Page and Long Form Synopses".

I've attached the synopsis for my first novel to this announcement as an example. It's far from perfect (and slightly under 500 words). I probably could have injected my own voice into it more, but it's the synopsis that got me published nevertheless! That shows you that it's okay not to be perfect. You'll notice that like the instructions say, I map out my protagonist's character arc carefully, showing how her beliefs change and her character develops.

(Note for Patrons: spoilers for In the Way of All Flesh obviously. My The Supervillain She Needs synopsis is way better than this one, but obviously posting it would give spoilers)

Fifteen-year-old Manee Srikwan keeps her hands to herself for a good reason --whenever she touches a person for the first time, she sees a vision of how they will die. This has caused nothing but misery for her and the people around her, so Manee considers herself a cursed person who's better off alone. But Manee's quirky classmate, Stephanie Pierce, insists on being friends. Much to Manee's surprise, Stephanie believes her about her powers. What’s more, she thinks that the two of them should work together to prevent the deaths Manee sees from coming to pass. But Manee is reluctant, having little faith that fate can be changed after all she’s experienced.

As the girls become closer, Manee's feelings grow from friendship into love. She yearns to touch Stephanie. When she finally gives into that desire, she sees a terrifying future where Stephanie is murdered -- and Manee is her killer! Utterly horrified, Manee pushes Stephanie away in order to spare her from this grisly end.

Stephanie gets frustrated by the cold shoulder and confronts Manee. She comes clean and reveals that she has her own special abilities. When Stephanie makes eye contact with someone, she sees all the deaths that person will ever witness. She saw a vision of Manee murdering her when they first met, but was still drawn to her. She fell in love and truly believed the strong bond between Manee and herself would prevent the fated murder from happening. But she knew that if she told Manee the truth, Manee would end their relationship out of fear. 

Indeed, Manee still insists it’s too risky for them to be together. So Stephanie takes drastic action to prove to her that fate can be changed. She ends up in the hospital and Manee is left confused and alone.

Manee decides she won't run away from either Stephanie or her powers anymore. Instead, she'll try to understand them both. She confronts the frightening parts of Stephanie's life--like her intimidating brother, Tony. Manee discovers that Tony is violently afraid of Stephanie. His feelings towards her echo the ones Manee once held towards herself: he thinks she is a curse that brings only misery. He's even convinced Stephanie's powers actually cause death and that the world needs to be rid of her.

But thanks to Stephanie's influence, Manee is finding she really can use her abilities to help people. She sees that she and Stephanie both have a place in the world. When she finds Tony attacking his sister at the hospital, Manee takes action. She leaps in to protect her beloved. She declares that Stephanie’s powers are not harmful and that fate can be changed. He refuses to listen, so she and Tony get into a knock-down, drag-out fight. Tony even starts choking Manee, but Stephanie comes to the rescue. She beats Tony unconscious with her IV pole and collapses into Manee's arms. They embrace, reunited at last. They are free to decide their own future-- together.

Editing and Revising

Editing and revision are two things that are often mixed up. Editing deals with tweaking words, punctuation, formatting and something rearranging a sentence or two. But the act of revising is rewriting and reorganizing. You can get more information in the article 'Editing and Revision: Defining the Difference'.  Remember these definitions!

Sensitivity Readers

Before we get to our final project, let's have a discussion about sensitivity readers. I hired a sensitivity reader for my book, In the Way of All Flesh. My main characters were mixed race, and I wanted to make sure they felt authentic. My sensitivity reader offered insight into the character's backgrounds, asking me for more details about their parents and checking if those details make sense. A sensitivity reader can be invaluable if you're not sure you have the life experience or background necessary to portray a character accurately. There are things you can never know unless you've lived that experience. Writing Diversely has a Sensitivity Reader Directory that's a great resource, as is the University Research Magazine Association's Sensitivity Reader Resource List.