Writing a synopsis can be therapeutic

When you've finished writing your novel you may be asked for a synopsis. This is another writing project and you might cringe at the request. Some say writing a synopsis is so onerous that it causes your mind to go blank and your eyes go blind. But writing a synopsis can be therapeutic.

Writing a synopsis forces you to look at your novel and see what you've really done -- not what you thought you had done. Writing a synopsis forces your eyes to see the gaps -- the left out parts that the reader will spot but you have overlooked. These gaps need to be filled, even though they may force you to go back to your story and write more -- to plug those gaps and give your readers the satisfaction of a story well told.

Where did the thoughts for this article come from? Where else but my own experience, the wake up jolt received when ... writing a synopsis. But thanks to the "whoops" moment the synopsis uncovered, the final revision of the novel is much improved, as will be yours.





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