Synopses for those who HATE it!

My friend Monica Burns, author of Obsession, recently shared a trick she found when writing her latest synopsis. Monica warns "this MAY or MAY NOT work for you. There's something different that clicks for everyone."

She used Alicia Rasley's Article about three acts to create her synopsis. Creating a list in a Word document, she used the primary points Alicia talks about in her article.

• Setup
• Initiating Event
• External Conflict Emerges
• Antagonist Shows Up
• Conflict Rises
• The Reversal
• The Point of No Return
• Crisis
• The Dark Moment
• The Climax
• The Resolution

Using these as headers, she wrote a brief summary of the action. If you get stuck, Monica advises working backward until the story flows together. She reccomends this method for those who have trouble writing a synopsis without first writing the book.