Hi All:
I went camping with the family over the weekend and wasn’t able to post a blog Friday before I left. I’ve been playing catchup today since I got back, so I’ll make today’s entry short.
Nancy asked:
When we submit to a publisher, do we give away the ending (I am writing suspense)or do we ‘tease’ them like your questions at the end of your ‘Mars’ synopsis?
Randy sez: I do both. I tell them what the ending is, but usually when I go to write the ending, it turns out different (and better) than I had planned. There’s always some extra twist that I didn’t know was going to be there. So the net effect is as if I had teased them.
With OXYGEN, John and I thought we knew what the ending would be. But the truth is that our original ending was lame and our editor said so when we submitted it. When we got it back for final revisions, we worked on everything else but the ending. We couldn’t figure it out so we focussed on getting everything else right. Then we spent the last day trying to find a decent ending. Finally we hit on it at 11:30 that night. I wrote a quick draft of it in about 15 minutes and emailed it to John and he polished it and sent it in.
We were lucky. It worked. I don’t recommend this method.
Thank you for the recommendation. It sure makes sense but it is good to know that there is always a way out. With or without luck.
It also depends on the publishing house. I’ve seen guidelines that tell you to leave nothing out. I have a friend who just sumbitted a novel synopsis and was told not to tell the ending. Leave it hanging.
When it’s not clear, I’d take Randy’s advice.
So, you write a synopsis BEFORE you write the novel? Scary!
And what a great ending it is!
Five women, with individual and separate backstories, will for a period of time own the same heirloom diamond ring. The ring is the common thread, but the women have their own crises.
Although the chapters mesh and will converge in a climactic ending, I’m having difficulty pulling the chronology into the synopsis because of the separation of characters.
Any recommendations or experiences with this sort of thing?