Young Writers Society

The Synopsis

I need to find a decent example that can motivate me to write mine. There are plenty that would say wait to write this after the story has been written but for whatever reason I need to write it now.

What makes this so difficult for me is that I have a rough idea of what my story will be about and not the entire picture. It's incredibly frustrating.

I have the ending and bit and pieces for the middle but the beginning is always where I find myself stuck.

Then there's the issue of what I consider my story. I mean, my main character is twenty years old and never been in a relationship and happens across a guy who garners her attention in her Winter semester at the community college they both attend. Her younger brother is a trouble maker who she seems the only one who understands him. The three of them make for an interesting group when their together if not for the event that takes place that will shake all their lives in the end.

Okay, first of all, a synopsis is the method of choice mode of plotting for some authors (mostly screenwriters) and works something like this (in a nutshell):

1. Write a logline. Under 25 words, describe your who, when/where, and why... mostly, set up the problem and leave readers hungering to read more.

2. Now, expand... take that logline and turn it into a full paragraph on the gist of the entire story.

3. Now expand even more--- take that paragraph and add details, twists, turns, key scenes, subplots, etc. until you have two-five pages.

If you already have a plot in line, then kick around online for some "how-to's" and write your synopsis from that. Synopses, like all good writing, take lots and lots of revision. So while these early synopses won't be the final product handed to a publisher, they'll help put a handle on your plot for you and interested critics/reviewers etc.

Do you have any ideas on what your main characters did before they went to that school, at that place? Did they experience some life chancing event in the summer holiday?

Perhaps your main character is sulking about being single, while seeing a lot of couples, and suddenly meets your other main character. In movies two people often meet by bumping into each other, or by spilling coffee over someone's pants. Perhaps cliché but it could be a starter for your story?

I don't know how "young" that brother is, but maybe he falls of his bike and hurts his knee, and your 3rd character comes out to help?