Small steps is still progress.
Time.
At the beginning of the year, I was in sun-drenched Thailand and now it’s the 1st of February, and I’m not entirely sure what I’ve done. Life is just so busy for all of us, how do we find the time to do all the things we want? Between a demanding job, family, working on the proposal, blogging and the other things I’m working on, while at the same time remembering to rest and do nothing, I definitely don’t feel like I have enough time. I’m also pretty sure I could be using the time I do have, better.
Synopsis
Emily and I, have set a deadline of the end of the month for me to resubmit my proposal, with flex if I don’t feel I can meet it and right now I’m not sure how I’m going to. I have to rewrite a 10,000 word proposal and I’m only half-way through writing my synopsis, with a word count of 700 words so far, when it needs to be 350 words in total! Hmmm.
A synopsis needs;
to be straight to the point and specific (both of which I had failed to do in my first attempt)
to say who the main characters are, keeping the descriptions relevant to the story you are telling. If you are writing a memoir, ‘you’ are still a character
to summarise the narrative arc, revealing the story with all its main twists and turns
to show how the story ends, because a synopsis isn’t meant to end on a cliffhanger.
All this in 350 words??? I also have to try and resist the urge to write it, the way I’m writing my book. Its a business document, not a story but this is way harder than I thought it would be.
Research.
What I have been doing lots of is research, which can sometimes feel like I’m not getting anywhere fast, but I hope the important bits are finding its way in. My research right now, mainly comes in the form of podcasts because I can multi-task while listening, a win-win. I do love a good podcast! I can take my dog out for our daily walk, stick on my headphones and transport myself into another world, another conversation, another story. My go-to’s are; Elizabeth Day ‘How to fail’ ; Steven Bartlett ‘Diary of a CEO’ and Fearne Cotton’s ‘Happy place.’ These podcasts inspire and motivate me to keep trying, even in the face of possible failure, and are a daily reminder that we are all just doing the best we can, with the tools we have.
This is all great research for my life and this journey, but what about for my proposal? The odd thing is, loving podcasts the way I do, it didn’t even occur to me to see what was out there in terms of writer podcasts, until a friend told me about some good ones. The one I’ve really connected with is called ‘The Shit About Writing They Don’t Tell You’ hosted by Bianca Marais, alongside Carly Watters, a literary agent and CeCe Lyra from P.S. Literary Agency who read and critique query letters. I love it, because it’s giving us first time writers, the inside track;
of how editors, agents and publishers work individually (and they all work differently) and how they work together as a well-oiled machine
of what an agent’s job in the 2020’s involves on a day-to-day basis and the pressures they face in their role, which now means having to wear several hats. This is important for us writers to understand.
of what writers can do themselves, to get their manuscript noticed and put on top of the stack, and just as importantly, what not to do
For anyone joining me on this journey for the first time, I know this podcast is going to be invaluable because its laying bare the process from all angles, all of which can only help us to write better manuscripts, better targeted proposals and query letters, that stand out from the rest. They speak primarily from a US/Canadian viewpoint, but I’m sure a lot of it will apply to the UK publishing industry too.
Reality check.
I must admit though, I’ve just listened to the interview with Kerri Kolen in episode 2, who is now Editorial Director of Audible and before that, Executive Editor at Penguin Random House, and it felt like being thrown into a cold shower. She talked openly and empathetically about the realities of the many many hurdles, that a first time writer will encounter on this journey. Forget a first time writer, apparently this even applies to a writer who has hit the holy grail and had a book published because they too, will still face many hurdles but in different ways. This made me wonder out loud, ‘why am I even bothering?’ The reality is, that all of mine and your efforts now and in the future could be for nothing. But I don’t want to live a life of regret, I’m really enjoying the journey so far, so why talk myself out of it before I’ve even really started? It also won’t be the last time I hear or experience this feeling, so I guess I better get used to it.
Its personal.
There is another podcast relating to my book that I’ve been listening to avidly these last few weeks for research, but this one is much more personal. I write about something in my book that is deeply private and has been a huge part of my journey. Due to a perfect storm of events in my life, I suffered from body dysmorphia, a debilitating mental health condition for 20 years. It’s something that I’ve carried a lot of shame about. Writing about it, warts and all, was my way to acknowledge and make peace with it but I certainly never thought that it was the mainstay of my story. Until that is, my editor gave me her feedback on the proposal.
My editor suggested three different narrative angles for my story, one of which involved putting my experience of living with body dysmorphia, front and centre. Looking at her three suggestions, I dismissed this one outright. Writing about it in a book when there are so many other layers to my story, is one thing, but actively making it the focus of my book proposal made me feel really uncomfortable. But I also realised my uncomfortableness was telling me something important. So I sat with it and slowly realised, that this is probably the reason I should do it.
The marketing hook.
My editor’s advice was that I needed to be laser-focused, on what the marketing niche for my book is because;
there are many ways a book and story can be marketed
it is my job, not the agents or publishers to work out what the bolts and nuts of my story is about
this will then determine the audiences that will connect to it, and where they can be found, which all forms part of the proposal
Thankfully, this condition is safely in my past, but listening to other peoples shared experiences, has been really insightful and has made me think about my experience more objectively. I think that this alone, is going to be really helpful when it comes to rewriting my proposal.
As I write this, I realise I have done a lot more than I think I have. I just need to be more patient and understanding with myself because I’m doing the best I can. We all are.
I’d love to know more about your methods of research and what’s really helped you in the rewriting process, if you’ve gotten that far yet? Links below to the writer podcasts I’ve talked about, plus a helpful article on how to write a good book synopsis for fiction and non-fiction. If you have any of your own recommendations to share, I’d love to hear from you.
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https://www.theshitaboutwriting.com/
https://writersroutinedotcom.wordpress.com/
https://www.dabblewriter.com/articles/what-is-a-book-synopsis
