Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 6 Comments

Synopsis, Query, and other dreaded stuff

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on two things (actually, one for the most part, but I just started on the second a couple of days ago): my query letter and the synopsis.

I’ll be honest with you, I honestly did think they would be easier. I’m a newbie, I should have known better; guilty as charged. I’ve already revised my query several times, and the thing I’ve been focusing on is the main character (John Piscus – you can read a small introduction to him here) and what’s at stake for him. Every time I think the letter is in a better state than before, and every time I post it online for critique, the comments and suggestions I receive make it seem as though I’ve done it all wrong. Which for all I know, it probably is completely wrong. Last critique round, an agented writer made some valid comments, so I thought I should follow her suggestions primarily and fill in with things the rest of the other helpful commenters said. So I revised, rewrote everything, and posted it again feeling confident that this time, thanks to her and the help of so many others who provided feedback before her, I had finally nailed the damn thing and would have a lot less to worry about. All the conflict was there, every necessary bit about the main character was there, the main twist that pushed the plot forward to the point of no return was there, what could possibly be wrong, right? Right? WRONG!

The commenters thought it was worse than before.

ezgif.com-gif-makerEither I am dumb or I’ve reached the point where if I keep following suggestions from different people, the whole thing will indeed turn into an unintelligible assortment of letters put one after the other. In other words, gibberish. And yet, it can’t have reached the point of perfection so soon. It’s impossible. They must be right. This thing takes time, yes? Months of working on those two paragraphs that will cause the potential agent to say “I’d like to have a look at that. Sure, why not?” Months of rearranging those 250-300 words within their sentences in such a way that they will be the most melodious thing anyone has ever read. It can’t be ready in a matter of a couple of weeks. No way!

That was when I decided to take a break. It was time to work on something unrelated to the query. Kind of. And thus I had a look at my synopsis. I know that some agents won’t ask for one, but I thought it would be better to have it ready and handy for those who would ask it. It shouldn’t be a problem; after all anyone who uses the snowflake method knows that one of the first steps is having the synopsis ready beforehand.

BUT

From drafting the story all this time ago to having completed the novel, I had changed the story, the plot, and the characters twice after I finished the first draft and once more before that, after I had finished outlining (are you seeing where this is going, folks?). Newbie writer as I am, I never updated my outline after I finished the novel. I just left it there for the future me to remember how different my story was when I first conceived it.

Here’s an insider’s tip. You ready folks? This is all the wisdom of the world. You sure you’re ready? Here goes: don’t do that. Yeah. Don’t. If you outline, save yourself the trouble and update that outline as you go along. Your future self will thank you. Learn from my mistakes.

nice one centurionFun times!

So what stage have you reached with your WIP?

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Inspiration prompt 20

Aside from the fact that it’s a really nice photo and the filters used make it even better, there’s a story behind it. At least I think there is one. And if there isn’t, well, I’m pretty sure we can invent one, yes? Isn’t that what we’re supposed we do? Create reality when there’s none?

Now, what do you think the story here is? Two elderly men talking about what? Their lives? Their past failures? disappointments perhaps? Let’s take it up a notch and go into the realms of fantasy, shall we? What if whatever story you had in mind, was told through the umbrella’s point of view? If you don’t like that, how about making the umbrella into a magical item, perhaps one that could control the weather, or something that could grant wishes? If you’re into more humourous stories, how about the umbrella being cursed and its bearer is always under a personal cloud pouring rain all the time, or perhaps the umbrella had abandonment issues and wanted to feel it is needed by its bearer. What would the dialogue be between the umbrella and the two men?

Lots of potential here. What do you think?

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Let the hunt begin!

Or rather, the process before the hunt.

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I think it’s time for me to start researching agencies and agents that seek Post-apocalyptic Horror novels. I have to admit, it wasn’t easy for me to admit it, or come to terms with. Somewhere deep down in me, I’m still convinced that my book needs work. On the other hand, I know for a fact I can’t do anything more on it without destroying what I have created. Also, given the fact I’m somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing (OKAY, okay… perhaps “somewhat” is an understatement, fine. Excessively then.), my inhibitions may be related to that. And there’s always the probability of me being a little bit intimidated. Bottom line is I don’t want any of these reasons to hold me back. I don’t want to be that writer who says the manuscript isn’t as good as it should be, when in fact it’s only an excuse, and spends the next 20-30 years always polishing it. And I do believe that if I tamper with the manuscript any more, I will make a mess of it. The perfectionist in me will not allow that. Worst case scenario, even if I do come up with anything to improve, it will be some time later, and I will have the chance to see things clearer than I do now.

So, from now on, I will make use of the LONG list of agencies I have bookmarked over the past three years and see which of their agents would be interested in something related to The Darkening. To increase my chances, I will research agencies in the UK as well as the US. It’s time I start drafting my query and research as much as possible about it.

I will also participate in every (or as many as humanly possible) twitter contests, hoping to pair, if not with an agent, then perhaps one of the editors (acquisition or otherwise), if any participate during these events. If possible, I’d like to have started querying by late spring or early summer, then I imagine around autumn the first rejections will start pouring in. Is it okay if I still hold a sliver of hope that one of them may request the full manuscript?

The query letter comes first though. Another uphill path stretches before me.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Holidays alongside memories

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful time, and I wish you all the best for you and your families.

I was rummaging through some old (very old, to be honest) stuff from my time in Scotland (any Aberdonians here or Scotts in general? Raise your hands please) and I found a booklet I had completely forgotten about. In it I found a dozen or so poems I had written way back in the late 90s. At least, at the time, I thought they were poems; not sure what anyone would call them now. I thought I had lost it, destroyed it, or just left it for the next tenant to find.

As I said, I am a late bloomer as far as writing is concerned, but I guess I did show a tiny spark of the need to write from back then, even though it didn’t flourish, and I totally forgot about I had even attempted it. I wonder if there are any salvageable lines in them? I’ll have to work on them more and do some editing (back then, I still believed writers produced their work in one sitting, and it came out perfect… yeah, I know. Silly me.) before I even attempt to consider them as poems, let alone show them to anyone. But it brought back a lot of memories, from a really nice time in my life.

Anyway, how was your holiday season? Did you do anything fun? Did you visit any other places, go abroad perhaps?

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Inspirational prompt 19

I’ll be taking the next few weeks off from blogging. The last post of 2015 is an inspirational prompt with an image I consider related to The Darkening.

Though I’ve never watched the show Ripper Street, from which the image is taken, I can not but feel captivated by that look on the girl’s face. Also, notice the body language, how tense she appears.

In The Darkening, my protagonist John Piscus, is a deranged survivor of an apocalyptic event. I envisioned John having this same expression on his face each time he looked inside him and his life, and of what he was capable of doing to carry on; of what lines he was willing to cross.

So, have you ever tried writing a story from the POV of a person like that? How would you tackle it? What POV would you use and why? Does it inspire you to write something?

Until the next time (sometime in January 2016), I wish you all a happy festive season, and a happy New Year!