any ideas on how I can FINALLY write a synospsis for a story I would like to write?

Question

for years I have wanted to write and I am told I am good at it. i write quirky factual stuff for a magazine in the UK but I can NEVER work out a synopsis for a story.

I'd like to write a crime caper based in San francisco with all the quirky characters I have met here. Crime = non violent crime like the theft of a valuable diamond necklace or something.

I can always thing of good scenes and conversations and I have the characters sorted out but can't work out a good plot or even how the crime could be solved!

Doesn't have to be a crime caper so any ideas on how to get a story started greatly appreciated!

Ideally I'd like the story to be 20 - 30 pages

Answer 1

For anyone wrting a book, or a story longer than 10 pages, I always recommend writing a one to two page story about what you have in mind first.

Writing a short version of your work gives you a roadmap for the longer work, and you can then use the roadmap to add as many characters, details, and subplots as you so choose, and easily expand a one page story into a series of books. A friend of mine had been trying to write a book for many years and wasn't able to do so because of the same reasons you're running into. She used this technique and had a five page short story written within a week. The book followed shortly thereafter.

To keep it down to one page, you can eliminate the complexities of dialouge by creating a first person, narrative monologue; which is what I usually write.

The hardest line to write is the first one, and I recommend using a poetic line which summarizes the emotional state of the narrator or the general mood of the story. The best line of can think of is Melville's opening line to Moby Dick, "Call me Ishmael." It was incredibly simple, but gave a clear mood for the novel's narrator.

I also rarely know how a story is going to end, and how the story is going to profess when I start to write one. In your case, I don't think you would need to know how the crime could be solved. It will probably come to you when you're taking a walk. For example, I wrote a story where the narrator is known to a community of people, but I didn't want to tell the reader who the narrator was. I thought about how to do this for quite awhile and while I was taking a walk the answer came to me. I had the character enter the community, and say "Everyone there knew who I was." This is a reversal of the "mysterious stranger" technique in which the reader usually has some idea of who the mysterious stranger is, but the community doesn't,. Using this wording the community knew the narrator, but the reader didn't.

Another advantage of writing short stories, one to seven pages long, is that you can combine them together with stage directions to create stage plays and expose your work to people in a completely different manner. At first, your stories may not appear to be linkable, but after you've written a few you'll probably be able to find a way to bring them together. If you need a few examples, a few of my stage plays are posted at www.geocities.com/absaroka2001. They can be read and printed out for free.

After you've written a story, the next logical question is how to have it published. Poets and Writers Magazine is an excellent source of practical informatioin for writers and their classified section always has ads from editors seeking new writers. The magazine can be read for free at www.pw.org.

Answer 2

Go ahead and write. Try to secure this book to bolster your ideas:

The Great San Francisco Trivia and Fact Book
By: Janet Bailey
- The book celebrates the landmarks, characters, and customs that have made San Francisco one of America's best-loved cities. Meant for natives, visitors, trivia buffs, and anyone drawn to the City by the Bay, this entertaining volume reveals quirky and obscure facts about San Francisco's buildings and bridges, poets and athletes, festivals and fault lines.

Good luck