Premise and Synopsis

Twenty one days until the Big Write!!

I thought it might be fun to do a premise statement, and a short synopsis, ahead of the Big Write, and then see how they compare to the "after" of my work. i.e., did I make the goal I set for myself in the premise and synopsis?

Premise:

And before I try to write one, I need to know what a premise is. Writer's Digest has a great little article about what a premise is and isn't. Here's mine:

"Sometimes when you run away from home, you find your home instead."

Synopsis:

A synopsis is typically a longer document, one or two pages, that tell a potential agent or publisher about your book. However, I like to have a short synopsis, in about two or three paragraphs, especially when starting out. A bigger synopsis can be written afterwards, when you are actually trying to sell the book. The Fiction Writer's Connection has a nice and succint article on synopsis-production.

Here's mine:

Emma Sanders finds herself in a dire pickle when her live-in boyfriend is arrested on theft and drug charges, and she's arrested and charged with possession of stolen property. On the surface, Emma's job as an elementary school teacher has given her a veneer of normalcy. Underneath, however, her bohemian style and feeling of not fitting in have led her down an obstacle-filled path with nothing but darkness at its end.

Fate intervenes when charges are dropped, and Emma finds her escape from the muddled mundane that is her life. She runs away with the circus, not as an aerialist or ticket hawker, but as the schoolteacher.

A more mis-matched group of people could not have been found. There is the gay wardrobe coordinator, Robbie, who can't seem to find his forever love, the clown-aerialist Tino who has avoided women for five years since the accidental death of his wife, the young elephant handler Gideon who has moved from an abusive home life to an abusive symbionic relationship with a brutal boss, and a matchmaking circus hen in the form of Mama del Rio.

While Emma struggles to fit in and find her place, the circus goes on, town to town, week to week. Even a devastating tornado cannot stop the show, and Emma finds herself elbows-deep in making sure the circus survives. But even the love of a good man doesn't seem to be enough to "fix" the broken Emma.

It isn't until Emma receives a visit from her eccentric, Bohemian, former Vaudeville performer Grandma Lovey that Emma understands that she didn't run away from home. Instead, she has finally found her home, with the circus. The lost boy Gideon, the lovelorn Robbie, Mama Del Rio, and the fiercely-loving Tino are her family, her place to belong.


Comments welcome!