An Unexpected Benefit Of Writing A Synopsis

It's the moment all writers dread. Writing a synopsis.

You've written 70,000 plus words, and now's the time to distill all the twists, turns and character arcs into a few hundred words.

Gulp.

So, imagine my discomfort when I wrote my first synopsis for one of my novels, and came up with some story ideas that were better than what I'd written.

Forcing yourself to explain your story in as few words as possible and in the style of the sort of thing you'd read on the back of a dustjacket is, as all writers know, a great way to focus on the crux of your story.

But, as I discovered, it's also a great way of improving your story.

As long as you're prepared to get your head down and tuck into ANOTHER draft, that is.