So you've gotten into writing this story idea, and the word counts are steadily climbing. You're not even a third of the way through your intended plot, and already you've hit the industry accepted word count for your genre. Before you rush off to turn your manuscript into a trilogy, think this through.
As I've discussed before in the post Length matters, but story matters more, agents and editors use word counts as a first-level indication of the maturity of the writing. Going dramatically over what is considered to be an acceptable word count length could be a sign of over writing — writing that is filled with too much backstory or unnecessary description. Yet, coming under the word count could be a sign that not enough attention was given to the details — that a story is all tell and no show.
But let's say that you are the most gifted writer on the planet, and that every word in your manuscript has its purpose. (We'll ignore the fact that a professional editor will have different ideas, but we'll carry on.) There is no way that you can do your story proper justice in a single book. Or maybe you set out from the beginning to actually write a series.
The place where a novel finishes is NOT when you hit 100,000 words, but rather when a story plot arc comes to a conclusion. This is where the dreaded synopsis can help in a big way.
Writers who are heading down the traditional publication path are likely about to scream at me. Synopses are scary things — whittling that 80,000+ words into only 500. But that's a submission synopsis. What I'm talking about is an editorial synopsis.
The Editorial Synopsis
As mentioned in the post The Value of a Synopsis, the synopsis was originally an editing tool. However, what makes an editorial synopsis different from a submission synopsis is that an editorial synopsis contains EVERYTHING that you feel is needed to understand the underlying plot arcs to your story, including ALL subplots and character development.
Here's the beauty of an editorial synopsis: you can structure it however you like.
The plotters out there might have folders and record sheets for characters and plot, mind maps, and the like. They will likely have started on their editorial synopsis prior to writing, although it is unlikely that they call it an editorial synopsis (because a synopsis is a bad thing that agents and editors force us to write for submission). However, the hybrid plotters and pantsers tend to have a few notes sitting around on a piece of paper somewhere with some ransom ideas; occasionally, they'll have bullet lists of key events.
There is no right or wrong way to develop an editorial synopsis, but trust me, if you are facing an epic story that is likely to span for multiple volumes, that synopsis is going to help you find the point(s) where the story should be split. In examining the synopsis, you'll see the completed sub-arcs within the main arc. All stories have them — points of resolution that will mark a change in the characters. Exactly how a writer will polish the edges of that story to smooth the transitions between books will be entirely up to them.
However, before you just split that book, believing that you've found a completed arc, look even closer at the synopsis. Are there any subplots that managed to creep their way into that synopsis vital for character development that need to be resolved within a single book? Or were there any subplots that made you rush to your ending that really should have been given more time? Have you made your story divisions in the right spot?
Example: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
For this post, I want to use a practical example that highlights where subplots can be followed in a synopsis. (If you haven't seen the movie, don't worry, you're not missing much.)
On Wikipedia, you can find a full paragraph version of the plot synopsis, but I'm going to just put a bullet-point version here.
- The Resistance is hiding from the First Order, while they search for Luke Skywalker.
- Resistance pilot Poe Dameron gets a lead on where he might find the map to Luke's location. Poe is captured by Kylo Ren, but his droid BB-8 escapes with the map.
- A Stormtrooper, who gets named "Finn", helps Poe escape. They crash land on Jakku.
- Poe meets Rey, who was looking after BB-8, and they find the Millennium Falcon in a junkyard and fly it out of dodge.
- The Millennium Falcon is captured by a larger ship piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca, looking for their former vessel.
- The Falcon crew determines BB-8's map is incomplete and go to Takodana.
- Rey is drawn to a secluded vault and finds the lightsaber that once belonged to Luke and Anakin Skywalker.
- The First Order attacks Takodana. The Falcon crew are saved by the Resistance, but Rey was captured.
- Rey discovers she can use the force and uses a Jedi mind trick on the guard.
- Using the Falcon, Han, Chewbacca and Finn rescue Rey, but Han is killed by Kylo.
- Kylo faces Rey in a lightsaber fight while the planet they're on breaks up around them.
- The Resistance celebrates their win.
- R2-D2 wakes up and reveals that he had the rest of the map to Luke's location.
- Rey flies to where Luke is hiding and presents him with the lightsaber.
(I don't know about anyone else, but that is seriously plot light if I was able to compress the entire movie into 14 lines, but we'll ignore that little detail.)
If we look at the above synopsis list, the main arc about getting the map to the Resistance is actually concluded at point 12. I don't know about anyone else, but it was at this point in the movie that I wanted to scream at the scriptwriters, or the directors, or the producers, or someone. Anyone with a gift for storytelling could see that points 13 and 14 above are actually part of the next chapter in the story saga (at least they should have been). It was WAAAY too convenient that R2-D2 just happens to wake up with the rest of the map needed to find Luke — and the trip to find Luke was all of what... a minute of screen time? Even die-hard Star Wars fans have to admit that the movie ending was so unsatisfying.
But it is this point exactly that I'm trying to make. The numbered list above is all the detail that is needed in an editorial synopsis (if you really can't be bothered writing one), yet, it's enough to see where the different subplot arcs are in the story, and how they are each resolved. It also shows where the main arc for this particular movie actually came to a conclusion. However, the writer/editor in me really does wish they had smoothed that ending just a little better.
(I would have been okay with another movie, just searching for Luke. I think Star Wars fans would have been fine with that too. Thankfully Star Wars: Episode VIII was so much better.)
To Split or Chop?
Identifying how a story should be split (if it is to be split) is not easy. What makes matters worse is that when you identify the natural conclusion of the main story arc, it might mean an entire rewrite of the back end of your novel to make it work. I have faced this myself, and will likely face it again in the future.
I won't give you the synopsis breakdown of my own novel, as I'm still working on it (it's sitting in that metaphorical drawer), but I will give away some of the plot.
In Beacon of Hope, a magician has the power to breach the boundary between life and death, but only if she learns to love that one who is destine to be her mate and complete her power. The natural conclusion to that concept is that she finally accepts the man's love and saves the life of someone dear to them both. Well... That's not where I originally had finished the novel.
Beacon of Hope was always intended to be the first novel in a high fantasy series. However, in the first iteration of my novel, I had ended the novel with the rise of the power to bring down the big baddies of the series. As I was editing, I realized right away that I had too much in the first book, and cut the manuscript at the point where my main character learns to use her power properly for the first time. Yet, the way it was originally written, it clocked in at 280,000 words.
So many told me to just cut it into three. (Blink... Blink... Are you kidding?) If I looked at the editorial synopsis, my manuscript had found its natural conclusion. To split it in any other location would have left the story at an unsatisfying point.
No, I refused to just chop the thing into thirds. No, I did the right thing, and edited it to the nth degree.
I looked at my editorial synopsis in detail, breaking it down chapter by chapter. Whole subplots found the chopping room floor. Characters were relegated to the drawers for future novels. The entire ending was rewritten to remove a setting that demanded more exploration. Countless slashing and editing hours, and I brought that enormous manuscript down to a respectable word count that was just over 100,000 words.
The manuscript is current sitting in a drawer, waiting for me to finish the next several books in the series. However, that won't happen for some time. My attention has been on thrillers and on the dangers of social media (something anyone who follows this blog has probably picked up for themselves).
What if you can't see the way through?
No writer is immune to this. There will always be moments when you are too close to the manuscript that you can't see the forest for the trees. If you ever get into this state, I recommend two things:
- Put your manuscript into that metaphorical drawer to give yourself distance.
- Get some other eyes on it.
Do both of these things. The distance will help you to slay your darlings, but the other eyes will give you the feedback needed to identify what's wrong. Use critique partners, beta readers, or a professional editor. Each will have their own skills and merits.
Black Wolf Editorial offers manuscript assessments.
The core service of Black Wolf Editorial Services is developmental editing, also known as book doctoring. There are different tiers of developmental editing offered, including manuscript assessments/critiques that examine plot, character, and narrative voice. While we offer editing to most genres, we specialize in high-action stories. In particular, we focus on fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers. (Take a look at our preferred genres for editing.)