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TORN SYNOPSIS - THIRD REVISION

by Joella 

Posted: 23 August 2010
Word Count: 863
Summary: Taking on board what was said re other editions, I have tried to rewrite concentrating on the main characters only. I'd appreciate comments from anyone who has the time and patience to respond. Thank you.


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TORN SYNOPSIS (THIRD REVISION)

Ben Field is mourning the tragic death of his ‘brother’, Tod, whom his estranged wife, Roxanne, blames for the breakdown of their marriage. Vengeful, she snatches their son, William, on the pretext that Ben’s not his biological father. Grief stricken, but not for the loss of his marriage, Ben seeks solace in the barn. Here he finds his 1974/5 journal. It chronicles memories he’d rather not recall, but looking to discover why his life had fallen apart, he feels compelled to read it.

Aged sixteen, Roxanne and Ben agree to marry. But her sudden return to Nigeria brings a sense of heart ache and betrayal. Defending Roxanne against racist bullies, Selby Smith and Vittorio Capilano, aka Cappy, demands regular sacrifice and brings Ben to the attention of Eloise Maye. She patches him up after a fight, they become friends, fall in love, but Ben, compromised by promises made to Roxanne, denies the true nature of his affection. Rejected, Eloise leaves for Switzerland, but a passionate farewell embrace at the railway station, is much more than a kiss.

An only child, the school’s pariah, Ben had long wished for a brother. Cappy, assisted by silent, unknown accomplice, ‘Hat,’ subject Ben to a brutal attack. Home, after a spell in hospital, Ben discovers an intruder in the barn. ‘Hat’s’ disfigured appearance and unmasked long dark hair, conceals his secret. Calling himself Tod, Ben takes pity and offers him sanctuary. They strike up a friendship and Tod returns Ben’s favour the day Cappy threatens to burn down his house. Fearing their friendship’s in jeopardy, Tod decides to move on, despite Ben’s plea that he stay.

Cappy’s body is found in the harbour. Tod returns covered in his blood. It was an act of self defence and he intends to turn himself in. Ben dissuades him, provides an alibi and place to live.

The Capilano mob leave Tod for dead on a railway line. He spends two months in a coma, Ben never far from his side. During rehab, Tod demonstrates an innate artistic talent. He gains a place at college and develops a passion for painting nudes.

Roxanne’s eighteenth birthday lapses without her promised return. Ben’s abandons his celibate existence losing his virginity to a girl whose name he doesn’t even know. But the sun sand and sex summer of 1976, triggers a crisis of conscience.

Tod fails to return from a party. Ben gets a tip off and finds him chained and beaten in his parent’s house. He spends time in hospital, receives unwelcome media attention and later testifies against his abuser. Tod’s biological father tracks him down. They’re planning to live in Ireland together, when Tod discovers Ben’s journal in the barn. Memory restored, he decides to stay.

Eloise, Miss United Kingdom, comes looking for Ben. She declares her unconditional love, but past promiscuous behaviour, makes Ben feel unworthy. Eloise says she forgives him, and asks him to kiss her. There follows a whirlwind romance, they plan to be wed, but for some unknown reason, she writes calling it off. The following year she has a baby, but remains incommunicado, on all matters, including the paternity of her son.

Tod is forced to harbours a torturous secret, for fear of its consequences. The pair move on with their lives, but, forced to do battle with Selby Smith, Tod ends up in hospital. Smith is fatally wounded, Tod’s injuries are less serious, but he’s forced to disclose that he has a brain tumour. Claiming it’s benign, the growth is removed and Tod appears to make a remarkable recovery.

After an absence of six years, Ben spies Roxanne on a dance floor. She ignores him, so climbing into her taxi, they head back to the farm. She’s to be wed the next day, for unlike Eloise, she can’t forgive his sexual indiscretions. Terrified when a storm breaks, Ben offers her a room for the night. Later, she climbs into his bed, they enjoy a night of passion, but come morning she has gone. Locating the church, he arrives to interrupt the ceremony. A fracas breaks out as they make their escape to Merryfields. Roxanne falls pregnant. They wed, but it proves to be no fairy tale. Roxanne resents Tod’s presence and leaving William with Ben, goes to live with her mother in London.

Tod’s tumour is terminal. Ben’s incandescent with grief, but Tod’s determined they will live for every minute. He tells Ben he has a son and Ben promises to be a father to him. Tod’s death pushes Ben to the edge, he contemplates suicide, but is brought back from the brink by his love for his son.

The story journeys full circle, when Ben’s mother informs him he has a visitor. It’s Eloise and after all these years without word, he now learns that Tod’s the father of her son. The mistake is explained, she brims with remorse, reaffirms her love and on behalf of them both, begs his forgiveness. Looking into the opaque eyes of the only girl he ever truly loved, remembering what she once said to him, he simply responds - ‘Kiss me Ellie. Just Kiss me.’






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Comments by other Members



NMott at 00:07 on 24 August 2010  Report this post
Hi, and welcome back with a new version.

The synopsis has a few common mistakes, which almost everyone makes. Firstly you are using the same prose style as the novel instead of telling the story matter of factly.
You have an overuse of words used to express emotions so that it reads like Romantic Fiction - I'm not sure if Agents accept Romance with a male main character.
Also you have shortened the sentence structure in an attempt to cut down on the length of the synopsis, creating too many sentences tacked together with commas which has the effect of disrupting the flow of the prose.

Ben Field is mourning the tragic death of his ‘brother’, Tod, whom his estranged wife, Roxanne, blames for the breakdown of their marriage. Vengeful, she snatches their son, William, on the pretext that Ben’s not his biological father. Grief stricken, but not for the loss of his marriage, Ben seeks solace in the barn. Here he finds his 1974/5 journal. It chronicles memories he’d rather not recall, but looking to discover why his life had fallen apart, he feels compelled to read it


Replace 'brother' with best friend and avoid using quotes.
The detail of the barn and journal are in the prologue which the agent will have read already, so delete this unnecessary repetition.
The prologue does not explain Roxanne's motives, so delete them from here, and stick with Ben's pov rather than switching povs.
Try to sum it up in one sentence along the lines: 'With his best friend dead and his marriage a failure Ben finds himself at a crossroads in his life and recalls where it all started to go wrong'


An example of a more straightforward 'tell':

16 year old Ben defends his classmate, Roxanne, from racist bullies, Selby Smith and Vittorio Capilano, aka Cappy. They fall in love and decide to get married in an attempt to prevent Roxanne's parents from sending her back to Nigeria. The plan fails leaving Ben hearbroken. Ben is consoled by Eloise Maye, but he is still in love with Roxanne and a rejected Eloise leaves for Switzerland.

(The full implication of their parting kiss can be left for the novel itself).

Cappy, assisted by a masked accomplice, subjects Ben to a brutal attack. While recuperating Ben discovers an intruder in the barn. Ben takes pity on the disfigured stranger, offering him a place to stay and they strike up a friendship. Tod returns the favour when Cappy returns and threatens to burn down the house, but then tells Ben he's moving on. Ben is heartbroken; an only child he had always wanted a brother, but when Cappy’s body is found in the harbour he fears that Tod was involved. Tod claims it was an act of self defence and intends to turn himself in but Ben dissuades him (why?) and provides him with an alibi.

Just read through the rest aloud and make the sentences a bit less staccatto.

Delete. 'and develops a passion for painting nudes'.

Ben's 'incandescent with grief', - 'incandescent' is over the top. Simply 'grief struck' or 'full of grief' is enough.


'The story journeys full circle, when Ben’s mother informs him he has a visitor.' - not sure about that since the prologue ends in Ben's house, not his mother's.


'she brims with remorse, reaffirms her love and on behalf of them both' - tone it down. Simply 'begs his forgiveness' is enough in a synopsis.


Looking into the opaque eyes of the only girl he ever truly loved, remembering what she once said to him, he simply responds - ‘Kiss me Ellie. Just Kiss me.’
- Too melodramatic for a synopsis.

What about Ben's son by Roxanne, who he pledged not to leave in the prologue?




- NaomiM





<Added>

You have some sections from Tod's pov - eg, the secret he's keeping, and when he plays down the seriousness of the tumour. Try to keep the focus on Ben.

<Added>

You don't explain why Selby Smith returns. You still have a number of repetitions of scenarios, with Tod getting beaten up several times by different characters.

Cornelia at 08:53 on 24 August 2010  Report this post
There seemed to be a lot happening in this story, so it was hard to keep track, especially with so many characters. I wonder if using capital letters for a first mention of each character would help.


From the time lapses, the large cast and the melodramatic events I'd say this sounds like a long romantic saga. I wonder if it might be better broken down into two parts or even a trilogy? That way you would avoid the need for the long flashback with the diary, I think, and you could start with Ben and Roxanne's romance. As it is, her sudden return to Nigeria seems abrupt and unexplained.

I thought much of the language of the synopsis could be toned down and made more explicit. I've picked out a few examples for comment:

Four people in the first sentence seems too many and it's not clear who is married to who or who blames who for the break up. Better would be: ' Ben is mourning the death of his brother Tod, whom Roxanne, Ben's estranged wife, blames for their marriage break-up.' Or make it two sentences

'Ben seeks solace in the barn.' (people generally seek solace in music, or religion or things like that. The barn sounds unintentionally comic.It also doesn't seem logical to go to a barn when his son has been kidnapped. The diary is a good device to give a backstory but maybe just say he wanted to look to see where his relationship went wrong or to mull over happier times))

looking to discover why his life had fallen apart, ( This is cliche - better to say he wanted to discover what went wrong)

Defending Roxanne against racist bullies, Selby Smith and Vittorio Capilano, aka Cappy, demands regular sacrifice ( this makes it sound like a religious rite. It would be better to say they keep getting beaten up)

An only child, the school’s pariah, Ben had long wished for a brother (The two facts - his only child status, and being the school's pariah, in the same sentence, seem to be related but they are not. Pariah is too strong and it is probably better to say he is a loner or outside or say what he has done to serve such extreme exclusion. If he really is a pariah maybe make it a separate sentence from one about being an only child )

Roxanne’s eighteenth birthday lapses without her promised return. ( Lapses isn't the right word here. Maybe something like 'came and went' or just 'passed' )

She declares her unconditional love, but past promiscuous behaviour, makes Ben feel unworthy. (It's not clear from the punctuation whether it's Ben or Roxanne has been promiscuous. I think you need 'because of his past promiscuity'

but for some unknown reason, she writes calling it off. ( I think you need to give the reason, because it sounds as if you, the writer, don't know. Or you could say 'some reason unknown to Ben)

but remains incommunicado, on all matters, including the paternity of her son. (Incommunicado means out of touch,unable to be reached, so here I think you mean uncommunicative or secretive)

Tod is forced to harbours a torturous secret, for fear of its consequences (I think you mean tortuous, or complex)

Claiming it’s benign, the growth is removed and Tod appears to make a remarkable recovery. (A mix-up in the grammar makes it sound as if the tumour is making the claim to be benign. Maybe you need to say Tod claims the tumour is benign and appears to recover)

Terrified when a storm breaks, Ben offers her a room for the night. (Again, the grammar mix-up suggests Ben is the one who is terrified. It should read something like 'When the storm breaks Ben offers the terrified Roxanne a room for the night.'

I hope this is helpful and that you consider this in terms of not just one but two or three books. That way quite a lot of background that's only outlined in the story could be told in detail

Sheila




NMott at 10:05 on 24 August 2010  Report this post
I wonder if using capital letters for a first mention of each character would help.


That is more for screewriting. It's a bit of a marmite issue for literary agents.


<Added>

If I remember correctly it did start off as a very long mss, Sheila and so could form 2 books or a trilogy which is why there's a lot packed in the synopsis.
Has it been edited down Joella, or is it the same length?

Joella at 10:16 on 24 August 2010  Report this post
Hi Naomi and Sheila, thanks so much for taking time to comment. I've read it all carefully and you've made some good points. I'm going to respond in more detail, only I'm currently writing a humorous poem for my parents 6oth wedding anniversary party. After that there's the garden to do and house to tidy and trim up. I didn't want you to think you're being ignored, as I truly value the help you've both taken the time to give. So just to say - I'll be back..

Joella.

Freebird at 17:31 on 25 August 2010  Report this post
Naomi, I thought the synopsis had to give an idea of the 'voice' of the novel, and yet here you say that it should be 'matter-of-fact'. Help! I'm confused now!

NMott at 18:04 on 25 August 2010  Report this post
It's not that straightforward. I'll WWmail you.


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