There’s something to be said for a story that starts like a James Bond movie, throwing you straight in the deep end, a perfect way of getting to know the main character, David, or is that Alistair?
A retired spy, well not so much a spy as a retired errand boy, David’s rather wry description of his talents, and a woman that most men would give their left arm for, not exactly the ideal couple, but there is a spark in a meeting that may or may not have been a setup.
But as the story progressed, the question I kept asking myself was why he’d bother.
And, page after unrelenting page, you find out.
Susan is exactly the sort of woman to pique his interest. Then, inexplicably, she disappears. That might have been the end to it, but Prendergast, that shadowy enigma, David’s ex-boss who loves playing games with real people, gives him an ultimatum, find her or come back to work.
Nothing like an offer that’s a double-edged sword!
A dragon for a mother, a sister he didn’t know about, Susan’s BFF who is not what she seems or a friend indeed, and Susan’s father who, up till David meets her, couldn’t be less interested, his nemesis proves to be the impossible dream, and he’s always just that one step behind.
When the rollercoaster finally came to a halt, and I could start breathing again, it was an ending that was completely unexpected.
Crafting the Perfect Synopsis: Tools to Help You Succeed
As a writer, you’re likely no stranger to the daunting task of condensing your entire manuscript into a concise, compelling synopsis. A well-written synopsis is essential for capturing the attention of literary agents, publishers, and readers alike, but it can be a challenging and time-consuming process. Fortunately, there are several tools available to help you create the perfect synopsis.
In this post, we’ll explore some of the most effective tools and techniques for crafting a synopsis that showcases your work in the best possible light.
1. Synopsis Templates
One of the most useful tools for creating a synopsis is a template. A template provides a structured framework for organising your thoughts and ensuring that you include all the essential elements of a synopsis. You can find a variety of synopsis templates online, or create your own using a word processing program like Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
Some popular synopsis templates include:
The Snowflake Method: This template involves breaking down your story into smaller and smaller pieces, starting with a one-sentence summary and gradually expanding to a full synopsis.
The Three-Act Structure: This template is based on the traditional three-act structure of a story, with a setup, confrontation, and resolution.
The Hero’s Journey: This template is based on the classic hero’s journey narrative pattern, with stages like the call to adventure, the road of trials, and the return with the elixir.
2. Writing Software
There are many writing software programs available that can help you create a synopsis, including:
Scrivener: This popular writing program includes a synopsis feature that allows you to create an outline of your story and organise your thoughts.
Novelise: This writing software includes a built-in synopsis tool that helps you create a concise and compelling summary of your story.
Writing.com: This online writing community offers a variety of tools and resources for creating a synopsis, including templates, prompts, and writing exercises.
3. Online Synopsis Generators
If you’re struggling to come up with a synopsis on your own, you can try using an online synopsis generator. These tools use artificial intelligence to analyse your story and create a synopsis based on the characters, plot, and themes.
Some popular online synopsis generators include:
AutoCrit: This writing tool uses AI to analyse your manuscript and create a synopsis, as well as provide feedback on character development, pacing, and other elements of your story.
ProWritingAid: This writing software includes a synopsis generator that helps you create a concise and compelling summary of your story.
Synopsis Generator: This online tool uses a simple questionnaire to gather information about your story and create a synopsis.
4. Writing Guides and Resources
In addition to templates, software, and online generators, there are many writing guides and resources available that can help you create a synopsis. Some popular options include:
The Writer’s Digest Guide to Query Letters: This book provides comprehensive guidance on writing a query letter, including tips and examples for crafting a compelling synopsis.
The Synopsis Workshop: This online course offers in-depth instruction on writing a synopsis, including video lessons, writing exercises, and feedback from industry professionals.
Writing Excuses: This popular writing podcast often features episodes on writing a synopsis, with tips and advice from experienced authors and industry professionals.
Conclusion
Crafting the perfect synopsis is a challenging task, but with the right tools and techniques, you can create a compelling and effective summary of your story. Whether you prefer to use a template, writing software, online generator, or writing guide, there are many resources available to help you succeed. Remember to keep your synopsis concise, focused, and engaging, and don’t be afraid to seek feedback and revise your work until you’re satisfied with the result. With practice and patience, you can create a synopsis that showcases your work in the best possible light and helps you achieve your writing goals.
50 photographs, 50 stories, of which there is one of the 50 below.
They all start with –
A picture paints … well, as many words as you like. For instance:
And, the story:
Have you ever watched your hopes and dreams simply just fly away?
Everything I thought I wanted and needed had just left in an aeroplane, and although I said I was not going to, i came to the airport to see the plane leave. Not the person on it, that would have been far too difficult and emotional, but perhaps it was symbolic, the end of one life and the start of another.
But no matter what I thought or felt, we had both come to the right decision. She needed the opportunity to spread her wings. It was probably not the best idea for her to apply for the job without telling me, but I understood her reasons.
She was in a rut. Though her job was a very good one, it was not as demanding as she had expected, particularly after the last promotion, but with it came resentment from others on her level, that she, the youngest of the group would get the position.
It was something that had been weighing down of her for the last three months, and if noticed it, the late nights, the moodiness, sometimes a flash of temper. I knew she had one, no one could have such red hair and not, but she had always kept it in check.
And, then there was us, together, and after seven years, it felt like we were going nowhere. Perhaps that was down to my lack of ambition, and though she never said it, lack of sophistication. It hadn’t been an issue, well, not until her last promotion, and the fact she had to entertain more, and frankly I felt like an embarrassment to her.
So, there it was, three days ago, the beginning of the weekend, and we had planned to go away for a few days and take stock. We both acknowledged we needed to talk, but it never seemed the right time.
It was then she said she had quit her job and found a new one. Starting the following Monday.
Ok, that took me by surprise, not so much that it something I sort of guessed might happen, but that she would just blurt it out.
I think that right then, at that moment, I could feel her frustration with everything around her.
What surprised her was my reaction. None.
I simply asked where who, and when.
A world-class newspaper, in New York, and she had to be there in a week.
A week.
It was all the time I had left with her.
I remember I just shrugged and asked if the planned weekend away was off.
She stood on the other side of the kitchen counter, hands around a cup of coffee she had just poured, and that one thing I remembered was the lone tear that ran down her cheek.
Is that all you want to know?
I did, yes, but we had lost that intimacy we used to have when she would have told me what was happening, and we would have brainstormed solutions. I might be a cabinet maker but I still had a brain, was what I overheard her tell a friend once.
There’s not much to ask, I said. You’ve been desperately unhappy and haven’t been able to hide it all that well, you have been under a lot of pressure trying to deal with a group of troglodytes, and you’ve been leaning on Bentley’s shoulder instead of mine, and I get it, he’s got more experience in that place, and the politics that go with it, and is still an ally.
Her immediate superior and instrumental in her getting the position, but unlike some men in his position he had not taken advantage of a situation like some men would. And even if she had made a move, which I doubted, that was not the sort of woman she was, he would have politely declined.
One of the very few happily married men in that organisation, so I heard.
So, she said, you’re not just a pretty face.
Par for the course for a cabinet maker whose university degree is in psychology. It doesn’t take rocket science to see what was happening to you. I just didn’t think it was my place to jump in unless you asked me, and when you didn’t, well, that told me everything I needed to know.
Yes, our relationship had a use by date, and it was in the next few days.
I was thinking, she said, that you might come with me, you can make cabinets anywhere.
I could, but I think the real problem wasn’t just the job. It was everything around her and going with her, that would just be a constant reminder of what had been holding her back. I didn’t want that for her and said so.
Then the only question left was, what do we do now?
Go shopping for suitcases. Bags to pack, and places to go.
Getting on the roller coaster is easy. On the beginning, it’s a slow easy ride, followed by the slow climb to the top. It’s much like some relationships, they start out easy, they require a little work to get to the next level, follows by the adrenaline rush when it all comes together.
What most people forget is that what comes down must go back up, and life is pretty much a roller coaster with highs and lows.
Our roller coaster had just come or of the final turn and we were braking so that it stops at the station.
There was no question of going with her to New York. Yes, I promised I’d come over and visit her, but that was a promise with crossed fingers behind my back. After a few months in t the new job the last thing shed want was a reminder of what she left behind. New friends new life.
We packed her bags, three out everything she didn’t want, a free trips to the op shop with stiff she knew others would like to have, and basically, by the time she was ready to go, there was nothing left of her in the apartment, or anywhere.
Her friends would be seeing her off at the airport, and that’s when I told her I was not coming, that moment the taxi arrived to take her away forever. I remember standing there, watching the taxi go. It was going to be, and was, as hard as it was to watch the plane leave.
So, there I was, finally staring at the blank sky, around me a dozen other plane spotters, a rather motley crew of plane enthusiasts.
Already that morning there’s been 6 different types of plane depart, and I could hear another winding up its engines for take-off.
People coming, people going.
Maybe I would go to New York in a couple of months, not to see her, but just see what the attraction was. Or maybe I would drop in, just to see how she was.
As one of my friends told me when I gave him the news, the future is never written in stone, and it’s about time you broadened your horizons.
It could be said that of all the women one could meet, whether contrived or by sheer luck, what are the odds it would turn out to be the woman who was being paid a very large sum to kill you.
John Pennington is a man who may be lucky in business, but not so lucky in love. He has just broken up with Phillipa Sternhaven, the woman he thought was the one, but relatives and circumstances, and perhaps because she was a ‘princess’, may also have contributed to the end result.
So, what do you do when you are heartbroken?
That is a story that slowly unfolds, from the first meeting with his nemesis on Lake Geneva, all the way to a hotel room in Sorrento, where he learns the shattering truth.
What should have been solace after disappointment, turns out to be something else entirely, and from that point, everything goes to hell in a handbasket.
He suddenly realizes his so-called friend Sebastian has not exactly told him the truth about a small job he asked him to do, the woman he is falling in love with is not quite who she says she is, and he is caught in the middle of a war between two men who consider people becoming collateral damage as part of their business.
The story paints the characters cleverly displaying all their flaws and weaknesses. The locations add to the story at times taking me back down memory lane, especially to Venice where, in those back streets I confess it’s not all that hard to get lost.
All in all a thoroughly entertaining story with, for once, a satisfying end.
For a story that was conceived during those long boring hours flying in a steel cocoon, striving to keep away the thoughts that the plane and everyone in it could just simply disappear as planes have in the past, it has come a long way.
Whilst I have always had a fascination in what happened during the second worlds war, not the battles or fighting, but in the more obscure events that took place, I decided to pen my own little sidebar to what was a long and bitter war.
And, so, it continues…
…
Wallace had not returned upstairs by the normal stairs, but the one by the radio room, far removed from the basement area where the prisoners were kept.
If he had, he might have realised that something was very, very wrong.
There were no more prisoners, except for Martina. The other defectors that had been captured had, on Johannsen’s orders, taken away by the three remaining resistance fighters, to be executed in the woods not far from the castle.
They had gone an hour before Schmidt’s men had departed, but in a different path, and would avoid running into the others. Johannesen had given Fernando’s second-in-command a silenced luger and told him to only use that gun for the execution. And to make as little noise as possible.
When they had left an eerie silence fell over the cellar.
Johannsen passed by Martina’s cell and looked in. She was lying on the ground, still badly injured from the beating Fernando had given her. She let him look at her for a minute, then said, “When is this going to be over. I’m not going to tell you anything.”
“I don’t doubt that for a moment?”
“Where did you send the rest of the prisoners?”
“Back to Germany. Someone else can deal with them.”
She didn’t believe him for one moment, but let it pass. “Why betray your country?”
“England? England wasn’t my country, it’s just where I ended up before the war. Then it seemed a good idea to become a double agent.”
“Germany isn’t winning the war, you know, despite what the fools in Berlin keep telling you.”
“I could have you shot for saying that.”
“Then get on with it. I’m over waiting for whatever you’re going to do to me.”
“All in good time. The new people have brought some very good interrogators and they promise they’ll have you singing like a canary in no time.”
She shrugged, and it hurt.
“Fools.”
“Actually, I’m inclined to agree with you. So much so, I believe, if I can get you out of here, you might put in a good word for me. Atherton is out there, and he’s coming, isn’t he?”
“Atherton is just a boy pretending to be a soldier.”
He smiled. “That’s what he wants everyone to think, but Thompson, the man you take orders from, he thinks Atherton is one of his best agents. And he will have a plan, and being the archaeological major that he was, he’ll know how to breach this place.”
And the fact she didn’t argue or deny what he was suggesting told him she was waiting.
“You expect too much, there are no more resistance fighters except for a few young lads, and that dog of his.” She laughed. “Rescued by three children and a dog. I wonder if Germany will record that piece of history if it comes to pass. Go away, whoever you are, and leave me to die in peace.”
“When the time comes, I’ll be back.”
She ignored him, and rolled over to face the wall.
The two guards had been watching him, though they had not been following the conversation. The officer in charge, Wallace, had told them to keep an eye on everyone who came and went, and though Johannesen was on that watch list because he treated them better than Jackerby or the commandant did, they simply ignored him.
At their peril.
Johannesen wandered up to them, bade them a good evening, and then shot them. He dragged the bodies to a place where no one would look and then headed along to the radio room. The guards and radio men would not be changed for another eight hours, so no one was going to miss them. Unless someone came down top check, but Johannesen had done several nights observation, and no one had.
The two radio men disposed of, it was time to block off the entrances to the basement so no one could come down. These exits or entrances were large iron gates bolted and locked with ancient locks. There was only one key to each, and Johannsen had the key ring with them on it. He’d taken that of one of the dead guards.
Once the entrances were locked, he went back to Martina’s cell and unlocked the door.
At the sound of the key, she turned back.
“Time to go,” he said. “We have a very small wind to escape before they find out upstairs.”
“I cannot save you, if Atherton thinks you are a traitor.”
“Atherton is probably the only level headed person in this area. He’ll appreciate what I;ve done and give me a second chance.”
She shook her head.
“Once a traitor, always a traitor.”
“Be that as it may, just hold that thought. I’m giving you a gun, and I’m hoping you won’t use it on me.”
He went into the cell and assisted her to stand. She was weak, but the thought of escaping death put a little life into her limbs.
“It will not be a quick getaway,” she said.
“Just as long as it is a getaway,” he said, as they headed for the exit.
At the same time, there was a very large explosion from above, the percussive sound almost deafening them.
“What the hell was that?” Johannesen muttered.
“Most likely the diversion we needed, that you forgot to arrange.”
It’s the obvious items in the photograph that you see first, or that your eyes go to first.
The ocean, the beach, the buildings. You can see a shopping mall with MacDonald’s sign above it.
Yes, it’s late afternoon, and you can see long shadows of the buildings.
So, if I asked you what did you see in this photo, what would your reply be?
From a thriller writer or murder mystery writer’s point of view, it’s what you don’t necessarily see.
So, for the purposes of the story, the opening line for the world-weary detective, handing the photo to his partner, “What’s is it you can’t see in this photo?”
A partner that hadn’t been on the job very long, in from the suburbs, and had seen little more than break and enters car theft, and school kids hi-jinks.
“What am I supposed to be looking for?”
“You want to be a detective, or be looking for old ladies cats?”
His partner takes the photo in hand and looks at it again. There has to be a reason why the old man had given it to him, or perhaps there wasn’t and he was just playing with him again.
No, he thought, there has to be something…
And then he saw it, quite by accident. A hand, a gun, and following the line of fire, at the end, what looked like someone in the bushes.
In a photo taken from a higher floor of the building over the road, looking down on what was supposed to be a rooftop recreational area.
Only there had been no report of a missing person or a gunshot wound in the last seven days.
“When was it taken?”
“Two days ago?”
“And no reports of a shooting, or a body?”
“No. And yet the person who took this swears he saw a body, but by the time he came back, there was nothing.”
The detective handed his partner a second photo. Time-stamped five minutes later. With no gun and no body.
I’m back home and this story has been sitting on a back burner for a few months, waiting for some more to be written.
The trouble is, there are also other stories to write, and I’m not very good at prioritizing.
But, here we are, a few minutes opened up and it didn’t take long to get back into the groove.
Chasing leads, maybe
…
She had brought a file. It looked the same as the last one she brought with her, the one with my name on it.
This time it was thicker.
Intelligence gathering at its finest. There’d be stuff in there that even I didn’t know about me.
She didn’t open it, just looked at me.
“What have you been doing?”
“Working?”
“For whom?”
“Nobbin, of course. I am now assigned to his section. Did you do that?”
“He did. He tells me you’re working on the O’Connell investigation.”
“Is that what it’s called. He never told me that. And I had to find out where I’d been assigned by logging onto a computer. An email or a letter would have made my life a little easier.”
“You’re just lucky you’re still working here. Now, tell me more about this Severin character.”
“I told you everything I knew the last time you spoke to me. Apparently, you seemed to know who it was. Perhaps you might tell me, too.”
“It’s…”
“And,” I interrupted, “don’t tell me it’s above my pay grade. I was potentially working for traitors and could have finished up in jail for treason.”
“You might still get there.”
Then why hadn’t she had me arrested and thrown in a dungeon the last time we met? There was an easy answer to that question. She needed me out in the field. Nobbin needed me in the field. They presumably needed me to remain available to Severin for whatever reason.
“What do you want?”
She opened the file, turned a few pages, and stopped at a yellow sheet of paper. I wasn’t able to read it upside down, but it had very small spidery writing on it.
Then she looked at me again.
“Some secret documents appear to have gone missing. We believe that is to say Director Dobbin thinks these may have been on a USB drive that was in the possession of O’Connell at the time of his death. You were there at the time of his death. You can see where this is going…”
No matter which answers I gave it was the wrong one, which led to do not pass go and do not collect two hundred dollars, or pounds as the case may be.
“I haven’t got it, and he didn’t tell me where it was, and I saw him die.”
“If you say so.” She went back to the file and turned some more pagers.
“What do you mean?”
She looked up. “So far, there’s no body been recovered, or any evidence there was a shooting where you said it was.”
“Are you trying to tell me he’s alive, because if you are, then I must be a very poor judge of people who have no pulse. He was not about to get up and walk away.”
“Did you see the body removed?”
Now there’s an interesting point. I had done as I was told and left when told to. I assumed Severin would sort the problem out, in fact, hadn’t he called in the cleaners? I saw a white van.
Actually, when I thought about it, I had no idea what happened after I left. And, now that I remember, I didn’t see anyone get out of the white van.
The Art of the Elevator Pitch: How to Make a Lasting Impression in 30 Seconds
In today’s fast-paced business world, making a good impression is crucial. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a job seeker, or a professional looking to network, being able to effectively communicate your value proposition is essential. This is where the elevator pitch comes in – a brief, persuasive speech that can be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator, typically between 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
What is an Elevator Pitch?
An elevator pitch is a concise, well-rehearsed summary of your professional brand, product, or service. It’s a way to introduce yourself, highlight your unique selling points, and spark interest in your listener. The goal is to pique their curiosity, establish a connection, and potentially open the door to new opportunities.
Why is an Elevator Pitch Important?
A well-crafted elevator pitch can help you:
Stand out from the crowd: In a crowded room or a competitive job market, a strong elevator pitch can help you differentiate yourself from others.
Build connections: An elevator pitch can be the starting point for meaningful relationships, partnerships, or collaborations.
Generate interest: By highlighting your unique value proposition, you can capture the attention of potential customers, investors, or employers.
Save time: An elevator pitch allows you to quickly and efficiently communicate your message, saving time for both you and your listener.
How to Craft a Compelling Elevator Pitch
To create an effective elevator pitch, follow these steps:
Define your goals: What do you want to achieve with your elevator pitch? Are you looking to promote a product, secure funding, or land a job?
Know your audience: Tailor your pitch to your listener’s interests, needs, and level of understanding.
Focus on benefits: Emphasise the benefits of your product, service, or expertise, rather than just listing features.
Keep it concise: Aim for a pitch that’s 30 seconds to 2 minutes long, depending on the context.
Practice, practice, practice: Rehearse your pitch until it feels natural and confident.
Example of an Elevator Pitch
Here’s an example of a 30-second elevator pitch:
“Hi, I’m [Your Name], a digital marketing specialist with a passion for helping small businesses grow online. I’ve developed a unique approach that combines social media, content marketing, and SEO to drive traffic and increase conversions. I’ve helped numerous clients achieve significant growth, and I’m excited to explore how I can help you take your business to the next level.”
Conclusion
An elevator pitch is a powerful tool that can help you make a lasting impression, build connections, and achieve your professional goals. By crafting a clear, concise, and compelling pitch, you can effectively communicate your value proposition and open doors to new opportunities. Remember to practice your pitch, tailor it to your audience, and focus on the benefits you can offer. With a well-rehearsed elevator pitch, you’ll be ready to make a lasting impression, whenever and wherever the opportunity arises.
It’s the one feeling we never want to feel, and yet we can experience it in various forms, many times during our lifetime.
Reading the average Mills and Book, there are always large doses of heartbreak, whether it is at the start when the girl expects that a particular dinner date is a proposal, but instead is the breakup, or in the middle, where misinterpretation of events with exes or rivals sends one or the other into a heartbreaking spiral.
it depends on the story you want to tell. You can have a spy story with an incidental affair that might lead to something more interesting, only to have one or the other caught in the crossfire. I remember one particular James Bond film where Mrs Bond was killed in a drive-by.
I must say the actress playing her was my favourite at the time, and I was very, very unhappy.
Undoubtedly, a break-up and the memories of that relationship could lead to writing a compelling narrative, and in fact, some of the more starker memories of my own have been translated into several stories and one book. So far.
Something else I realised, quite a few autobiographies I have read have touched on the subject in many different ways, some benefitting from the experience, others finding it hard to get over, particularly when it is a first love. They are the most potent and the most painful when it comes to an end.
This story has been ongoing since I was seventeen, and just to let you know, I’m 72 this year.
Yes, it’s taken a long time to get it done.
Why, you might ask.
Well, I never gave it much interest because I started writing it after a small incident when I was 17, and working as a book packer for a book distributor in Melbourne
At the end of my first year, at Christmas, the employer had a Christmas party, and that year, it was at a venue in St Kilda.
I wasn’t going to go because at that age, I was an ordinary boy who was very introverted and basically scared of his own shadow and terrified by girls.
Back then, I would cross the street to avoid them
Also, other members of the staff in the shipping department were rough and ready types who were not backwards in telling me what happened, and being naive, perhaps they knew I’d be either shocked or intrigued.
I was both adamant I wasn’t coming and then got roped in on a dare.
Damn!
So, back then, in the early 70s, people looked the other way when it came to drinking, and of course, Dutch courage always takes away the concerns, especially when normally you wouldn’t do half the stuff you wouldn’t in a million years
I made it to the end, not as drunk and stupid as I thought I might be, and St Kilda being a salacious place if you knew where to look, my new friends decided to give me a surprise.
It didn’t take long to realise these men were ‘men about town’ as they kept saying, and we went on an odyssey. Yes, those backstreet brothels where one could, I was told, have anything they could imagine.
Let me tell you, large quantities of alcohol and imagination were a very bad mix.
So, the odyssey in ‘The things we do’ was based on that, and then the encounter with Diana. Well, let’s just say I learned a great deal about girls that night.
Firstly, not all girls are nasty and spiteful, which seemed to be the case whenever I met one. There was a way to approach, greet, talk to, and behave.
It was also true that I could have had anything I wanted, but I decided what was in my imagination could stay there. She was amused that all I wanted was to talk, but it was my money, and I could spend it how I liked.
And like any 17-year-old naive fool, I fell in love with her and had all these foolish notions. Months later, I went back, but she had moved on, to where no one was saying or knew.
Needless to say, I was heartbroken and had to get over that first loss, which, like any 17-year-old, was like the end of the world.
But it was the best hour I’d ever spent in my life and would remain so until I met the woman I have been married to for the last 48 years.
As Henry, he was in part based on a rebel, the son of rich parents who despised them and their wealth, and he used to regale anyone who would listen about how they had messed up his life
If only I’d come from such a background!
And yes, I was only a run away from climbing up the stairs to get on board a ship, acting as a purser.
I worked for a shipping company and they gave their junior staff members an opportunity to spend a year at sea working as a purser on a cargo ship that sailed between Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart in Australia.
One of the other junior staff members’ turn came, and I would visit him on board when he would tell me stories about life on board, the officers, the crew, and other events. These stories, which sounded incredible to someone so impressionable, were a delight to hear.
Alas, by that time, I had tired of office work and moved on to be a tradesman at the place where my father worked.
It proved to be the right move, as that is where I met my wife. Diana had been right; love would find me when I least expected it.
Thrills, Spills, and just a dash of Romance 