Synopsize Me, Baby (NaNo 2014)

Sage

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Were you looking for somewhere, anywhere to share your fabulous NaNo novel's plot? This is the place.

If you really want to get tricky, you could try to do it in 720 characters, which is the max you can use to synopsize your novel for 30 Covers, 30 Days. And lmty, that's really short!
 

KateSmash

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I'll bite. Behold the limp synopsis!

A freedom-loving girl ignitess a system-wide conflict when she runs afoul of space pirates who have stolen the solution to faster-than-light travel. She must keep the technology out of the wrong hands - her own father - while dodging alien slavers, her pirate captors, and her refusal to take responsibility for her actions.​
 
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Becky Black

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Here's the one I've written for the NaNo site. I always find it useful to do that and I always say to myself "do the same when writing a draft outside of NaNo." But of course I never do. :e2smack:

The title is Mapping the Shadows. It's m/m sci-fi romance.

Ash Bowman is lost. He's been lost for two years since his partner on the force died in his arms. Now her ghost haunts his mind as he prowls the dark corridors of the booming space station Fraxin Yari, mapping a place that changes day by day.

His futile obsession means his PI business is suffering, so it's a good day when Gabe Whitfield hires him. Not so good a day when he learns Gabe is a journalist investigating the corrupt politicians and gangsters of the station, and that he thinks Ash was probably as dirty a cop as the rest of them.

Gabe's a man without ties, a man whose ghosts are long buried. He's come to Frax to do a job. He doesn't intend to stay. He only hopes to get through the investigation alive. Becoming Ash's Bowman's lover would be the worst possible idea, putting them both in danger.

But an irresistible physical attraction leads to a partnership and trust, and to working together to uncover corruption and conspiracy at the highest level. With Gabe's help Ash can finally learn who killed his partner and left him a broken man physically and mentally. Ash can finally lay the ghosts haunting his life - a life he's slowly regaining an interest in having continue. A life he wants Gabe to be part of.
 

Rhoda Nightingale

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Finally decided among my three plot bunnies, and here's the winner! Genre: YA fantasy/cyber-punk, sort of, I think. (Science fantasy? Not sure I'm using that right. It's future-y but there's magic in it.)

Lilia was born under a Blood Moon, and this gives her the ability to trap light--all light, but her specialty is starlight and moonlight--in earthenware jars as energy. Since the Unnamed Crisis [that Rhoda hasn't worked out the details of yet, but it made the air unbreathable and forced everyone to live underground] made energy so hard to come by, this means she sells these jars on the black market and save the money for college.

Now, the summer before the rise of the next Blood Moon (sixteen years after she was born), she's working for an underground circus (on the lighting rigs, of course), and learns through her coworkers that a Storm Is Coming that might wipe out, not just the breathable air on the surface, but all life. The energy from the coming Blood Moon, if Lilia can collect it, will be enough to counteract this disaster, but it also risks her exposure. She could be arrested for selling light energy on the black market. Her future in school could disappear. The government might try to use her for their own purposes, rather than leaving her to the life she planned for herself.

WHATEVER WILL SHE DO??

Also: there's a boy who can read the future who she might have a crush on, who works at the circus in the fortune-telling stall.
 

Sunflowerrei

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Here's mine

In modern day New York, Nicole Avila is a stressed-out teacher with a neighbor who likes to vacuum his tiny strip of a patio at odd times of the day. In 1893 England, Victoria Ponsonby-Courtney is a beautiful, accomplished, elegant young lady, the daughter of an aristocratic family that any man would be lucky to have as his wife--except that Victoria is penniless. But that's no matter; Victoria is going to marry her cousin Conrad.

And then Conrad brings home Ursula, an American heiress, propelling Victoria to swallow her anger, squelch her burdensome attraction to Ursula's brother Simon, and make the choice of taking the first man who'll propose...or make her own way in the world.

The Victorian world, the lives of distant British aristocrats, is one that Nicole knows nothing about, so she is shocked when she finds out that she has a link to this world and these people, one which is so far removed from her reality, but which gives her the courage to break out of her self-imposed parameters and chase her dreams.
 

Maggie Maxwell

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Everyone's stories sound so interesting so far!

Mine (for the moment, synopses are haaard):

Sixteen year old Synclaire Ritchie has no talents, nothing any sponsoring company would want their logo attached to, at least. All she's good at is limbbreaking, illegally fixing and upgrading prostheses, and no business dares compete with Limbus, the benevolent but monopolistic prosthetic developer. And anyway, why sponsor a limbbreaker when there are up-and-coming actors, singers, sports stars, and other Potentials who can make names for themselves with their talents?

All Syn's ever wanted was a sponsor, ANY sponsor, and with it, a possible future outside of a warehouse. Her final opportunity to get one is about to pass her by. She's almost surrendered to her inevitable future... until she's told there's an offer for her. The biggest designer clothing company in the country, Coolture, wants to mold someone with no potential into the star of the year at Promise Academy, training ground for the future famous, and she's their girl.

With a little camera and makeover magic, Syn is transformed into a celebrity, but it's not everything she imagined. She lives every day in fear of the world finding out she's a fake who didn't earn her place at Promise, risking her the friends and life she's made there. When a rash of deadly accidents start to point to her as the culprit, she wonders what exactly Coolture meant when they said they'd make her a household name. Syn has precious little time to find who's trying to frame her before her most famous picture becomes her mugshot.
 
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IdrisG

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TAMaxwell, I'd snap yours up in a second. Inventive ideas are flying fast in the thread. Way to go, guys!

I've got two potentials in mind:

Seer (YA Spec. Fic/Alternate History):
In a world populated by seers (precognitives), sayers (projective telepaths), and regulars (those with neither ability), humanity is almost entirely reliant on the predictive powers of seers to guide them their every move. From traffic jams to political coups, few events occur that cannot be foreseen.

But even seers miss things.

Sixteen-year-old Anthemone Manigault is having dreams more ghastly than anything broadcast on the daily telepathic bulletins, and no other seer sees the same. Somehow, someone is blinding the eyes meant to save the world, and Anthemone foresees that they intend to blind her next.

The Love Spares (YA/NA Contemporary LGBT Romance):
Vidya and Héloïse are the love spares—the poor dupes left over when their lovers fell in love with each other. Vidya is determined to never love again. She gave Maritsa her heart; look what she’d done with it. Héloïse (call her Hella, please) is much more pragmatic. Lovers come and go, feelings change; but, being in love is never a waste of time so long as you mean it. Hella always means it. Vidya, too. Can a girl who has given up on love risk it with someone who might happily change her mind?
 
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BrumBall

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This is the first NaNo I'm going to attempt and this is the story I'm planningto write. This synopsise is a bit vague but I'm a pantser and I haven't really got much idea what will happen apart from the basics!

Beast Or God

A screaming corpse may be the start of Huey Benson's troubles, but not the end. As society pushes him underground, he meets the ghosts of civilisation. They can show him who he should trust but only Huey can decide who he should save.
 
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Sage

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Modified, longer version of my 30C30D, voiceless synopsis. Would this be spoilery for Hero/Villain 1? Obviously.

Evie was once a shapeshifting superhero. Now she's human, working for the superhero's League, using the same serum that stole her powers on those the League deems villainous. She may not like the League's rules, but she believes they keep the city safe from villains.

Ace was once an invisible supervillain. When Evie lost her powers, he lost his too. After all, Ace & Evie share her body (Psychoville: population of...okay, we'll say two this time). All Ace wants is a body of his own, not just so he can have control--and be his beautiful self--24/7, but also because he desperately loves Evie.

When a group of vigilante supers show up, they offer Evie a life away from the rules of the League & Ace the possibility of getting his own body. With an anti-serum in the works, Evie and Ace must figure out who to trust & what they want most. But, let's face it, the ultimate answer to both questions is probably: each other.
 
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tjwriter

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No title yet, but I think I kind of know what I'm doing.


When Abigail Quinn, freelance witch, agrees to the insane plan concocted by her BFF, Ben, hilarity and mayhem ensue. Along the ways she builds solid friendships and support, and she just might change the face of witchcraft forever.
 

Alli B.

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Write what you want to read, I've heard the advice over and over again, and it got my wheels turning. I can create anything and the only limit is my own imagination. If five random people were given this ability, what would they do with it? What would they create? What races would be made, buildings be built, magic to be cast?

Of course, they aren't random people, they're rebels. Fighting for a better world, free of the tyranny their God has created. None of them imagined success -- of actually killing an immortal, nor the power it would bestow them.

Fast forward a thousand or so years, and you're introduced to where the story will take place and see the world, what they accomplished, and how power has changed them.
 
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CoffeeBeans

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My short, vague summary:

Come Out (YA Regency)
Now that her sister has married a duke, it's Caroline Sinclair's turn to make her mark on the London Season. Caro is mingling with those well above her station, but she's got her new sister-in-law Lucy to teach her how to handle an over-filled dance card. Men are fighting for her attention, but Caro finds herself already drawn to someone - Lucy.

If things start losing steam, I've revealing Lucy is a witch and there's a Regency coven controlling the marriage market.
 

meowzbark

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Wrote this up in about 5 minutes worth of time. It doesn't seem horrible, right?

(Decided to edit this for length to make it eligible for the 30 days, 30 covers.)

DUST AND DRAGONS:

For the crime of genocide, her tribe was sentenced to poverty for ten generations. Only two ways of escape exist: vow a life of servitude to the church or the crown. At sixteen, her best friend, Declan, chooses to serve the church, while Annika serves the crown.

At first, Annika is enthralled with the pretty robes and colorful jewels. She also befriends the crown’s dragons, who are normally caged and feared. Upon the crown’s discovery, they demand she use her friendship to transform the dragons into weapons.

Annika seeks out Declan for guidance. Declan tells Annika that sacrifices must be made in life. Annika isn’t sure whether this means to sacrifice her own welfare or sacrifice the lives of her dragons.
 
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meowzbark

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So, the previous post was my idea of what I thought my story was going to be about. At 80% done, here's the revised main plot:

Annika’s suffocating from the restrictions of her communistic nation, yet her best chance of escape from the desert village is to become a wizard – one of the magic protectors for the Emperor. Her celebration in being selected as a wizard trainee is short-lived. The Emperor possesses the last living dragons, which are the key to unlocking Annika’s magic. In order to complete initiation and earn herself a dragon, she must convince the Emperor of her loyalty.

Annika agrees to spy on her teacher, her fellow trainees, and anyone that disagree with his leadership. The Emperor insists on keeping their meetings secret, yet Annika attracts unwanted attention. Now, it’s the enforcers of the law that are demanding information on who Annika has been meeting and the full extent of their conversations. Information that would lose her the Emperor’s loyalty, but the enforcers have their own methods of destroying Annika’s chances of becoming a wizard. Black mail. Sabotage. And unless Annika can convince the Emperor to break a few of his own rules, the enforcers are likely to succeed.
 

Mark Moore

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Summary of my novel, "Crashing Down":

Serenity Anderson was born in a world very different from our own. During an event that came to be known as Triple One (January 1, 2001), the Earth was attacked by an alien race known as the Kah'lian Empire. Most of the older population died (ages 70+). Then another alien race known as the Vux arrived and defeated the Kah'lians. Earth entered into an alliance with the Vux, and rapid technological and cultural advances occurred. Serenity grew up in this hyper-speed, hi-tech world where genetic manipulation is common. A gifted student, she was transferred from normal school to a small-group private classroom when she underwent genetic enhancement and joined the Earth Defense Force - at the age of twelve. She is now thirteen, and life seems good. She has her own place and gets to kick alien butt.

Meanwhile, on "our" Earth, Serena Anderson is Serenity's "normal" alternate-universe equivalent. She lives with her mom and attends regular high school.

One day, these two girls meet when a Kah'lian plot sends Serenity to Serena's Earth. The two girls quickly befriend each other and hang out at home and around town. Serenity is enrolled in Serena's high school just in case her people can't retrieve her. Serena's "sister" is welcomed into Serena's small circle of friends, and a class production of "Romeo and Juliet" is put together. Still, Serenity wishes she could go home and away from this backward world, and there are efforts underway to retrieve her, but she has no way of knowing that for certain.

Also included are flashbacks from multiple perspectives to Triple One, drunken talk, complaining, cultural comparisons, and sex. Lots and lots of sex.