This is how I've come to think of writing synopses and queries: writing a synopsis is like orbiting the earth whereas writing a novel is being on the ground, engaging in the world. (Pretend that my pattern of orbit on the left actually makes sense.) When you orbit a planet, you take in a very general view, but no less breathtaking angle, of the Earth. When you're actually writing a novel, you are inside and very intimately involved with the details. So actually, writing a synopsis or the actual the novel comes down to a matter of angles and viewpoints, a telescope or a microscope. Suddenly everything about this process becomes less daunting if I look at this way. I'm orbiting. It may not be fun, but it's a good skill to have, a good exercise to use in the aftermath of a year and a half of work. What does my novel look like from a distance?
