[Elizabeth H Posts: 11 Status: Offline]

Hi everybody.  I have a PB manuscript that I’m ready to submit to agents, but I’m having trouble figuring out how to write a good synopsis.  The story is written in the first person.  The  most logical approach seems to be writing the synopsis in the third person, but the narrator’s name is not mentioned in the text, so I can’t refer to her by name.  Can I just I refer to her as “a girl?”  That sounds kind of dull.  Several other characters in the story are named, if that makes any difference.

Is there some other angle that isn’t occurring to me?  This hot weather isn’t improving my brain function!

Many thanks.

[JodyJS Posts: 1,223 Status: Offline Preorder now! Out Jan. 7, 2020! WWW]

Hi Elizabeth,

I hear you on the hot weather.

I think you're fine to go with "a girl" or "a little girl" in the third person. You probably won't name the other characters in the synopsis, will you, unless just by their relationship to her, i.e. mom, sister, etc?

Jody

[Elizabeth H Posts: 11 Status: Offline]

Thank you, Jody, that's helpful.  It is a bit challenging to describe the story without using the character's name, but I'm sure I can make it sound natural if I put my mind to it.  And yes, identifying the other characters just by relationship will make sense.

Thank heavens the weather has cooled down!  I can't think straight when it's so hot and humid.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 5,912 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

Other options are to call her narrator, protagonsist or main character. You could state, the "unnamed narrator" at the first use. Good luck.

[Elizabeth H Posts: 11 Status: Offline]

Thank you, Debbie, those are possibilities I had wondered about too!  I think it may work best to use both "girl" and "narrator."