The dreaded synopsis with multiple characters

After struggling to write a synopsis for my current WIP with dual POV, I came across this article and I was finally able to write a decent breakdown of the most important events. Before I was basically writing two synopses–one for each character–and there was a lot of repetition. This article helped me realize I didn’t necessarily have to list each event in the correct order and that I could cut down on the number of characters mentioned by encompassing them in their collective role, ie. “the police”.

I recommend this article to anyone struggling to write a complicated story synopsis:

How to Write a Synopsis When You Have Lots of Characters in Your Story

Gratitude and Love

Happy New Year!!! Seeing as I have been a bit MIA, it seems only fitting for one of my “new years resolutions” to be devoting more time to the blog. In the fall I made a new Instagram account for my writing: @lexbakerwrites. I also watched this amazing documentary on being grateful, which led me to create an Instagram account dedicated to posting a daily gratitude picture. It’s a private account, made entirely for myself, and it has been beyond rewarding to “find” a picture to take every day. It opens my eyes to everything I have, how privileged I am, and I am so so thankful. Which leads to my first resolution…

Resolution #1: Gratitude
Having two kids under three has its challenges–many more than my husband and I anticipated when we had the “should we have kids three years or two years apart talk”–but it is worth every exhausted and stressful moment. At the beginning of last year I was in my third trimester and super stressed out due to two terrible events that occurred in 2014–one of which will never stop hurting, but the other might turn out okay. And if it doesn’t, Trenton and I will be okay. At least we will finally have an answer and can heal. We are so lucky that through all the bad we had our first child, who is super sweet and loving and makes us laugh. Our second child arrived just when we needed him and blesses us every day with his infectious smiles. It’s impossible not to be happy around him! It melts my heart how much my sons already love each other and I know they are going to have an amazing bond. I’m also so grateful for my extended family and their invaluable love and support; my friends who were excited and happy for me after I had Max and published my book; my two black kitties for their endless snuggles; and my house in an area of the city that I love (and is super kid friendly)! Which leads to my second resolution…

Resolution #2: Love
K, this sounds super corny, but I want to open my heart to love (maybe because I just watched Love Actually and that was a direct line from the movie). I agree that “love is all around us” and we just have to look. I’m a very social person, but recently I’ve felt exhausted so I started turning down invitations with friends (this is also a symptom of having two young children), and I quickly began to feel isolated. However, the moment I decided to start seeing people again, I realized how many great people I have in my life! Thank you to all the great people, including you, the person reading this. You rock.