Boiling a Premise from 70k Words

First, I write a novel of some 70k words. This after playing on the short story side of WriterLand. Going from one to the other is like shifting from fifth to first gears-- even if you can get the clutch to engage, it's a damn bumpy ride.

After coaxing those 70k words from the keyboard (and the thousands more that never made the final cut), I have to boil down the whole novel into a premise of a sentence or two. And a short query. And a synopses.

It's a good thing I have a lot of hair, because this process will surely require more than a few handfuls yanked out for the release of dopamine and stress.

Over at Muderati a while back, there was a post on Premises. Readers, like me, were invited to join in. So I banged together a premise and submitted it:

"Bo Fexler, sexy female PI, uses her brains, fists, and body as she encounters sex, violence and drugs in a hunt for a missing man and his ugly secrets."

The response was positive:

Clair: I was intrigued, but wanted a few more concrete details to be really hooked and want to read. Can you give us a specific about the man or his secrets? Also, you might start with "Sexy Bo Fexler, female PI". It never hurts to start with sex, if you can :-)
Posted by: Angelle


I've never been content as a B student, so I'm going to give this another run.

"Sexy Bo Fexler, female PI, uses her brains, her fists, and her body while searching for Jon Lastrum, a polite, ambitious, perfect and missing man. What she finds is a trail of drugs, sex, and violence that will either lead her to Jon or to someone far more dangerous."

So, what do you think?

Are you getting excited about the book yet?

• Novel Progress: Finishing Climax v2, I think
• Reason for not writing: Sooooo fatigued. I'd get more done if I didn't sleep fourteen hours a day. =(
• Current Song: Rape Me by Nirvana