I finished the first real synopsis of Strongman Volume 2 today.  My first effort was an idea sheet, which I used to jot down all of the random ideas I had that could eventually be shaped into a story.  My second effort was a real synopsis, handwritten, with arrows and marginalia all over the place as new ways to structure the story occurred to me.  My third effort, what I consider the “real” synopsis, is typed into a Word document, and will probably serve as the main story bible.  Typically, I print out a copy of the synopsis and carry it around with me for a few weeks.  I read it periodically, and scribble in new ideas.  I start to script once I think everything’s properly gelled.  I’m not there yet – I read the synopsis on the subway today and realized a bunch of holes, unexplored ideas, dangling plot threads, etc.  But that’s what revising is for, and the heavy lifting is probably done.  I take that back – there’s usually a point where I realize that there’s something I could do to make the story MUCH better, which requires a fairly substantial set of changes.  So, that’s probably somewhere on the horizon, but for now, I feel like real progress has been made.

In particular, there’s a plot point involving a water tower and a bunch of gangsters that I absolutely love.