Writing Synopses
Stephanie Baudet
First published in Writing Magazine October 2008
A synopsis is a selling tool.
You have probably spent months writing and polishing your novel and now it's ready to send out. Ready to be sold to an editor or sent to an agent so that it can reach its intended audience. On the synopsis alone, plus the couple of sample chapters, hangs the future of this book.
The sample chapters will show the editor how you write, the synopsis will show him/her what you write. If you fail to interest the editor your story will never be read, not even by her. Once accepted, your synopsis may also be used to present your book to the sales and marketing departments and even to the jacket designer.
So what should be in a synopsis and how should it be written? What should we put in and what should we leave out? There's no mystery, really. No reason to dread writing it, though many writers do. Be guided by whether publishers or agents require two sample chapters or three to accompany the synopsis and follow their requests to the letter. Never email material unless specifically asked to do so.
The goal of a synopsis it to provide a bare sketch of your book, the characters, the problem and the resolution. It is not a blurb. That is the bit on the back of the book whose function is to entice the reader to buy or read the book, and which does not give away the story. Unlike the blurb, the synopsis must tell all. The editor does not want to guess what you have in mind for the resolution, it will not induce her to ask for the rest of the manuscript so she can find out what happens, it will just mark you out as an amateur. The resolution, or denouement, is a vital part and she wants to see how you have handled it.
A mistake made by many inexperienced writers is to describe the first half of the book in detail and then condense the remainder into one sentence such as: Rebecca overcomes her problems in the end, or they end with a question like: What will Carriday do? Will he succeed in saving his family or will the villain's superior strength overcome him? Synopses like this can mean that the author hasn't yet decided what is going to happen and maybe hasn't even finished the book. Never leave questions unanswered. Don't send out a synopsis and chapters unless the book is complete. You may well change it out of all recognition during the writing, and if the editor is interested and asks for the rest of the book which you haven't yet written, they will have forgotten or lost interest by the time you have.
Like the opening of your story, the opening of a synopsis should grab the reader's attention. Some editors give it the 'three paragraph test'. If it hasn't interested them by then, it's rejected. Don't put: Jack and Lisa are two people who decide to move in together. Better something like: When Jack and Lisa decide to move in together, they find that small irritations can become so intolerable that one of them has to act.
In terms of length, probably two to three double-spaced pages maximum. Make sure you explain what your major character wants, why they want it, and what's keeping them from getting it. Then at the end, show how they have changed as a result of their experience. That will help ensure your readers care about what happens to them.
Read your story through again and note the theme and the most important plot points, those events which move the story forward in a major way and reveal your characters' personalities by their reactions.
Five steps to writing a synopsis
(With some examples of which points to include, from a book of mine called A Measure of the Soul.)
1. The HOOK : Start with the main character and trigger event which sets the story in motion. Reveal the character's emotions and motivations, those points which explain why a character does something.
- Theme: This story is about one young woman's strength and courage when faced with adversity. It's about love and loyalty and also injustice.
- Main characters and background problem. It is 1918, the final months of WW1 and Harriet and Alex's father is dying of diabetes. Alex, home on compassionate leave, is suffering from shell shock and goes missing so that he technically becomes a deserter. Harriet hides him from the authorities until someone finds out and blackmails her.
- Trigger event of story: Their father's imminent death.
- Story quest 1 Hiding Alex from the authorities with the risk of being shot as a deserter.
- Story quest 2 Coping with Henry Carpian, who is blackmailing Harriet.
- Story Quest 3 Looking after friend Gwen when she contracts the deadly Spanish influenza.
2. The BODY of the Synopsis. Write the high points of your story in chronological order. Keep these notes tight, don't give every little detail.
- High point 1 Father's decision to stop his near-starvation diet
- Highpoint 2 Father's death
- Highpoint 3 Alex's disappearance after the funeral and failure to return in time before his leave is over.
- Highpoint 4 The police search the house
4. CLIMAX Alex discovers Carpian assaulting Harriet and punches him, ultimately resulting in his death. They make a plan to divert any suspicion from themselves.
- Highpoint 5 Alex's condition is deteriorating.
- Highpoint 6 Gwen contracts 'flu'
5. The RESOLUTION
- Highpoint 7 Harriet risks calling in a doctor friend of Alex's to see Gwen, who eventually recovers.
- Highpoint 8 The war ends
- Highpoint 9 Alex's outlook is positive
A synopsis is NOT
- A chapter by chapter detailed account of the plot
- A blurb to entice the reader
A synopsis IS
- Your principal selling tool
- A concise account of what your book is about with nothing left out
- Always written in omniscient present tense