Back when I was doing my MA program, I typed up a guide to writing query letters. Itâs the post from this blog that Iâm most proud of: a thorough step-by-step guide that combines days and weeks of research, and dozens of sources, into a neatly packaged 1,800-word post.
And I have to admit, I didnât write it for tumblr. I needed to write a query letter myself for a publishing class, and my post was little more than compiled homework notes, saved as a Tumblr post for posterity.Â
Iâve actually had pieces of this in my drafts for years, but now I actually have to write a synopsis and Iâm piling up the research, so I thought it was finally time for the sister to my query post to be published here.
A synopsis is a 1-2 page summary of the events that transpire in a book, either proposed or already written. Itâs used to give people who havenât read your book a quick overview, so they know the story thatâs being told in the book without having to read it.
When is a synopsis necessary?
Some literary agents request synopses along with query letters. More often, theyâre used slightly later on in a writerâs career, when they have an agent or an editor and they need to submit a proposal for a new idea or project. A synopsis can also be used later on, in situations that donât involve the author. For instance, when an editor pitches the book to the marketing and publicity team, who may not have time to read every book theyâre working on. Unlike a query letter, the book doesnât necessarily have to be written when youâre submitting its synopsis.
The job of a synopsis is to lay out the story with little fuss and no frills. They let the person youâre pitching know what theyâre going to find in that giant stack of pages on their desk or in that obscenely long Word document (or else in the Word doc theyâll eventually receive). Â
Most professional synopses follow these rules:
Theyâre told in third person
Theyâre told in present tense
Charactersâ names are CAPSLOCKED at first mention.
They tend to avoid descriptions longer than this sentence.
They focus on the central conflict and the protagonistâs emotional journey
They should be 500 words or less. (That is 1 page single-spaced, 2 pages double-spaced.)
HOW TO WRITE YOUR SYNOPSIS
Writing your synopsis, you have one goal: to tell a 50,000-100,000 word story in 500 words. It can be a little difficult to do this right. A great way to do this is to identify the key turning points in your protagonistâs story.
Do you remember those little plot roller coasters youâd make in elementary school? Theyâd usually be pointy witchâs-hat shaped things labeled with the terms: âbeginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.âÂ
Those turning points are the events you should be including in your synopsis.This is the structure you want to emphasize to your reader. You want to make abundantly clear that your story works like a story, that the events of your book have a beginning, a middle, and an end, that thereâs an intriguing beginning, an exciting climax, a satisfying conclusion. You donât want to just list out the events of your novel, but highlight the function of those events. X moment is important because itâs the inciting incident, the moment that takes the protagonist from their normal life and throws them into the story.
There are tons of great story roadmaps out there, that go into more specific story elements. The Heroâs Journey is the most famous example of a detailed, and mostly universal, story structure. Thereâs also the three-act structure thatâs famous among screenwriters.
Find a structure that fits your story the best and use that to identify the events of your story that need to make it into your synopsis. Iâll link to different sources at the bottom of this post that will give you variations of story structure.
If you can correlate key scenes in your novel to the descriptions of these plot points, youâll find an easy roadmap to navigating the many events of outlining your novel.
Your protagonistâs journey
Your protagonist is the heart of your story, and should be the heart of the synopsis, too. The protagonistâs emotional journey may not string all of these plot points together, but itâs going to be what makes them matter to the reader. The human element of your story has to be represented in your synopsis. Â
Thereâs no room for long descriptions, so youâll have to be smart about finding a few terms that not only tell your reader who the character is, but what their story will be. For instance, if your story is about someone trying to get their critically-panned paintings in the Museum of Modern Art by breaking into the museum and installing the pieces themselves, you may want to introduce them with a sentence that begins like so: âWhen IGNATIUS, an ambitious and untalented struggling artist, discovers his work is rejected from yet another galleryâŚâ
In addition to these descriptive terms, you should spell out what your protagonist wants (or wants desperately to avoid) and their stake in the events of the story.Â
Along the way, tell us how these key aspects of their persons change due to the events of the story, or else how they influence the events of the story. Tell us about how after raving reviews for his DIY MoMA exhibit came in, Iggy realized that though he still liked painting, his talents actually lay in performance art. Untalented to talented, struggling to successful, all because his ambition pushed him to try new and daring things.
As in query letters, you only name the most important characters and locations outright. If youâre writing a synopsis for Harry Potter, youâll want to use Harryâs name in the query, but most other people and places can be referred to by their function in the novel. Ex: Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon can be âhis cruel relatives.â Hermione and Ron can be âhis friends.â Even Hogwarts can be a âschool for people with magical abilities.â This makes it easier for a reader to understand whatâs going on in your story. Too many names in such a small amount of space can be overwhelming.
All telling, no showing. This is one piece of writing where youâll want to tell, instead of show. You need to get to your point as quickly, as clearly, and concisely as possible; this isnât the place for creative storytelling.
Oftentimes, synopses are given along with other materials, such as pitch letters and sample pages. While a synopsis should be captivating in-so-far that itâs well told, and it should maybe be a little stylish, being captivating and stylish arenât its main goals. Additional materials like sample pages and pitches have more room for creative flourishes and can do a better job of selling the story, while the synopsis focuses on telling it.
Your synopsis should show that you know how to tell a story. While a synopsis doesnât sell a story like a query, it should still illustrate the fact that you have an interesting, unique and well-structured plot. When finished, your reader should be able to think to themselves âthatâs a good story. I want to read that.â
Your first draft will be too long. Your first draft of a synopsis will always be at least a page or two longer than it should be. Identify the sentences and paragraphs where you explain why a thing happens and ax them. Identify sentences where you repeat yourself and ax them. Identify descriptors that arenât vital to understanding of the story and ax them. Once you make your first painful cuts and see that the story still makes sense without those things, youâll start to get a better understanding of what can and cannot be taken out of your synopsis.
6 Steps for Writing a Book Synopsis
How to Write a 1 Page Synopsis
Learn How to Write a Synopsis Like a Pro
How to Write a Novel Synopsis
The Secrets of Story Structure
Three Awesome Plot Structures for Building Bestsellers
7 Ways Write Plot Outline
Synopsis for âBill and Tedâs Excellent Adventureâ
How to Plan Your Novel Using a 3 Act Structure - ex. âThe Hunger Gamesâ
Story Structure by Plot Point for âRaiders of the Lost Arkâ
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