The Synopsis - the most important page you will ever write!
Why do we say the synopsis is the most important page in your
novel? Because if it isn't great, and doesn't grab the attention
of an agent or publisher, they won't ask to see the full
manuscript, and you are not going to be published. First thing
to remember is that formating is, if anything, more important in
the book synopsis than in the novel itself. This is because all
agents and publishers get countless submissions every single
day, and even a TINY little obstacle to quick skimming will
render your synopsis good for nothing but the waste bin and a
rejection letter. So double space it, use courier font, and
break it into easy to read paragraphs.
If you have created the plot for your story using the Plot Card
system at
www.GetPlotted.com then
creating the first pass of your synopsis is easy. Just click the
button. Feel free to 'jazz it up' a little - add a little more
about characters and so on. On the other hand, if you are doing
it the hard way, a good place to start is the chapter structure.
You can summarize each chapter manually into a paragraph, and
set them down on a page or 2 to create a first pass synopsis of
your book. It isn't necessary to ruthlessly include every
chapter in your synopsis - you can just include the main thrust
of your story. In fact, you can even stop before the climax -
this can often be a good way of getting an agent's interest -
like all readers, he/she will want to know what happens next.
It also isn't necessary for a synopsis to go into great detail
about characters - in fact some authorities claim that even
using first names is overload on the poor old agent or editor
reading your work. We say the level of detail you go into is
relative to the complexity of the plot itself. It has to fit on
a page or 2, remember! As an example, consider the 'Thomas
Covenant' novels. A synopsis for the first one could simply
introduce the main character as 'Thomas, a leper, finds himself
facing a strange challenge as his illness intensifies' rather
than 'Thomas Covenant, divorced father of 3 and a suffering from
a form of leprosy, having lost his job as an accountant, and
been told by Ben Williams, his Doctor that his condition is
incurable, is surprised one day when...' you get the idea. Keep
it brief and to the point.
Synopsis writing usually happens in the present tense, and the
third party. Even if your novel is a first person perspective,
the synopsis should still be third party. In other words, don't
write things like 'I realize that all my investments have gone
bad,' write 'Ben realizes all his investments have gone bad'.
You are effectively temporarily acting as an introducer -
introducing your characters and plot to someone else. It can
also be a good idea to try and reduce the plot to a 30 second
soundbite e.g. 'An award winning psychiatrist, after a near
death experience, turns his back on fame and fortune and
determines that whatever the cost he will try and help a
disturbed child who claims to be able to see ghosts.
Compromising his marriage in the process, the doctor finally
helps the child come to terms with his condition, only to
realize at the end that he himself is actually a ghost, and the
near death experience was in fact fatal.' Sixth sense, anyone?
A good synopsis contains no dialogue - you simply don't have the
space to include it. A prologue explaining the context may also
be useful - for example, if your story is sci-fi or fantasy, you
might want to outline the background to the plot before
beginning the synopsis proper. An example - 'Three thousand
years ago, the Dark Lord Sauron is overthrown by an alliance of
Elves and men. Peace reigns across Middle Earth until Sauron's
magic ring is accidentally found by Bilbo, a Hobbit.' There are
tips for writing good dialogue at
www.GetPlotted.com if you
feel that your speech writing skills need a little work.
Basically, remember that if your context is likely to be
unfamiliar to your reader or editor, a little explanation will
go a long way to helping the synopsis work.
Synopsis length is also an issue. It is a summary, remember.
More than 4 pages and most editors will think long and hard
before launching in to it. These people didn't go into the
publishing business because they enjoy hard work! Don't think
that your own story can't possibly be compressed down to this -
a good plot should fit in a paragraph if necessary. It only has
to attract the attention of an agent or editor long enough for
them to decide to ask you for the full manuscript. if you
haven't actually written the book yet, your synopsis is in fact
a 'proposal,' and proposals by definition are fluid. If you get
the go ahead to write the story, the proposal becomes an outline
roadmap, not a series of explicit route instructions. That's
about it for now!
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