48: How to Write a Strong Synopsis and Why

If you're sending out queries to agents for your

novel, you need a synopsis. But there are good reasons for

writing a synopsis. Even if you plan to go indie, what must be

included in your novels synopsis? What should you leave

out? How long should your synopsis be? Answers to these

questions and more in this episode of writing pursuits,

welcome to the writing pursuits podcast where authors like you

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pursuits and write and produce the weekly newsletter writing

pursuits tips for authors. In addition, I am a speculative

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writing pursuits. authors who want to be traditionally

published must include a synopsis in each query. indie

authors should not miss the golden opportunity provided by

creating a synopsis for their current work in process. For

anyone who has never seen a synopsis. Let's get that out of

the way. Simply put, a synopsis for fiction is similar to an

abstract for nonfiction, and you've probably seen those. If

you've ever written a master's thesis, a doctoral dissertation,

or even a super long academic paper, chances are that you have

written an abstract abstracts are expected for scientific

studies to and put simply an abstract is a courtesy to help

the reader decide if the full length work is what they are

looking for. An abstract is a high level summary, usually one

paragraph that ranges between 150 to one 250 words. We'll get

to synopsis length in a moment. But first, let's discuss why you

need one. And by the way, if you want to see examples of Synopsys

for novels, just go out and Google that you'll see lots and

lots of examples. Some are better than others. But we're

going to get into that. Why do you need a synopsis for queries?

If you are seeking traditional publication? Your synopsis is an

important part of the querying process. Steve lobby of the

Steve lobby agency wrote that sending your first three

chapters to an agent without a synopsis is quote, like asking

someone to buy a car online but only showing them a picture of

the front grille and the passenger side door.

I love that analogy. If you want to read his entire article,

it'll be in the show notes. The other reason you want to write a

synopsis for craft purposes, even if you plan to self

publish, your synopsis is valuable to save you time during

novel creation. Why? Because it will help you find the

weaknesses. In your story, you will learn the answers to these

questions. Is your premise strong enough? Are your main

characters compelling? Does the plot stay interesting? What

makes your story unique? How long should a synopsis be?

That's a trick question. And the answer depends on the purpose of

the synopsis. First 100 words or so write a synopsis that is not

more than 150 words in length. This is not the same as a hook,

which should be about 30 words in your query letter. These two

items the hook and the short synopsis should total 200 words

or less as a rough guideline. After all you need room and your

query letter to sell yourself to the hook for your query is a

topic for another day. Let's concentrate on the short

synopsis for a moment. Try for approximately 100 words. This

copy can serve as your elevator pitch and help you develop your

back cover copy to you need this synopsis. Realistically you will

rewrite it many times before it is perfect. For the short

synopsis make the characters for conflict and the stakes clear.

Let's take Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen as an example, in

Regency era England, Elizabeth Bennett is one of Mr. And Mrs.

Bennett's five unmarried daughters. Mr. Bennett's estate

is entailed to a distant cousin and the girl's mother is

desperate to marry her daughters off wealthy prospect. Mr. Darcy

is attracted to Elizabeth but repelled by her decidedly crass

relatives. He insults her at their first meeting and

She is in no hurry to forgive, can love overcome his prejudice

and her pride. So that was 75 words. Notice the elements of

this synopsis. The main characters Elizabeth Bennet and

Mr. Darcy are introduced. The conflict is clear his prejudice

against her family versus her injured pride. The stakes for

both are emotional death with the side of destitution for

Elizabeth. If she can't make an advantageous match, see, you can

do that one difference between this short synopsis and a longer

one, so that the story ending is not as clear as it will be more

about that in a moment. Multiple page synopsis. Writing a

multiple page synopsis is the most logical place to start this

synopsis is great for evaluating your plot at a high level, go

for five pages or less. In other words, set yourself a limit.

Then if you need a one page synopsis for your queries,

whittle the multiple page one down and make every word count.

Chop off the side plot, get rid of the minor characters. Focus

on the main conflict, chop as much as you have to to make it

fit the length you need. The exercise of limiting your space

to a handful of pages is worth your time. One page synopsis

ideally, you should hone your synopsis down to one single

spaced page. That's approximately 500 words one page

is difficult to achieve, especially for a lengthy novel.

So if you are preparing your synopsis for submission, then

pay attention to the submission guidelines. If you ignore them,

expect the agent or publisher to toss your manuscript out. But

some agents want one page and some want to and some will go

for three. So follow directions if you want to contract put

yourself in their shoes. If you look at submissions all day, how

much time would you want to spend reading about a book you

might never get to read? That brings us to the next question.

When do you create a synopsis? My best advice is to create your

first synopsis before you write your story.

What did you say? You've already written your first draft. That's

okay. Write your synopsis. Anyway, after you have your five

page synopsis, step back and ask is my main character relatable?

If you have multiple MCs are they all relatable? Is this the

best story I can write? Where are the weak spots? are the

stakes high enough? Is death on the line? Is the pacing tight

enough? And the plot twists it enough to hold my readers

interest? Does the ending makes sense without being the same old

thing? Does the main character have a satisfying arc? Now you

can tighten your story in an informed way during the revision

process. You can even rewrite your synopsis before you start

revising to perfect the plot and the story arc without having to

rewrite the story several times, you might be able to do it with

a synopsis in hand. Writing pursuits is run by Kathrese.

take their writing to a new level of excellence for threes

is a three story methods certified editor who specializes

in story diagnostics, coaching, and line editing to help you

prepare your story for the journey ahead. For more

information go to writing pursuits.com. The link is in the

show notes. And now back to the podcast. What needs to be

included in a synopsis main characters, setting, secondary

characters, plot points, and the ending. So let's go over those

main characters start your start with your main characters. Also

known as your MCs. I like to emphasize my main characters

names with all caps the first time I referenced them. This

saves the reader time and figuring out who is important

you shorthand descriptions for your MCs, it is fine to use

trite phrases like single mother, deadbeat father,

estranged son, impoverished family, distinguished doctor and

so on. You do not have room to provide backstory, but you can

use the shorthand phrases to get the idea across. Name the

setting, setting equals place in time and it must be disclosed

because context matters. Don't linger on the details. And you

know how those some movies establish the shot with place

and time with a little subtitle like New York City September

Pride and Prejudice I said in Regency England, so that's the

time and the place. It helps the reader I

understand the context of the story. Important secondary

characters include critical secondary characters. For

example, you wouldn't mention Frodo Baggins, without including

Samwise Gamgee. There are a set, you have to have both. In a one

page synopsis of Pride and Prejudice. You could expand a

little bit, but you would need to mention Jane Charles Bingley,

Mr. And Mrs. Bennett, George Wickham and Lydia Bennett by

name. These characters are integral to the overarching

plot, but keep your audience in mind. And don't expect an agent

to keep 10 characters straight. In a multiple page synopsis use

your best judgment about how many characters, places and

organizations you name is this for your eyes only well, then

fine. include anything you want. Will you be sending multiple

pages out to others? Make it as easy as possible for your

readers to keep people, places and things straight. major plot

points tell how the characters start out. Tell the inciting

event, disclose the conflict. Go through the major plot points

and make the stakes clear. You're expected to tell not show

put on your summarization hat. Just the facts, ma'am. Like Joe

Friday used to say in dragnet. use strong verbs. This is

something I didn't mention, but it really needs to be said. And

I know I said to summarize and tell the facts however, you need

to make an emotional connection with whoever is reading your

synopsis. This is the time to stretch for strong verbs with

meaningful connotations. For example, Cinderella longs to

attend the royal ball, but her stepsisters shred her homemade

gown and mock her before sauntering away grief stricken,

she stumbles to the garden, where her fairy godmother bursts

interview to console her. Did you notice the verbs? Cinderella

longs to go to the ball? Doesn't the word long have a stronger,

more emotional connotation then want her stepsister shred and

mock and saunter Cinderella stumbles and her godmother

bursts into view to console her if you have trouble with your

word count. Work on your verbs because verbs can do the heavy

lifting in your synopsis and remove the need for a lot of

helping words through the step sisters actions. In our example,

the reader knows they're wicked. Through the verb stumbles, we

get how overwhelmed Cinderella is, but godmothers arrival seems

miraculous, without having to say so she burst onto the scene

to console Cinderella. The ending, tell the ending give it

away, hold nothing back. agents and publishers want to know the

resolution. If you play coy, your submission will go and file

13 They need to know the ending. Help them out what needs to be

left out of the synopsis. Here are the things to leave out of

your synopsis. Leave out minor characters if possible. Leave

out subplots as much as you can stay on the main path through

the story, omit backstory. Please leave out the detailed

history of everyone in the story. Do not use flashbacks in

your synopsis, not present the story in a linear fashion. Don't

use bullet points, headings and subheadings tell the story. And

don't include dialogue. This is a summary not a snippet. Your

one page synopsis will accompany your first three chapters of

your full manuscript. Your manuscript is where your

dialogue skills will shine. So here are some tips. Finally for

a great synopsis. use present tense. That's what we've done in

the examples we've talked about so far about Pride and Prejudice

and Cinderella. And we'll talk a little bit more with a few other

examples. Put your main characters names in all caps the

first time they appear. This helps the reader know who is

most important. It's just a clue. It's a tip. I like it.

It's it's very helpful to me. If the setting is key to the plot,

put it in all caps. The first time it's mentioned, it's just

like the main characters. Again, this is my preference, state the

inciting event in a compelling way. For example, Luke Skywalker

is a farm boy on the desert planet tattooing who dreams of

becoming a fighter pilot. When his aunt and uncle are murdered

by Imperial Stormtroopers. He leaves his home planet to train

to be a rebel pilot and a Jedi stay out of the weeds. In the

Star Wars example, you would not mention Luke's friendship with

big dark lighter. Wow, what a name bigs dark lighter in your

synopsis. He is part of Luke's backstory and he gets about two

lines in the movie, he's not important enough to find his way

into your synopsis. Make every word fight to stay in the

synopsis. Every word must serve a purpose. Edit like mad. Your

synopsis is a demonstration of writing skill. If you do not

feel adequate to the task, ask your critique partners for help

make the sakes clear. For example, when Luke joins the

rebels at their base, the pilots are ordered to fly a suicide

mission to destroy the Deathstar. Summarize the

resolution in simple terms. For example, Luke escapes from Darth

Vader. Using the power of the force he pilots his ship to

deliver the impossible killing shot that destroys the

Deathstar. Darth Vader worlds into space in his TIE Fighter,

leaving the door open for sequel to Star Wars. So you tell the

ending summarize it, keep it simple, but tell the ending obey

the guidelines you find. For the agents or publishers you want to

query. This shows that you can follow instructions. It is a

test so make sure you pass it and make sure your story meets

the expectations for your genre. Can't say that often enough,

make sure your story meets his expectations for your genre.

This is why I'm an advocate for writing a synopsis before

writing the first page.

But even more so for writing it again after the first draft. A

synopsis is a useful tool for authors and unnecessary one. If

you intend to attract an agent or publisher, use these tips to

make the process easier. This week's question is do you have

any pointers or experiences to share about writing synopsis?

That's all I have for this week. Until next time, keep writing.

Thank you for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode,

please leave a comment and follow the podcast. If you're

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new episodes and keep writing my friends. Keep writing