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Taming the Wild Synopsis
Posted 12th August 2011 at 08:34 AM by Teresa Edgerton
Updated 23rd December 2012 at 06:19 AM by Teresa Edgerton
Updated 23rd December 2012 at 06:19 AM by Teresa Edgerton
Tags synopsis, writing, writing your synopsis
And as promised, this week's topic is how to write an amazing synopsis. Some of this will be familiar to those of who have read my comments elsewhere on this same topic, some of this may be new to you.
For many new writers in the process of preparing to submit a first novel to agents or editors, the very idea of writing a synopsis sends them into a panic. They have been told so many times how much depends on it, how difficult it is to do right, that the challenges it presents are nearly insuperable, it is no wonder they become stressed and confused. But, in fact, the mechanics of writing a good synopsis are not mysterious at all.
These days, most agents ask for a one page synopsis (single-spaced). This may seem unreasonable when you have a particularly long and complicated book. Yes, modern SFF readers want a story set in a vivid, well-realized world and they want great characters in a compelling plot. It seems unfair. How can you hope to squeeze all of that into a page or less? The answer is not that you need more words, it's that you need to choose exactly the right ones. Consider it a test of your skill as a writer. Can you be succinct when you have to be? Do you know your story well enough to boil it down to a few paragraphs — or will your book, like your synopsis, ramble about with no clear sense of direction?
Here are a few pointers:
Many books on writing tell you to write the synopsis in the present tense. No, I have never been told why this is so. Here is my best guess: because most synopses are written that way, I believe it helps the agent or editor slip into another mind-set: one programmed to evaluate the synopsis as a synopsis, and not as they will evaluate your manuscript or sample chapters.
You have to pack as much eloquence and meaning as you can into as few words as possible, so don’t be afraid to use colorful, dramatic phrasing — so long as you don’t lapse into purple prose. Be specific wherever possible rather than relying on sweeping generalizations, but know that there are some things you will have to describe briefly or not at all. Remember that the right details can suggest a character’s entire history. For instance, suppose that your character was an abused child and grew up to be exactly like his father. Stated baldly that way it falls a little flat, yet you can’t list every instance of violence that occurs in the story: when he was five his father knocked out one of his teeth, when he was ten his father whipped him one night for arriving late for dinner, when he was fifteen, etc. However, you could say something like this: “Whenever his father came home drunk, David would go to bed with bruises or a bloody nose. As an adult, he found himself repeating the same pattern with his own children.”
If you can, include a few short bits of dialogue — not a whole speech or conversation — a small amount of description. For instance, instead of simply saying, “she refuses his offer,” you put in an abbreviated version of what she actually does say.* This brings the character to life and conveys some of the flavor of the novel. But be sure that all such dialogue or description is meaningful. Dialogue should be that of a central character at some pivotal moment, and be expressed in a way that reveals something about the person speaking. The best description makes the setting tangible with a word here and a few words there, perhaps a sentence or two at the beginning. Yes, you can do it. The key is to give specific, well-chosen details that are so evocative, anyone reading them will fill in the rest.
The form of the synopsis should go something like this:
Set the scene (briefly). Don’t begin with philosophical ramblings about the nature of evil, don’t declare your theme or your reasons for writing the story, and don’t start with a question or a series of questions.
Introduce, in a few sentences, your main characters and the most important conflicts and difficulties they face at or near the beginning of the story. But don't say "the most important conflicts and difficulties ... etc." Leave the circumstances to speak for themselves. In fact, never instruct the person reading the synopsis on the significance of anything.
Describe the major movements of the main plot line, including any important plot twists, setbacks, or sudden reverses of fortune (so that the agent or editor can see that the plot is not one that simply plods along from incident to incident). Tell your story in a linear fashion, even if that is not how the plot unfolds in the book. Make sure it is clear how nuch hinges on your protagonist’s success or failure. What is at stake, and for whom? What does the protagonist, specifically, have to lose? If the synopsis is an effective one, it should be clear why readers would be invested in the outcome.
Leave out (or, if you must, briefly summarize) everything else, including all the subplots. Be selective in what you choose to tell. Sometimes the answer is not to explain more, but to simplify and/or be more exact. If you try to tell too much, you run the risk of becoming tangled up in increasingly convoluted explanations. Concentrate on what matters. Remember that the synopsis is not the book, and you don't need to explain things that don't impact the plot. The most important thing that you need to convey, is that your book has engaging characters caught up in a compelling story line.
DO give a clear idea of how the book ends, and don't annoy the agent or editor with sly hints. This doesn't mean that you have to give away all your secrets — if your main character finds a surprising entry in an old diary, making it possible for him to clear the family name and marry the girl he loves, you don’t have to reveal that this interesting document was hidden behind the wainscotting in the library, though the diary itself better make an appearance — but agents and editors alike will want to see that you are able to bring your story to a logical conclusion, or at least (if it’s the first book in a saga spanning several volumes) to a logical stopping place.
If it’s part of a multi-volume series, you may want to include a very brief summary of the other books, but on a separate page.
And that’s it. Learning how to write a great synopsis is one of the most important skills you can learn as a writer, but there is nothing arcane or mysterious about it. It may take a little practice and a lot of thought to get it right, but compared to writing the work of staggering genius that is your book, it’s not difficult at all.
Do remember, however, that no matter how excellent your synopsis, if agents don’t feel confident they can sell the book to a publisher, the synopsis will not convince them otherwise.
_______________
*But this part depends on where you are and what the agent asks for. In the UK, agents often read the synopsis after the sample chapters, in which case they will already know something about the characters and the style of the novel, and you should concentrate on telling the story. On my side of the Atlantic, many agents will read the synopsis first, or ask for the synopsis before they ask for sample chapters, or ask for the synopsis and five pages. Under these circumstances, bringing the agent into the story with the characters through dialogue and description becomes more important.
It is a good idea to have more than one version of the synopsis written in advance, so that you are ready with the right synopsis when you need it.
Taming the Wild Synopsis
For many new writers in the process of preparing to submit a first novel to agents or editors, the very idea of writing a synopsis sends them into a panic. They have been told so many times how much depends on it, how difficult it is to do right, that the challenges it presents are nearly insuperable, it is no wonder they become stressed and confused. But, in fact, the mechanics of writing a good synopsis are not mysterious at all.
These days, most agents ask for a one page synopsis (single-spaced). This may seem unreasonable when you have a particularly long and complicated book. Yes, modern SFF readers want a story set in a vivid, well-realized world and they want great characters in a compelling plot. It seems unfair. How can you hope to squeeze all of that into a page or less? The answer is not that you need more words, it's that you need to choose exactly the right ones. Consider it a test of your skill as a writer. Can you be succinct when you have to be? Do you know your story well enough to boil it down to a few paragraphs — or will your book, like your synopsis, ramble about with no clear sense of direction?
Here are a few pointers:
Many books on writing tell you to write the synopsis in the present tense. No, I have never been told why this is so. Here is my best guess: because most synopses are written that way, I believe it helps the agent or editor slip into another mind-set: one programmed to evaluate the synopsis as a synopsis, and not as they will evaluate your manuscript or sample chapters.
You have to pack as much eloquence and meaning as you can into as few words as possible, so don’t be afraid to use colorful, dramatic phrasing — so long as you don’t lapse into purple prose. Be specific wherever possible rather than relying on sweeping generalizations, but know that there are some things you will have to describe briefly or not at all. Remember that the right details can suggest a character’s entire history. For instance, suppose that your character was an abused child and grew up to be exactly like his father. Stated baldly that way it falls a little flat, yet you can’t list every instance of violence that occurs in the story: when he was five his father knocked out one of his teeth, when he was ten his father whipped him one night for arriving late for dinner, when he was fifteen, etc. However, you could say something like this: “Whenever his father came home drunk, David would go to bed with bruises or a bloody nose. As an adult, he found himself repeating the same pattern with his own children.”
If you can, include a few short bits of dialogue — not a whole speech or conversation — a small amount of description. For instance, instead of simply saying, “she refuses his offer,” you put in an abbreviated version of what she actually does say.* This brings the character to life and conveys some of the flavor of the novel. But be sure that all such dialogue or description is meaningful. Dialogue should be that of a central character at some pivotal moment, and be expressed in a way that reveals something about the person speaking. The best description makes the setting tangible with a word here and a few words there, perhaps a sentence or two at the beginning. Yes, you can do it. The key is to give specific, well-chosen details that are so evocative, anyone reading them will fill in the rest.
The form of the synopsis should go something like this:
Set the scene (briefly). Don’t begin with philosophical ramblings about the nature of evil, don’t declare your theme or your reasons for writing the story, and don’t start with a question or a series of questions.
Introduce, in a few sentences, your main characters and the most important conflicts and difficulties they face at or near the beginning of the story. But don't say "the most important conflicts and difficulties ... etc." Leave the circumstances to speak for themselves. In fact, never instruct the person reading the synopsis on the significance of anything.
Describe the major movements of the main plot line, including any important plot twists, setbacks, or sudden reverses of fortune (so that the agent or editor can see that the plot is not one that simply plods along from incident to incident). Tell your story in a linear fashion, even if that is not how the plot unfolds in the book. Make sure it is clear how nuch hinges on your protagonist’s success or failure. What is at stake, and for whom? What does the protagonist, specifically, have to lose? If the synopsis is an effective one, it should be clear why readers would be invested in the outcome.
Leave out (or, if you must, briefly summarize) everything else, including all the subplots. Be selective in what you choose to tell. Sometimes the answer is not to explain more, but to simplify and/or be more exact. If you try to tell too much, you run the risk of becoming tangled up in increasingly convoluted explanations. Concentrate on what matters. Remember that the synopsis is not the book, and you don't need to explain things that don't impact the plot. The most important thing that you need to convey, is that your book has engaging characters caught up in a compelling story line.
DO give a clear idea of how the book ends, and don't annoy the agent or editor with sly hints. This doesn't mean that you have to give away all your secrets — if your main character finds a surprising entry in an old diary, making it possible for him to clear the family name and marry the girl he loves, you don’t have to reveal that this interesting document was hidden behind the wainscotting in the library, though the diary itself better make an appearance — but agents and editors alike will want to see that you are able to bring your story to a logical conclusion, or at least (if it’s the first book in a saga spanning several volumes) to a logical stopping place.
If it’s part of a multi-volume series, you may want to include a very brief summary of the other books, but on a separate page.
And that’s it. Learning how to write a great synopsis is one of the most important skills you can learn as a writer, but there is nothing arcane or mysterious about it. It may take a little practice and a lot of thought to get it right, but compared to writing the work of staggering genius that is your book, it’s not difficult at all.
Do remember, however, that no matter how excellent your synopsis, if agents don’t feel confident they can sell the book to a publisher, the synopsis will not convince them otherwise.
_______________
*But this part depends on where you are and what the agent asks for. In the UK, agents often read the synopsis after the sample chapters, in which case they will already know something about the characters and the style of the novel, and you should concentrate on telling the story. On my side of the Atlantic, many agents will read the synopsis first, or ask for the synopsis before they ask for sample chapters, or ask for the synopsis and five pages. Under these circumstances, bringing the agent into the story with the characters through dialogue and description becomes more important.
It is a good idea to have more than one version of the synopsis written in advance, so that you are ready with the right synopsis when you need it.
Total Comments 9
Comments
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Really clear and helpful, Teresa, thanks. I was chuffed to find the first two paragraphs of my draft synopsis already fit with your advice.
One question I have is, can simplifying go too far? If Tolkien found that he could only write a one-page synopsis by concentrating on Frodo's journey and not mentioning Aragorn at all, could he be accused of misrepresenting his story? Or, another less well known example, but one I believe you've read recently: if Catherine Fisher in the first volume of the Relic Master series had left out the antagonist/secondary protagonist, Whatsername? (Can't find the book at the moment.)Posted 12th August 2011 at 03:24 PM by HareBrain
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Aragorn leads Frodo and his friends for part of the journey, so he'd be in. Besides, if Tolkien were trying to sell the book today (and if he were smart about it), he'd be selling it as three books, three synopses, and thus three pages.
(By the way, it's possible to summarize the entire story in one sentence.)
For Relic Master, they are short books, and in The Dark City, Carys is another character who shares part of the protagonist's journey (and even when she's alone she's following Raffi and Galan), and so plays a part in the main plot line. Actually, from my point of view, there is only one plot line.
Even in the second volume, where she has so many scenes on her own, she eventually reunites with Raffi and Galen and becomes an important part of their story. So no, you couldn't leave Carys out, but you wouldn't need to.Posted 12th August 2011 at 05:43 PM by Teresa Edgerton 
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Thanks for this. I'm not envisaging needing to write another synopsis in the near future (thank goodness), but I shall bookmark this for as and when needed. In the meantime, this will sound rather daft, but when you say put in abbreviated dialogue, do you literally mean a quote in inverted commas? Or possibly in italics?
I've been puzzling about this and how it would fit with the rest of the style of the synopsis and whether it might not seem a bit odd, all out on a limb of its own, as it were. Any chance of your showing us what you mean with a brief example? (I find I tend to understand things better if I see an example, like the David's bloody nose sentences above.)Posted 16th August 2011 at 09:16 AM by The Judge - Yes, in quotation marks. OK, here is an example, off the top of my head (so the prose is clunky, but I think it illustrates the point).
Growing desperate, John pulls a gun on Mary and demands that she open the safe and give him the incriminating documents. "I will if you promise not to hurt me," she stammers.
Growing desperate, John pulls a gun on Mary and demands that she open the safe and give him the incriminating documents. "**** you, ***hole!" she growls.
Growing desperate, John pulls a gun on Mary and demands that she open the safe and give him the incriminating documents. "Let's make a deal, shall we?" she says with a smile.
Obviously, each of these answers reveals a lot about Mary, things you would otherwise have to tell, but in each case Mary herself shows us what kind of person she is. The second response also gives an idea about the style of the writing.Posted 16th August 2011 at 09:59 AM by Teresa Edgerton - Ah! That makes a good deal more sense than the odd ideas I'd had! Thanks.Posted 16th August 2011 at 01:33 PM by The Judge
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This intrigues me. I've been trying to think of the sentence ever since. I haven't come up with anything at all coherent!Quote:Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton
(By the way, it's possible to summarize the entire story in one sentence.)
Thank you for Taming the Wild Synopsis. I enjoyed it and it makes the alarming process of writing synopses much clearer. I look forward to taming mine when I can bear to look at it again.Posted 19th August 2011 at 11:14 PM by Hex - You're entirely welcome. I hope you find it helpful.
I'm glad you brought this up.Quote:Originally Posted by HexI've been trying to think of the sentence ever since. I haven't come up with anything at all coherent!
Frodo the Hobbit and a fellowship representing the free peoples of Middle Earth set out on a perilous quest to destroy the One Ring of Power and defeat the Dark Lord, Sauron; when the fellowship is divided, each member must fight against Sauron in his own way.
(Did I mention that a one sentence summary can include one semicolon?)
Admittedly, this might not make the greatest pitch, but it does serve to condense the story down to the basics. So, suppose that you had written this story yourself and were trying to sell it to a publisher as a trilogy (as you certainly would be, if you were trying to sell it today), and therefore you had a page for The Fellowship of the Ring, and perhaps a half page each for The Two Towers and The Return of the King in your original submission package.
The central plot of LOTR is: the quest to destroy the ring, the fight against Sauron, and the treachery of Saruman. This includes all the members of the Fellowship — and so Aragorn, as mentioned in a previous message, is definitely in. What does it not include?
The love of Aragorn for Arwen — subplot and expendable. Eowyn’s love for Aragorn — subplot and expendable. In fact, Eowyn herself and also Faramir could each be reduced to a sentence, or at most two, and only included at all because they give Merry and Pippin something to do during the seige of Minas Tirith. Faramir’s meeting with Frodo — doesn’t advance the plot, therefore it goes. Tom Bombadil — out. Scouring of the Shire — two sentences at most. Lothlorien -- at most one sentence but could be sacrificed at a pinch. Helm’s Deep — probably could go. Almost all of the background — gone. Aragorn and the oathbreakers — out.
No doubt you can think of other things that could go, too, if you were resolved to be equally ruthless.
In fact, it might be instructive, and a good way to toughen up, if you were to write one page synopses for two or three of your favorite books.Posted 20th August 2011 at 01:46 AM by Teresa Edgerton -
Thank you, Teresa. Writing a synopsis is difficult, but your advice and explanations make it an easier process.Posted 21st August 2011 at 05:44 PM by Brown Rat - I like the idea of the one sentence synopsis. I now propose the multi-functional one sentence synopsis. This one is good for Harry Potter, Star Wars, LOTR and most modern Arthuriana:-
"Against all the odds, plucky lad defeats evil superpower with the assistance of elderly wizard"
Regards,
PeterPosted 29th September 2011 at 12:32 PM by Peter Graham
