I deeply apologize for the major hiatus in writing these posts. Life happened, but I am back and fully intend to finish this series, no matter how long it takes. But, that’s enough. Let’s get into the real point of this post!
A few posts ago, I wrote a summary of everything you need to know about the querying process. The following post was about query letters. This blog post is about your synopsis—or synopses for the pluralized form, for those of you who don’t know.
So, what is the synopsis?
To put it simply, the synopsis is the brief summary of your book, including the essential characters, main plot points, and *most importantly* how the book ends. Remember writing book summaries for school projects? This is the same thing, it’s just about your book!
I know, writing a synopsis for your own book sounds like the worst thing in the world, and for many, it is difficult. It is my hope that this post helps clear up any confusion as to what a synopsis is and aids you in writing (or editing) your own synopsis.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty though, let’s talk about what a synopsis is not. (Yes, many people STILL get them confused.)
Synopses vs. Blurbs
In the publishing world, the terms synopsis and blurb often get thrown around and confused. Many writers think they’re one and the same thing, but they’re actually two different things and serve different purposes in publishing.
Blurbs are the copy (or writing section) on the back of a published book that gives the reader an idea of what the book is about and tempts them into opening the book and reading it. They establish the stakes, introduce the main character, but end on a hook to purposefully entice a potential reader. A bad blurb will turn readers away, regardless if the book is actually good or not. (Note: not all readers even read the blurb, but it’s still important to do well, especially in the age of social media marketing.)
Synopses, on the other hand, are the complete, detailed summary of your book that you include in materials to submit to literary agents. They include all the major plot points, important characters, and all the spoilers as to how the book ends. Unlike a blurb, which tries to catch a reader, the synopsis serves to tell the agent whether your story is worth signing on (through the process of requesting more material if the submitted portion, whether the first chapter or the first 10k words or whatever the agent requires, lives up what to the pitch paragraph promises).
Synopses are just as important to write well as the query letter. A bad synopsis tells the agent that you have no idea what your story is actually about, or how to communicate it effectively, regardless of that is actually true. A good synopsis signifies the opposite. It tells the agent that you understand your story and how to communicate what your story is about (which is good practice for book marketing), and it also shows whether the story is going to be a good story, i.e. is it worth requesting more information on.
So, without further ado, let’s get to it.
What a Synopsis Needs to Say
We’ve established what a synopsis needs to do. Now we need to know what it needs to say so we can write it well.
I’ll repeat what I had in the previous post in case any of you need the reminder:
A synopsis needs to show the following:
- what characters we’ll care about
- clear conflict, what drives the conflict, and how the protagonist(s) succeeds or fails in dealing with it
- how the conflict is resolved and how the protagonist(s)’s situation, whether internal or external, has changed
But, you may be asking, how do I go about doing that? Where do I start?
There are two different methods I recommend for going about writing your synopsis.
Method 1:
Shrink-the-summary is what I sometimes call it. Basically, I write out a chapter-by-chapter outline of all the events in the story with the important characters in it. From that, I delete everything that doesn’t have to do with the main plot/main characters and condense as necessary until I have a succinct synopsis. If I’m unsure what’s actually important to include, I use the who-what-when-where-why method. (For more explanation, see below) In other words, if it’s not relevant to the plot (and said plot can be explained and make perfect sense without the aforementioned inclusion) then you can cut it from the synopsis.
For example, if I was writing a summary about the Fellowship of the Ring, I would include Frodo Baggins and his hobbit friends being pursued by the Ringwraiths until he reaches Rivendell, as well as include him being stabbed at Weathertop, but I would not include Tom Bombadil necessarily. Certainly not unless it was a brief statement about him freeing Frodo and his friends who were caught by the Barrowwrights, as Merry uses a sword from one of the downs later in the trilogy to help slay the Witch-King. I would not include them traveling through the Old Forest or being caught by Old Man Willow, even though that is interesting enough to some readers, as it has no overall bearing on the actual, main plot-line. (Tolkien fans, don’t come at me, I’m just using this as an example; I enjoy the full story well enough!)
Method 2:
This method is the complete opposite of the first method. I start with the barest, most minimal summary I can. Even if it’s just one sentence. (Think of what you might say if someone asks you what your book is about.) Then I build on it from there until it has all the necessary details to make it a complete summary or synopsis.
To bring up the Fellowship of the Ring example again, I might start out with “Frodo Baggins and his hobbit companions must travel across Middle-earth to destroy a magic ring that, if restored to its original owner, would result in their world being conquered by evil.”
I would build on that by adding these details: “After conferring with other leaders, Frodo Baggins’ band grows by members representing each free race in Middle-earth, and they set forth to Mordor where they must destroy the Ring. Along the way, two of their members are slain, the fellowship breaks apart, but Frodo and his loyal companion Sam Gamgee continue on their journey, which is continued in the following book.” And so on, adding all the other crucial details until it’s a proper book summary.
I am aware this is incredibly dull to read, but synopses are not meant to be exciting. That is for the pitch paragraph. This is meant to be a summary of all the important events.
Some Tips to Keep in Mind
- Most synopses are supposed to be 500 words or one page (single-spaced) in length. If an agent stipulates otherwise, some tweaking may be needed, but typically it is only 500 words. Occasionally 1K words, but that’s not as common.
- Use the active voice, third person present POV (see above examples)
- Tell, don’t show; you’re not writing a story, you’re writing a summary. Every word is important, especially when you’re condensing your book into a mere 500 words.
- Avoid editorial icing or rich detail. The book sample you are submitting is the place to show your prose abilities, not the synopsis. The synopsis is SUPPOSED to be boring. Its only purpose is to provide a summary of your book, not tell a story.
- For stylistic purposes (and also an easier way to introduce the characters), you may put the characters’ names in All Caps the first time they are mentioned. This is also a great way to determine how many characters are too many if you see too many All Capped words.
- Last but not least, it’s a good idea to format your synopsis with your book’s title, word count, genre, and your author name at the top. It’s an easy way for the agent to keep track of everything.
More on Who-What-When-Where-Why
To clear up any confusion about this particular method, let’s dig deeper into how this strategy works.
For this, I’ll once again use the Lord of the Rings example.
- Who (the character(s) involved): Frodo Baggins, a hobbit from the Shire (not listing all the important characters for this example, FYI)
- What (the event/driving point of the story): Frodo must destroy a magic ring to save the world
- When (the time/day/year the story takes place): The journey begins in autumn and ends in early spring
- Where (the location(s) of the story): The characters travel across Middle-earth to the realm of their enemy, Sauron
- Why (the reason the characters must do this): If Frodo doesn’t destroy the ring, then Sauron will eventually reclaim it and conquer the world for his own, bending all to his will, and all the free peoples of Middle-earth will be enslaved or worse.
This can be as simple or elaborate as your story needs. Not all of these details are necessary for writing your synopsis, such as the time, unless the time has specific bearing on the story. Nonetheless, it is a great guidebook if you’re unsure where to start.
For more information about the 5W’s, check out this explanation from Georgia Tech.
In Conclusion
This is the last post in my series about querying tips! I so appreciate all of you for following along and I hope it was helpful. Initially, I also planned for a post about writing pitches, but in our technology age, the market and algorithms change so quickly that advice that worked for me when I started querying may not work for you. The same basics for writing a synopsis though, remain the same, and the same advice for writing the pitch paragraph for your query letter works for writing a 1-3 sentence pitch, it’s just a more condensed form.
As stated before, I do offer querying services from looking over your query letter to help with synopsis and more! You can check it out here.
This publishing series will continue in the next series installment: everything you need to know about indie/self publishing. Stay tuned and follow for more!
The Dancing Bardess 