Uh-oh, They Want a Synopsis

Agents and editors (and RPLA) are likely to want a synopsis. But how can you condense a story from hundreds of pages to two or three pages? It seems impossible.

Don’t worry, it is possible. Here are some ideas:

Use only the main plotline. Yes, the subplots are fascinating, but they cannot be included in a synopsis.

Use only the main one, two, or at most three characters by name. Anyone else that has to be mentioned can be described by his or her role. “The postman discovers a dead body …” Use only one name per character. That is, don’t call Dr. Morton Thales Morton in one place and Dr. Thales in another. The first time a character’s name appears in the synopsis, make it all caps.

Use active verbs and concrete nouns. Henry doesn’t just hit Jonathan, he punches or clobbers or smashes him. A thesaurus can help you find stronger verbs. Concrete nouns are real and describable, as opposed to abstract concepts. For a character to say he hated his military service is relatively abstract, compared to showing how much he hated his overbearing sergeant, the bland and overcooked food, and the grueling daily marches. The story itself will also benefit from active verbs and concrete nouns.

Write in the third person, i.e. using he, she, Henry, Alice, even if the story is in the first person.

Write in the present tense, i.e. Henry goes to the Old Mill. He sees his friends. The synopsis is in the present tense even if the story is in the past tense.

Write in full sentences, properly punctuated, correctly spelled, and grammatically correct. In a way, this is your audition as a writer. An agent or editor who sees a badly written synopsis is unlikely to think the book will be any better.

Start with a strong opening paragraph that shows:

• Who is the protagonist?
• What does he or she want, and what stands in the way? What is the central conflict?
• When and where is this happening? Show the setting and time period.
• Why do we care what happens? That is, what are the stakes for the characters?

Then show what happens in the body of the story as the characters work out the conflicts and confront the challenges? Include the characters’ emotions.

How does it turn out? You have to tell how the story ends. This isn’t a teaser; it’s a summary.

Don’t hype the book with adjectives like gripping and deeply moving. Just tell the story. This is different from advertising copy or a back cover blurb.

Respect the synopsis length the agent or editor has asked for. If they want five pages, give them five pages, not five and a half. Busy professionals know what they can cope with—give them what they ask for.

One way to make the synopsis easier to write is to create it at the same time you’re writing the book or story. After I write each scene, I switch to my spreadsheet (a word processing document could work just as well) and note the basic fact of what happened in it. When the book is complete, so is the summary. Then I remove all subplots, rewrite it in full sentences and present tense, and voilà, a synopsis.