Tips on Writing a Synopsis

Following on from my previous post on Writing Synopses, I’m going to share some tips for writing synopses.

Include only the Important Scenes:
Don’t include every unimportant scene. Only the scenes that move the plot forward

Show How the Story will Reach the Ending:
Editors won’t like a cliff hanger in your synopsis. If you tell them to ‘buy the book to find out’… they won’t.

Answer all the Questions:
All the questions which you raised in your synopsis must be answered by the end of the synopsis.

Keep it Short:
The general rule of synopsis length is one page per 10,000 words of novel. So, a 70,000 word novel should have no more than seven pages of synopsis.

Person, POV, Tense:
Your synopsis should be written in third person, omnipresent point of view, present tense.

Only Name the Main Characters:
Only the main characters should be referred to by name. As I said in the previous post, the named characters should be written in capitals. All other characters should be referred to by the relationship with main character, ie. JOHN’S brother, SUE’s teacher, MARK’s butler.

Tell, Don’t Show:
Tell how the story will move along, don’t show it. (The opposite of ‘show, don’t tell’. Confusing, huh?)

Do Not Submit Your Synopsis in Outline Form:
Dot points is a no-no. It should be written  in paragraphs.

No Dialogue!!!:
Enough said.

A few days ago, I sent Direct Messages to a few published/soon-to-be-published authors on Twitter, asking if they had tips to share. This is what they said:

Twice published historical fiction author, KM Weiland, says:

Biggest one would be let your writing style show as much as possible, but whittle down to bare bones.

Beth Revis, whose YA debut novel will be published in 2011, says:

Just that it’s usually easier to write the synopsis BEFORE you write the book!

Graham Storrs, recently published Sci-Fi author, says:

A synopsis is a product description. It is not a cover blurb, it’s not a teaser, nor any     other kind of sales material, it is a simple, short description of the story – who the     characters are, what’s at stake, how they seek resolution, and what happens.

Finally, YA author, Stephe Bowe, whose debut novel is published in September, says:

They aren’t totally necessary to get published, so don’t stress out too much over     writing them.

Lastly, a few points on presentation and formatting:

• Quality, white paper
• One inch margins all the way around
• Double spacing
• Standard font, ie Times New Roman, Courier New. Size 12
• Create a header for each page, with your surname, title of the novel, and the word synopsis on the left, and the page number on the right.

Do you have any tips to include?

Writing A Synopsis

The other day I was talking to a lady I know who’s also a writer. We were talking about my short story that’s getting published, when the topic moved onto synopsis writing (at the point, I realised I had been pronouncing synopsis all wrong…). She told me the synopsis was one of the most important aspects of writing. It doesn’t matter how good a novel is, if the synopsis sucks, you’ll never get published.

So  I did some research on synopsis writing, and decided I would share some of what I found out here. In the next post I’d like to share some tips, but in this post, I’d like to share with you how to write a synopsis.

What is a Synopsis?
A synopsis is an outline of your noel, designed to persuade the agent to take on your book for representation. The synopsis is written in first person, and can vary in length, depending on what the agent wants.

Writing the Synopsis:

Read your Novel:
Read through your novel once more to get the details in your head before you start.

Start the Synopsis with a Hook:
The synopsis should start with a paragraph or two that is similar to a blurb. Hook the agent in to wanting to read more.

Introduce the Characters:
Introduce the main characters in your novel. Tell their motivation and goals. Whenever you mention a character, use CAPITALS. Always refer to the character as the same name.

Summarise the Novel:
Re-read each chapter, taking note of the key points. Summarise the chapter into a paragraph, then do the same for the next chapter.

Use a Few Paragraphs to Write the Climax and Resolution:
Keep it simple. Detail the reactions of each character for every step of the action. Don’t make the agent have to guess what happens. Make sure you provide a resolution. Again, don’t make the agent have to guess.

Revise!
I’ve seen people complain on Twitter that their synopsis’s are too big, so I’m guessing that now, yours will be too. Read through your synopsis, culling everything that isn’t needed. Keep doing it until you reach an appropriate length.

As I said earlier in the post, I’d like to have another post with some tips for writing synopsis’s. What are some of your tips?