Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Last week I came across a YouTube video of an engaging three-year-old giving a synopsis of Star Wars, Episode IV.
I realized there’s a lot we can learn from this future screenwriter. Publishers have different guidelines for the synopsis but here are a few general pointers:
- Hit the high points. Don’t get bogged down in details.
- Don’t be afraid to let your voice creep in. You want to give a flavor of the book but don’t get bogged down into trying to make this a literary work of art.
- Someone once told me that if you wanted to study the art of the synopsis buy a Soap Opera Digest magazine off the rack at your grocery store and see how they boil down a weeks worth of soap opera action into a few short paragraphs.
- Be sure to include the ending. Your editor wants to see how you work everything out.
- A good synopsis is the blueprint of your novel. It will help the editor gauge the storyline and decide whether it will make a compelling read. Plus it gives you a map of where the story is going.
What kind of synopses writing hints do you have for us? How have you approached it?
TWEETABLES:
Out of the mouths of babes. Let a three-year-old show us how to do a synopsis. Click to Tweet
Hate writing synopses? Don’t let the task loom larger than it is. Click to Tweet
The synopsis is the blueprint for your novel. Click to Tweet
Delightful Youtube video to start my morning and remind me that I can do this. I can’t wait to read everyone’s comments later. I struggle with switching from seeing the trees, to defining the forrest. I like the suggestion of thinking of it as a story map.
Can someone comment on a good length for a synopsis? Should there be a short version–one page–and a longer version?
Also, at one time Becky Wade posted her synopsis for My Stubborn Heart on her website. It was helpful for me to see a great example.
The length of a synopsis depends on what kind of book and publisher preferences. For instance, if you are writing category romance for Harlequin’s Steeple Hill, you need to write a synopsis of 500 to 1000 words.
If you are writing a complicated stand-alone women’s fiction you may need two to five pages to hit the important plot points.
Experienced writers may only be required to submit a paragraph or two by their longtime editors.
I want to sit and talk with this kid, she’s rather adorable.
“It’s an ex-CIT-ing movie.”
“Don’t talk back to Darth Vader, he’ll get cha!”
Did anyone else (I am the mother of 3 boys) notice she mentioned a Pokeball?
I want to ask her to describe Lord of the Rings, but maybe that above her age bracket?
I took weeks and weeks to write my synopsis, which may either be bragging or the admission of how I can actually take weeks to do something that bad. I’d work on it, send it to crit peeps, get feedback…work on it, send it to crit peeps, rinse, repeat.
I remember reading somewhere that the synopsis will not be the greatest piece of writing ever written, so get on with the black and white.
The synopsis is like courting and wooing-drop enough zing in there to draw the editor/agent/Spielberg back to the rest of the story, but no kissing on the first date.
(And in other news…#3 son could NOT pronounce the “wuh” sound in ‘Star Wars’. It came out as a “huh” sound. Go ahead, sound it out…)
Ha, Jennifer! Oh, dear. 🙂
Week and weeks on a synopsis shows dedication to trying to commincate the story in short form, but be careful. A synopsis too carefully “crafted” may make it harder for an editor or agent who just wants it quick and easy.
Ask at any agents or editors panel how they approach a submission. The majority will tell you they skip to the first few pages of a manuscript first to see if the writer can write and to listen for the writer’s voice. We’ve probably already had a taste of how you write so when we go to the synopsis we just want to see how you built the story.
So, if I start my synopsis with “Well…well…okay,” I can say that Wendy Lawton said it was okay? 🙂
I like how James Scott Bell describes the synopsis in The Art of War for Writers: “dust jacket copy on steroids.” Including the ending makes it a bit more than dust jacket copy, but the word steroids implies (to me) muscle and strength. A synopsis can be a terrific way to demonstrate the strength of your story and your writing. I think it’s for those very reasons that it’s one of the most challenging pieces to write.
Meghan: Exactly! And I have multiple synopses, each one stronger and leaner than its predecessor. The last one is really the elevator pitch, and I read probably thirty book covers to get myself in the “billboard” mode. In marketing, that’s the three-second read when someone drives by, glances for three seconds, and either acts or ignores your product forever on their daily commute.
The shortest synopsis—the elevator pitch—is the literary billboard. I LOVE studying book covers…such a weirdo.
Thanks for your comment; it resonates!
Love that billboard analogy, Norma. Thanks!
Norma, when I was a kid I used to read the backs of my books over and over. Little did I know that I’d be writing back cover blurbs for my own stories someday. 🙂
Norma, I love that you have all different “sizes” of synopses. For our Books & Such proposals we require our authors to offer three– the grabber sentence or two (like the lines that often show up on the top of the back cover of the book), a back cover copy-like description, and the synopsis.
That’s a great idea to read a whole bunch of book jackets before diving in! I might have to try that. 🙂
I have definitely been part of the I-hate-writing-a-synopsis crowd, and I rather panicked when I realized I needed to condense mine into one page to enter Genesis this year. So I broke down and bought the synopsis worksheet from Camy Tang I kept hearing people talk about–and was I ever glad I did! For me, the way she breaks it down step-by-step was incredibly helpful. I’m not quite so scared of synopses anymore…which is good because I need to write another one this week! 🙂
Thanks for a super fun and helpful post, Wendy!
So in other words, no limp and flabby dj copy.
I’m guessing nothing costs sales of a published book more than bad back cover copy– unless it’s a bad cover.
Great way to put it, Meghan– “terrific way to demonstrate the strength of your story. . .”
A trick I use is to write a one or two sentence synopsis of each chapter then string them together in a reasonably coherent way. This also helps me pinpoint when, say, NOTHING happens in Chapter 10. Then I can take an axe to said chapter. Which can be pretty doggone exhilarating.
I like this idea! Not the axing so much, but I may need to chop a chapter or two. I’m going to try this.
I do that too, Sarah. Like a miniature outline.
Love this idea, Sarah! Never pegged you as an axe murderer. 🙂
Sarah, about how many scenes per chapter do you have in your books?
It varies depending on the length of the scenes. Probably no more than four, though.
Great suggestion, Sarah. What do you use for your blueprint before the book is written?
Oh, Wendy, I know you’re an outstanding plotter. I don’t use a blueprint, I use a compass. I start with the inciting incident and go north aiming for a specific roadblock. Then I travel southeast until I hit the river of troubles. Then I go west until I bump up against the dark moment. Then I steer home again. I don’t have a blueprint, just landmarks. That’s one of the reasons the chapter by chapter synopsis is so handy for me. I draw my map AFTER I’ve been there.
Love the compass concept and if it takes you on a journey like Miracle in a Dry Season, it’s one valuable compass.
Sarah I love your description of how you “plot.” So fun!
My kids watched the young girl share her synopsis of Star Wars, and they loved it. 🙂 You give some great tips, Wendy, on writing a synopsis. One thing I learned from My Book Therapy was (in my own words), to tell the story as if it’s a police report, in the beginning. You tell the big things that happen beginning with the Inciting Incident and then the big disappointments and how they respond to these. And of course, the black moment, epiphany and how it ends. Trying to keep it to these elements has made synopsis writing easier for me.
I am happy to say I know NOTHING about police reports, so there.
Actually, that is a great concept. A few of my friends are in policing and the paperwork is INSANE. They have to get the details perfect, but in a manner that is decidedly UNwordy, because they have to read, and type, it over and over.
Surely, Jennifer, you’re not too young to remember Dragnet’s “Just the facts, Ma’am.” 🙂
Awww, you’re sweet. Although I vaguely remember Dragnet, I’ve see it in re-runs…
Great outline of a good synopsis, Jeanne. Hats off to My Book Therapy.
I’ve found that starting with the back cover copy and gradually filling it in works for me. If I start off writing a full synopsis, I end up with five or six single-spaced pages. A tad too long. So I start small and go from there.
Great suggestion. Plus it makes the task easier to swallow when you break it down into smaller bites.
I like this idea. Back cover copy intimidates me. Maybe I should start working on that and try your idea. 🙂 Fun, Sally!
If that isn’t the cutest thing. I don’t think I’ve ever met an author who says they enjoyed writing a synopsis. I try to use my outline to write mine, but I’m also the kid in school who wrote outlines with too many details.
The best thing I did for myself is take a workshop at a writers conference on how to write them. I can’t say I still don’t stress over them, but it did help me focus on the what’s important. I also hope the more times I write them, the better I’ll get.
Another great suggestion– catch a workshop of synopsis writing.
I was a “too-many-details” writer in school, too, Cheryl. I write my rough draft, and then cut. And cut. And cut. Until my synopsis is the desired length. 🙂
I usually just write as much as I can and then chop out what isn’t vital for understanding. But I’m like that with my first drafts of my novel too. I’d rather just write it and then worry about editing it on round 2.
Really like Sarah’s suggestion above, though.
You know it’s funny to see the parallels to other art forms. There are two kinds of sculptors as well. the ones who carve away to find their image, like stone sculptors, and the ones who build the sculpt by adding, like clay sculptors.
I’m a clay sculptor and I write the same way. You write like a stone sculptor.
I hadn’t thought of it like that, Wendy, but I love it!
Exactly! Hence the pleasure of slashing out chapters that wander. I’ll lend you my axe.
I love this video, she is so cute. I hope she does the other Star Wars movies.
As for synopsis for my book, I don’t think it will be too difficult for me to eventually write one. I do synopsis of engineering and configuration board meetings all the time. Nobody wants a word by word of what went on during those long, long meetings.
I found writing about the meaning of behind my buttefly labyrinth for a Web site that I and others just installed in the ground to be much more difficult because it is so much more personal. Even though my book is personal it is fiction and not nonfiction and therefore not a soul searching.
One thing for sure, if you have to write synopses for engineering and configuration meetings you’ll never complain about novel synopses.
This cutie needs an agent. 😉
Is she verbal or what? Cracked me up.
In the last episode of Covert Affairs, Joan told Arthur, “Don’t spin it! Give me the headline.” I had to laugh because my first thought was – she wants the synopsis, silly!
Thanks, Wendy, for the reminders of what to include in a synopsis. I’m working on one now and my crit group said it lacks my fun voice. So number two of your list has been my goal. Now – back to it!
I love that line. It’s one we should all drop into our writing quotes file.
I’ve only written once synopsis and I probably made it more harrowing than it needed to be.
When I story build, I’m supposed to withhold imperative information until the very last minute and advance the plot at the same time. But in the synopsis the ending rushes up so fast, I find myself cringing as I conclude.
Wendy, how much back story should we include in a synopsis? That juicy past we’ve constructed and want to divulge like a confession that would give us release. 🙂
Most backstory can be summed up in a sentence or a phrase.
Something like: [Hero’s Name], having lived through a terrible first marriage and the loss of his son, although [Heroine’s Name] doesn’t know this, is hesitant. . .
Writing a synopsis before I have the book finished is a noose to my creativity. I can do a back cover blurb, though, and I always know how it ends.
Isn’t it fascinating to discover how different we all are? From a detailed outline to seeing any kind of a road map as a noose to creativity. And each method can produce a story we can’t put down.
If you have Roku it helps to read the synopsis (es?) of movies and shows. They get right to the point.
Wendy,
Thank you for the your succinct points about synopsis writing, and thank you for making my week with this adorable and articulate three-year-old!
As I’ve mentioned, I am a HUGE Star Wars fan, so I had to watch the video. In the beginning, the little girl does get “bogged down with the details.” Even though I knew what she was talking about and I love the movie, I found myself a little distracted in the by some of the minor details. But she got my attention immediately when she said, “They blew up Princess Leia’s planet.” In part, her animation grabbed me. She emphasized that part of the movie. It was IMPORTANT. I think that’s what I need to spend time with in doing my synopsis: what is really important to tell about the story. Also, you mentioned getting your voice in there, and she certainly manages to do it with “Don’t talk back to Darth Vader or he’s gonna get ya!” 🙂
Blessings!
Sorry for my “in the by.” I had revised the sentence, but then didn’t proofread. 🙁
We hardly every think of how we would tell the story around a fire, so to speak, but that little girl hit some of the scenes that stayed with her. Don’t you wish we could get her to summarize our stories– to see which scenes make the biggest impact.
it might be a fun exercise for some of our first readers. Ask them to choose their favorite three scenes.
Great idea!
I don’t think it gets more succinct than, “You should read it because it is amazing,” but, alas, that doesn’t seem to be looked upon favorably in the publishing world. 🙂
Especially since the editor wants to analyze the plot points and story arc from your synopsis.
Funny thing is, we get a lot of “this book is amazing” queries. Almost without exception when we see that, the book is anything but amazing. (Except it continues to amaze us how many writer-wannabes are still clueless in this information age.)
Even with all the info available there are still many queries like that? I guess it can be frustrating for writers to think that part of the reason the query process is the way it is comes from other writers themselves, as agents have to slog through the pile of dreck to get to the good stuff.
I write synopses a little bit differently, I think.
After finishing each chapter, I’ll write its synopsis. It helps me keep the immediacy of what I’ve just written, and – I hope – keeps the synopsis fresh.
Obviously, rewrites involve both the WIP and the individual chapter synopses.
At the end, I have a ‘long’ synopsis that was produced in parallel with the book, hopefully keeping a similar voice, which can be pared down to the statutory length.
It’s a little bit like writing a chapter summary with bullet points for a nonfiction book.
You know, Andrew, I always used chapter summaries as my roadmap when I was writing fiction– it felt right to me because I could then control the arc of that chapter and always end on a cliffhanger.
Oh my gosh. I’m gonna look like a doofus and I don’t care. I just wrote (well, a few days ago) a post for my blog about synopsizing (different slant) and (wait for it) I wrote some copy for that Star Wars episode (because I thought it would be recognizable to all!). I blog out ahead of myself (that is, I need a cushion; I have a month’s worth in the can right now), so this has just been sitting in my queue. You beat me to the punch! 🙂 Clearly great minds think alike!
I recently wrote a synopsis for my ms. After coming up with an outline of the major points in the story, I fleshed out the ideas into paragraphs. From there, I narrowed it down until it was a 1 1/2 page synopsis. I’ve gotten feedback from four writer-friends (two of whom are former editors), and they all really liked my story. Must be doing something right! I bet they’d never guess that was my very first synopsis.
Thanks for the great tips! I have been known to cry the words to your post’s title once or twice!
As part of a film photography class project, I used two figurines, slips of paper with a sentence or two on them, and one roll of film to tell my story. Because I limited myself to twenty-four shots, I had to cut to the basics of my story. It was a fun project and really helped me summarize my story.