How to Write Your Synopsis and Not Lose The Essence of Your Story

Create a great tease that makes the agent or publisher eager for more

Most often when reaching out to a publisher or agent, you will be asked to include a “short” synopsis of your book.

Now is where the rubber meets the road. How do you do this to engage the agent or publisher to your book and not give away some important details that make your book enticing?

A well-constructed synopsis has three elements that show character and theme, but don’t give away the plot. It is important to remember that even though they are wearing their professional clothes when appraising your work, they are primarily readers and are searching for a damn good story

A well-constructed synopsis should celebrate the book you’ve completed and hope to pitch to an editor or an agent. The synopsis is your first for an audience. If you can’t engage an agent or publisher, you no longer have any place to go.

So, what is a synopsis?

Everyone may have a different idea. Some say it is an outline. NO! It doesn’t do justice to the finished work. Your outline is what you may have used to write your book. I don’t want to see an outline. I want to see a story. The synopsis is more of a condensing of a novel.

Here is an example of a synopsis of a book or story you may have heard of:

Jack and Jill is the story of a boy and a girl who went up a hill together. They went to fetch a pail of water, but unfortunately, their plan is disrupted when Jack falls and hits his head, and rolls back down the hill.

Think about what do you love about your own story? Why do you think they will absolutely love it? Who did you write it for? Imagine that person in front of you as you write your synopsis. Tell us what the story is about and don’t leave anything out.

Characters

Your novel is about people. So why not focus on the characters in the story? You really can’t go wrong with this approach. Simply start with telling this character’s story.

Keep It Simple

All you really must do in a synopsis is tell us what the story is about. It’s really that ridiculously simple, but let’s add to that sentence:

Think of your elevator pitch expanded.

The Theme

Another way to get your head around writing a synopsis is to filter it through your novel’s theme.

Let’s take a relatable theme. The idea that ‘money changes people.’ How would that play out in a synopsis?

A synopsis is a 500–800 word summary of your book that forms part of your agent submission pack. It should outline your plot in neutral non-salesy language and demonstrate a clear story arc. Every major plot twist, character, and any big turning point or climatic scene should get a mention.

The Sticking Points-stick with them

A challenge for most writers in length. We tend to go long and don’t know when to stop. What to keep in? And what to leave out?

Jane Friedman, author of the Hot Sheet, has this to say about creating a synopsis

The synopsis is sometimes necessary because an agent or publisher wants to see, from beginning to end, what happens in your story. Thus, the synopsis must convey a book’s entire narrative arc. It shows what happens and who changes, and it has to reveal the ending. Synopses may be required when you first query your work, or you may be asked for it later.

Don’t confuse the synopsis with sales copy, or the kind of marketing description that might appear on your back cover or in an Amazon description. You’re not writing a punchy piece for readers that builds excitement. It’s not an editorial about your book. Instead, it’s an industry document that helps an agent or editor quickly assess your story’s appeal and if it’s worth them reading the entire manuscript.

1. Show Tension along with Rising Conflict

Why do I want to keep on reading? As writers, we can agree that conflict and rising tension is what every editor wants to see in your synopsis.

Keep in mind, the at the place you are submitting your book hasn’t read your book yet. You must mark out your story’s territory so that it takes hold in their mind and imagination.

2. Focus On The Main Plot

Give us the arc of the story. Keep it lean and crisp on settings and other subplots. When you write your synopsis, set up and focus on the main storyline. It’s a good idea to start with the inciting incident or the main plot driver.

Your plot should come through as a thread without giving it away.

3. Motivation

it is important to show that motivation in your synopsis.

You must also show how you will ‘wrap up’ the story in a sentence. Let’s say

Regina embarks on an odyssey of guts, dreams, disappointments. Ultimately, she prevails. Her determination to survive as her children marry and support their mother who sacrificed and struggled to find a better life in America. Regina reflects on the life she gained and lost, and the tragedy of her siblings’ extermination in Bergen Belsen and the Warsaw Ghetto.

The story follows Regina’s experience and her circumstances as a vibrant activist and a translator for a political organization. It traces the personal traumas and triumphs of her deeply cathartic Jewish-American woman immigrant experience.

Don’t Hide Anything

Be sure not to hide something major that will be a total surprise to your editor.

Or:

When the FBI interrogates captured serial killer Elijah Brown-Clark, he admits that he was also responsible for the murder of the 16-year-old hitchhiker — which will give peace to the boy’s parents.

Finally

Make them feel how the characters and plot — and surprises — are just waiting to burst out of your two-or- three-page document. Don’t just sketch the details or outlines of your novel in a synopsis. The editor or agent wants your voice. Make them fall in love with your story!