Too Complex?

I'd start with the exact moment he's being told if he can go or has to stay--but that's just me. You want to start as close to that moment as possible, because that's the moment in which your story begins, where everything changes. The point of no return.

Back story can be served palatable bites as necessary. Don't tell the reader anything until they need to care.

Without knowing the story it's hard to give anything more than vague advice. From your description, your protagonist could be an artic research scientist waiting to find out if their replacement will arrive, someone about to go up against military hearing in Guantanamo Bay or someone on a pleasant family holiday facing a long delay for their flight home.

Find your conflict and drama.

If he wants to go home and someone stops him then that might be your first scene.

If he's wanted to go home and is allowed to, then arriving home to find out his life has fallen apart might be it.

Generally, any scene that starts with catching the reader up on what has happened could be done better. If it's that exciting, show us. If it isn't exciting then why bother? If we need to know, then a little set up creates a mystery that you can drip feed us information on later.

Craig

I would agree, start with the catalyst and take it from there. You can weave in backstory as you go.

What are you writing the synopsis for? Is it for your own personal use to clarify things, or are you at submission stage and it's for a potential agent/publisher to read?

Oops - never mind - just re-read and realised you were asking advice about the story and not the synopsis! Silly me.

I wrote a blog post a while back on how to write a synopsis and identify the key elements to put into it. Lots of folks have told me it was very helpful, so I hope it helps you figure out yours

The goal of a synopsis is to show an agent or editor that A) you have enough story to fill a book and B) that you know how to plot a coherent story. You don't need every detail or subplot, just the core conflict and the major events driving the story. It's understood that other things go on, but those are secondary to whatever the main plot of the story is.

Back story can be just as problematic in a synopsis as a novel. (probably ever more so since you have fewer words to talk about it) Only put in things that are critical to understanding whatever information you're talking about at that time. You told me in the post that your protag is living in a facility and has to make a choice about going home. You'd likely only need a tiny bit more information there to understand his choice and what it means to the story. We don't need to know his history and how he got there, or not much more than "he did X act, for Y reason and wound up there." Two or three sentences with good details can probably convey what's important. Focus on what he wants and why, and what's at stake.

shub_niggurath said:

Is that too complex? Should I be starting the story all the way back before he's brought to the country?

Or should I just not explain everything at the start, and keep it murky?

Do tell.

Click to expand...

Start with the inciting incident. Always. But keep in mind there are ways you can explain things without it feeling like you're explaining them. Sorry for the vagueness there, but your question is rather vague. And because your beginning relates so closely to your ending, and vice versa, this is something better answered by someone who knows your whole story.