synopsis question

If you have a look at any publisher, they'll give guidelines on subbing in general (including your synopsis).

A one or two page synopsis is more common.

We have a section here called Share Your Work (password 'vista') where you can go and have a read through other examples of work-in-progress synopses.


Edit, welcome. hun

A synopsis and an outline aren't exactly the same thing. I would aim for a synopsis to be <1000 words. It isn't a chapter by chapter summary -- that's more of an outline. A synopsis introduces the major characters, arc, and themes and provides an overview of the main plot line. It doesn't include subplots, and it shouldn't be an alphabet soup of every character name in the book. It does include the ending.

This is still a sales-related document. The goal is to CLEARLY explain who and what the story is about. It's not about providing every detail -- that would be incredibly overwhelming. Condense it down to the most critical information.

JacelynnFaye said:

I don't know where I heard this, I can't find much guidelines online. But is the basic rule for synopsis (for urban fantasy 65k words) one para for each chapter? That seems right. But I'm not sure. Or is that more of an outline... >.<

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Think of a synopsis as a sales tool. It deserve the time and effort you put into it. Here is my recipe.

1. Make a chapter list. For each chapter, write two or three sentences summarizing the events in the chapter. Keep a copy of the list because it's often needed for other purposes.

2. Remove the chapter headings 'Chapter 1' etc. and merge it all into one mass.

3. Start editing until it makes sense. Remove material that isn't needed to describe the main plot and any subplots needed to support the main plot. Minimize character descriptions.

4. When you reach three pages, stop. Now, the first time a character is mentioned by name, put the name in ALL CAPS. I also append the age, too, but that's not always necessary.

5. Save a copy to use as your 'long' version, and begin editing the synopsis down to one page. This gets very difficult. You can find examples online which can help.

6. Keep on tuning and fiddling with the synopses. In a sense, they're never finished. Show them to friends and gather comments. Edit some more.

Remember that, when reduced to a synopsis, many stories look the same. So try to leave enough detail in that show your story to be distinct from other stories. Be sure to include the ending. This is not a blurb for the book jacket; this comes later.

Complicated and difficult? Yes indeed, but the better the synopsis, the better your chances of selling.

As an example, here are a few paragraphs from the 3 page synopsis of an older novel of mine, "Anne the Healer":

Synopsis – Anne the Healer​

TIM HARDY, 32, is a petty criminal who has drawn 500 hours of community service as a result of bank fraud. He is serving out his hours at the Bridgeport Free Clinic on the south side of Chicago. When we meet him, he has accidentally dropped his cigarettes in the toilet and decides then and there to quit smoking. His boss at the clinic is CARLA SCUMACI, 42. She is impressed by his natural talent with the patients. She designates him to handle a meeting at the clinic for ANNE BUNSEN, 31, an itinerant healer with an ambiguous reputation for curing people of normally fatal diseases.

Tim meets Anne outside the clinic late in the evening and they eat at a local diner. She is not at all what he expected, and he finds himself drawn to her. Since she has nowhere to stay, he tries to entice her to his home, but she primly decides to make do in the empty clinic overnight.

When Tim returns home, he finds his old friend, ROD MCKNIGHT, 33, who tries to induce him into a ‘project’ to smuggle stolen cigarettes into Canada, where they would sell for a high price. Tim is not very interested, which he himself finds peculiar. He has found fulfilment at the Free Clinic and is reluctant to risk losing it.

Next day, Tim attends Anne’s meeting and witnesses several apparent healings. Being a master of scams himself, he doesn’t believe in her for a moment, but he admires her technique. Her immense popularity prompts her to stay on another day, and this time, she agrees to stay at Tim’s place. Tim’s libidinous plans are derailed when Anne, a diabetic, has a hypoglycemic attack on the way to his place. Tim fortunately knows how to treat her. Next day, she spends another full day working her healing ritual on the clinic’s most hopeless patients.

She stays at Tim’s home for another night, and reveals to him that she became a healer when she asked God to heal her mother. God obliged, but left Anne with the gift of healing. She thinks of her gift as a curse, which obligates her to try to heal everyone she can reach. Next day, Tim puts her on a bus for Hammond, Indiana, her next destination. Later, while examining a previously addicted patient, he uncovers powerful evidence that Anne has really healed at least one person.

Some weeks later, Rod comes by with a rental truck. He has just made $5000 smuggling the first load of cigarettes to Montreal, and wants Tim to accompany him on another run. Tim reluctantly agrees to go along. From the time they reach their supplier in Detroit, things begin to go wrong. The supplier forces them to buy the cigarettes at a much higher price than agreed on. Next, they have a momentary scare at Canadian Customs.

After driving all night to Montreal, they find that their buyer may have been murdered the same night, and a gang of bikers has taken over the cigarette-smuggling operation. The bikers take the cigarettes as well as the truck from Rod and Tim. The pair barely escape with their lives, but without money. The pair make their way back to Chicago by robbing a convenience store and stealing a car.

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Nicola Morgan writes a great blog - Help! I need a publisher

http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com/

She's writing a book at the moment on writing synopses, and asking her followers to send in examples for her to critique - some find their way to the blog. She's in the UK (no idea where you are). Well worth a look.

JacelynnFaye said:

Thanks everyone huge help. To continue with this, I also am creating an outline because some people are requesting both as it turns out. So how detailed exactly is an outline. For example, above someone wrote not to include every name of every person (which I didnt) in an outline, are you supposed to? I get scene by scene, but exactly how detailed do most people want when it comes to an outline. I always thought of it as a reference guide. So they could skim the outline, okay this chapter is where bob gets a hair cut, this chapter bob cuts his toe nails. Well, thats what I use -my- outlines for. So what is the agent/publisher wanting?

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Outlines are rarely (rare =/= never) requested at the pre-purchase level from first-time authors. They are more commonly requested for subsequent books, particularly later books in a series, if an author has sold a multi-book deal.

You can use more names in an outline than in a synopsis, because an outline contains much more detail. It's not a sales document. It's basically one paragraph per chapter, summarizing what happens with the goal of giving the reader a road map to the structure and events of your novel. Still, you don't want to overwhelm the reader with names, because they simply won't remember them all. If, for example, Bob is the main character and Greta, his mother, is a minor character, use "Bob" and "Bob's mother."

Clarity is the important thing. Post it in Share Your Work, and listen carefully to the feedback, especially if someone gets confused by something.

rainsmom said:

It's not a sales document. It's basically one paragraph per chapter, summarizing what happens with the goal of giving the reader a road map to the structure and events of your novel.

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I agree.

I don't understand the request either, unless it's to demonstrate that your novel was written in an organized manner. I'd suggest the chapter list, too, since some agents and publishers do request those. Also, you can make a chapter list one of the steps on the way to building a synopsis (see my post above).