Convert your Novel into a Short Story = Synopsis?

I dunno the answers, anything I suggest would be pure guesswork. But if the only way you can do this is to write a short story then go for it. Maybe once you're done, you'll find it easier to write a synopsis of the short story, since you'll have boiled the plotlines and characters down to fit the short (and doubtless shed some excess baggage along the way).

But methinks there's a big difference between a short story and a synopsis. It's the difference between someone asking you what your story is about and your telling them, "It's about this guy who has to... complications ensue... tries and fails... more complications... fails again... big climax... unexpected twist..." and your taking out a copy of your story and reading it aloud, word for word.

Just asking, in case you haven't been there: have you checked out the How to Write a Synopsis thread in Query Letter Hell SYW? (Share Your Work password = vista)

-Derek

The writing in a synopsis isn't nearly as stylistic as a short story would be. You're allowed more telling, you don't want to use dialogue, you want to avoid naming too many characters, etc. Also, there's a reason it's a novel already and not a short story. If the whole story could have been told in fewer pages, then it wouldn't be a novel in the first place. That's why people don't do it in reverse.

My guess is that it would come off as gimmicky and not have the information necessary. If you could manage it and it was awesome beyond reason, it would be worth a try, but I imagine it would be harder than writing it the normal way, and it would risk turning agents off as well. I'd avoid it.

Not a good idea. If you send them a short story, they're likely to think you're pitching a short story. I went to a conference where someone actually did pitch a short story and the agent complained about the writer afterward for wasting her time. At the very least, it comes as gimmicky; at worst, the agent may think you don't know what a novel is.

Sounds to me as though you haven't even bothered to try and write the synopsis.

Thinking a short story would achieve the same result as a synopsis is wrong - it won't. A short story and a synopsis are completely different animals.

Check out the SYW Query Letter section here. There's also a pretty good stickie guide on writing a synopsis - http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=174.

If the synopsis is hard to write it often suggests the story is badly structured and there is no real main plot thread.

Dorian W. Gray said:

Okay, I have been reading about writing synopsis, it is no doubt an uphill task. The only way I see myself writing it is in a short story form. So I have a few questions:

1) From publishers/agents perspective, how different would it be to read a synopsis vs. a short story to get the idea of the entire story of the novel, including the characters, plot, conflicts, storylines, and the ending?

2) Do you think that it would be a good idea to write a short story out of your novel and submit it for publication to generate interest, or do you think that the novel would lose its appeal as you would’ve to reveal the plot/story and the ending?

3) I’ve heard about writing novel out of a short story, but not other way around.

Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated, as always.

Thanks

Dorian.

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Dorian W. Gray said:

Okay, I have been reading about writing synopsis, it is no doubt an uphill task. The only way I see myself writing it is in a short story form. So I have a few questions:

1) From publishers/agents perspective, how different would it be to read a synopsis vs. a short story to get the idea of the entire story of the novel, including the characters, plot, conflicts, storylines, and the ending?

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Too different I'm afraid. That's not what they're asking for. They're not looking for an idea of the story, they want to know the actual story. The easiest way to do that is to think about each chapter, one at a time, and distill the essence of that chapter into two or three sentences. I realize it's not easy but it can also be useful for the writer. A brief description of a chapter may help to point out any weak areas and allow an opportunity for revision, making the story better before it is submitted.

Probably the equivalent of: 'if you want to find out the ending, you'll have to read the book . . .'

That's when the agent sends in the ninjas.

A synopsis is for FACTUAL purposes. It's so we know the order in which scenes progress, how character and story arcs are resolved, etc. Once you're sending it out for publication, it is a product. If you don't make it clear what your product is, people may not want to buy.

I've never thought about it that way, and I definitely would never tell a new writer to send anyone a short story to convince them to look at a novel (Though I have sent a published short story to an editor and simply said, "I think this would make a good novel. How about you? He agreed, and I wrote the novel.), but I do use storytelling techniques in writing a synopsis.

Few things are as boring as the average synopsis. Too many come across as nothing more than a list of events, Shawn does this, and then that happens, and then this happens, etc. Or they use bland writing to describe the action. That's a synopsis begging for rejection.

I do everything possible to make a synopsis exciting. I use active verbs, I put in tension, conflict, action, etc., in the same way I write a short story. The difference is really that the synopsis is present tense, and only touches on the high points. I even use a line or two of good dialogue where needed, and it works.

So I'd say you shuld use short story techniques, but in synopsis format.

I'm pretty certain Miss Snark did synopsis reviews back in the day. Yup, she did. Here's a link.

A lot of those aren't necessarily good versions, but in her critiques you can see what is wrong with them, and I'm sure she's got a few good ones in there as well. That whole site is absolutely fantastic, btw. Nathan Bransford also has a good "How to write a synopsis" thing. You can also post in SYW (synopses go under Query Letter Hell) once you finish to make sure it does what you want. It's not necessarily easy, but personally, I found the query letter to be the much harder of the two. Good luck!

I wouldn't do it that way,.

Firstly, synopsis is all telling, all factual and all very straighforward.

In a short story you have the tempation of foreshadowing and twisting and confusing. Which is great in a final piece, but not in the query.

You aim in a synopsis is to make it as easy as possible for the agent/editor to understand.

shaldna said:

I wouldn't do it that way,.

Firstly, synopsis is all telling, all factual and all very straighforward.

In a short story you have the tempation of foreshadowing and twisting and confusing. Which is great in a final piece, but not in the query.

You aim in a synopsis is to make it as easy as possible for the agent/editor to understand.

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I don't believe a good synopsis is all about telling. A good synopsis is a story in its own right, and is all about showing. The aim of a good synopsis is to ecite an agent or editor, to show them how well you write a story, not to tell them how well you write.