Handling flashbacks in a synopsis

A synopsis should focus on the main plot -- to me flashbacks are diversions or back stories. If you must include them in the synopsis to help the main plot make sense, summarize:

Something something something happens, it's because a year ago Jack lost his job. Then something something else happens.

I agree with Maestrowork. Make the synopsis as straightforward as possible, concentrating on the main character and the plot as it moves forward in time. Even flashbacks that work in a novel tend to be confusing in a synopsis. I really struggled with this in my last synopsis. And that's all we need, right, something else to struggle with in a synopsis?

Best luck,
kap

I was at a writers workshop, and the agent giving a section on synopsis said you should mention the flashback when the flashback appears in the narrative.

Tell your story in a simple, clear fashion. Remember, you don't have much room (if you're over 2,000 words, you're too long and personally, I wouldn't want to be that long if I could avoid it). If you feel in your first drafts that you absolutely, positively have to have the flashbacks, put them in. But remember that character motivation is not a big part of a synopsis. There just isn't enough room to include it.

A synopsis is hard to write, and even harder to make interesting. The more subplots and flashbacks you put into it, the worse they become. I think you'll find as you write your synopsis the issue of flashbacks will disappear, and you'll find even worse problems to worry about.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe