The Basics of Writing a Synopsis

by Janice Lynn

The following article first appeared in MCRW's September edition of Love Notes. Permission granted to sister RWA chapters to reprint with credit.

Writing a synopsis is something that’s always made me cringe. I mean, I’m supposed to take something that takes 400 pages to convey and cram it into 1 to 10 pages? How is a long-winded person such as myself supposed to do that and maintain voice? Over the years, I’ve attended various workshops, read a lot of articles on synopsis writing, and struggled through writing a synopsis for each of my stories. Although on occasion one tip or another has helped, nothing ever really clicked. No synopsis writing light bulbs blazing strong in this gal’s head--unfortunately. Writing a synopsis may always be the one thing that I struggle with, but it’s a necessary part of the writing industry. In this article, I hope to establish the main points to cover in a writing a synopsis.

HOOK YOUR READER.

From the very first sentence you need to grab your reader’s attention. When I first started writing, a published author told me to always start out with a “What if” sentence. For example, from my manuscript, THE GLASS SLIPPER, my synopsis starts out with, “What if the fairytales were wrong and Cinderella never got her happily ever after?” Hopefully, that makes the reader want to know more. Which part of the fairytales was wrong? Why didn’t Cinderella get her HEA? Did she get stuck inside that pumpkin coach? Did the glass slipper actually fit one of the stepsisters’ feet and the prince married the wrong woman? Hopefully you see my point in stating you need an opening line that piques curiosity and makes the reader want to know more so they’ll keep reading. This does not have to be accomplished with a “What if” question, but that’s an example of how it can be done. Regardless of how you start your synopsis, be creative and come up with a hook line that fits your story.

YOUR HERO AND HEROINE.

A synopsis has to establish your main characters. Who are they? What do they want? And why do they want it? This is the goal and motivation component of your GMC. Your conflict comes from the situation these two characters are put in. How does this situation interfere with who they are or what they want? The more aspects about this situation that stands in the way of what the characters want, the stronger the conflict.

THINGS THAT GO WRONG.

I’ve heard this referred to as turning points and complicating events. Basically it’s the things that happen in a story that push the characters in one direction or another. Choices have to be made because of these events. These choices make the plot advance. These events/choices can either push the characters together or they can pull them apart. One thing to keep in mind with these complicating events is why they matter? How do they affect the characters goals and motivations? Make sure there is an emotional connection. A story generally has one very bad/serious thing that will go wrong and this is referred to as the BLACK MOMENT.

GETTING PAST THE BLACK MOMENT.

This involves everything that’s happened in the story thus far. What has the hero/heroine learned throughout the course of events that has given them the strength/skills to get beyond the black moment? This plays into the characters’ growth arcs and how they’ve grown/changed during the story. Make this growth/change occur due to their relationship.

HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER:

Okay, after everything we’ve thrown at the hero/heroine during this short synopsis we need to make sure the reader of our synopsis knows these two people get their happy ending. A satisfactory ending is as important in the synopsis as it is in our stories. It’s our job to convince the reader that these two people have what it takes to endure anything life might throw at them.

These are the basic elements for a synopsis. You can use this guide for writing a short synopsis or even a long one. For writing a longer, more detailed synopsis, layer in the points we haven’t covered such as setting, secondary characters, subplots, important back story, etc. The longer your synopsis, the more of these extraneous details you can include.

One last tip: don’t edit your voice out to the point your synopsis is dry. Make sure that whether your synopsis is one page or ten your unique writing voice shines through. Good luck & happy synopsis writing!

JANICE LYNN’s debut novel, JANE MILLIONAIRE won Romantic Times’ American Title contest and will be released December, 2005. To find out more about Janice and her writing, visit: www.janicelynn.net or janicelynn.myblogsite.com.

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