The Dreaded (NOT!) Synopsis

 

By Mary Rosenblum

 

            You’ve written the novel, it’s all done.  Finished, polished, read, revised…ready to go out.  You’ve done your homework with the market lists and at the bookstore.  You’ve spent time on the Association of Authors’ Representatives webpage and you’re ready to query a half dozen agents about representing you.

 

            They all want a synopsis and chapters.  Oh brother.  Just what is a synopsis.  Is it a chapter by chapter summary?  An outline with all those Roman numerals and letters?  What about the ending?  Tell all, or leave the editor or agent thirsting to find out what happens? 

 

            Well, a synopsis is a brief summary of your main plot points, designed to interest that editor or agent and at the same time, prove that you can indeed create a strong dramatic arc.  That  means yes, you do include the end.  Always!  Your editor needs to know that you can bring this story in for a strong landing and not leave readers grumbling.  And you write it in present tense to add energy.  Want an example of the tone of voice you use?  Read the book jacket blurbs on the backs of paperbacks in the bookstore.  Now these are teasers to get the reader to buy, so they won’t give the ending away.  But they are a great example of the type of energetic prose you want to use for that synopsis.   Just remember that you must tell the agent or editor your ending. 

 

            The most common mistake that novice writers make in writing a synopsis is that they try to include everything.  Thus energy and excitement drown in details.  The editor doesn’t need to know everything.  Your complete manuscript will provide that ‘everything’.  All he/she needs to know is that you have a dramatic and exciting main plot.  So what does that mean? Well, let’s look at ‘Wizard of Oz’ as an example. 

 

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            Dorothy, a young and imaginative child, yearns to escape the dusty, gray plains of Kansas.  ‘Over the rainbow’ there must be a land of color and excitement.  But here in Kansas everything is dull and dry.   When her beloved dog, Toto, is threatened by a neighbor, she gets ready to run away.  But a tornado hits, snatching her up in her house and whisking her away to a strange and marvelous land ‘over the rainbow’.   Landing in a country populated by miniature people, she is entranced.  But the Munchkins can’t help her return home, and send her on her way down the Yellow Brick Road to the land of Oz where the Great Wizard will surely send her home.

 

            On her trek, she meets the Scarecrow, who wants Oz to give him a brain, the Tin Man, who needs a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who desires courage.  Pursued and persecuted by the Wicked Witch, the foursome make their way finally to Oz, where the Great Wizard is less than friendly.  They are sent on a quest to the land of the Wicked Witch and there, Dorothy is captured, her friends bested by the witch’s soldiers. 

 

            But Dorothy, pure of heart, overcomes the Witch, freeing all her slaves.  The friends are reunited and return in triumph to Oz.  The three companions receive their requests for a brain, a heart, and courage.  There, Dorothy learns that all along, she alone had the power to return home.  She chooses to do so, and finds herself in Kansas once more, much more appreciative of the family that loves her.   But she will never forget Oz and her friends.

 

            Now this is a very short synopsis. Generally, if the guidelines do not specify a particular page count, you can send in a synopsis up to five pages long.  If the publisher or agent wants a shorter synopsis, then focus on main plot details and leave out specifics.

 

            Notice that the synopsis of Oz is written in present tense and much detail is left out.  Notice we don’t learn about the ruby slippers, or how the Great Wizard is really a phony.  Yes these are important details to the story as a whole, but they’re not critical to understanding the dramatic arc here.  The editor or agent needs to know that you can begin, reach a climax and end this story.  If you do that well, he/she will ask for the entire ms and read all those details you left out. 

 

            So how do you send it off?  You can send the synopsis in as a single spaced document in letter format…that is, with a skipped line between paragraphs.  Your editor or agent is not going to edit the manuscript. The synopsis is there only to be read.    Your three chapters should be in proper manuscript format if course. 

 

            Don’t wait until you need to send off a synopsis.  Practice makes perfect.  Start writing a synopsis for every novel you read.   The more synopses you write, the better you will be at presenting the story vividly and well.  Remember, this is not a test.  You simply want your prospective editor or agent to be so enthused by your story that he/she asks to see the entire manuscript.  It’s really not hard, it just takes practice.  So go practice!