How to Write a Successful Novel Synopsis & Why Do It

FICTION WRITING LESSONS, November 2006

HOW TO WRITE A CONCISE NOVEL SYNOPSIS AND WHY DO IT
by zentao

Many writers have difficulty writing a synopsis, especially a one page, two-hundred word synopsis, also called the short synopsis. Yet, writing the synopsis isn't difficult if you focus upon What Your Story Is About. The easiest way I know to do that is to start with the keystone, then add the basics, building there from the basics to the distinct. Here's one way.

KNOW YOUR THEME

What is your message? Is it that good will overcome evil? Is it that man is a virtueless creature? What is YOUR message, the message that underlies the message that proves subtext for the events and resolution of your story or novel.

KNOW YOUR PLOT

Theme is the measure of plot. Plot is the story engine. What is your plot? Is your protag shaking his or her fist at the gods while the gods simply laugh, only to have your protag win the last laugh? What is YOUR plot?

DETERMINE YOUR STORY BASE

Write a single sentence blurb that succinctly encapsulates what your story is about.

EXAMPLE: Compassion verses time and a critical mandate force Jesse Mackay into an impossible choice between sacrificing a friend and mentor or abandoning two gifted boys in a near-future story of love, hope, and hatred where one man’s influence measures the distance between life and death.

Now do yours.

BUILD A BASIC STORY LINE

Write down what happens in your story in five to a dozen distinct sentences.

EXAMPLE:

Jesse meets two boys.

One of these boys has a talent Jesse's employers consider important. The other boy wants something from Jesse, something Jesse will neither admit nor relinquish.

Jesse is trying to be forced into interacting with the two boys. Jesse doesn't necessarily want to because it interferes with her own plans to help an old friend and mentor.

Jesse is cornered into agreeing to evaluate the boys because at least one boy could fulfill her employer's mandate if one or both pass certain tests.

Jesse agrees to teach the boys, only because she must. If both of the boys fail, she's off the hook and can leave as planned, in time to save her friend. If one of both of the boys succeed and she must extend her stay, her friend might run out of time and die before she can intercede to get him into a happier, healthier environment.

END SEQUENCE REMOVED.

Now do yours.

ELABORATE AND PERSONALIZE THAT STORY BASIS BY ADDING INTERESTING DETAIL AND HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANT EVENTS AND ELEMENTS THAT MOVE THE STORY FORWARD THROUGH CRUX, CLIMAX, AND RESOLUTION. This should be approximately two-hundred words in length and demonstrate your writing style, your voice, as well as the high points of your story. It should be written as close to the linear strategy of the work with a poise and flare that illicits enthusiasm, interest, and curiosity from a reader.

When two young boys break into her property, Jesse's plans are thwarted when her job responsibilities demand that she at least consider the talented youngsters' request for evaluation and instruction. Time is running out for Jesse who must complete her candidate roster and gather together her prospects by her employer's deadline. Then there is Old Sam whose health is failing….

Continue to show the story based upon the story line you wrote out, then be sure to show your satisfying resolution and conclusion, a resolution supported by your story basis, plot, and theme. Once done, polish it to the point where the story and the manner of its writing rivets a stranger's attention, making them desire to read the story.

WHY WRITE A SYNOPSIS?

While the title and your name or pen name is your waving, bright flag, intended to catch an audience's eye, the blurb is your lure and bait to get that audience to sample your work. However, your synopsis is the tool to get your audience — the agent or editor — to actually consider your novel. Beyond that, a synopsis shows an agent or editor that you have done your homework, that you know your story, that your story has a founded cohesion and rationale to make it desirable to, as well as believable by, your intended audience. It has to demonstrate that the work will in fact appeal to its target audience, and that the author has the skill and method, the style and demonstrated craft, to fulfill the requirements of a good story teller, a story teller who knows how to present and promote their work in a professional and stimulating way.

Secondary benefits

Prior to finalizing your novel, or, for those writers who prefer to plan their books prior to drafting them, the blurb and synopsis can provide the basic road map so that the author stays on target with their efforts to outline, draw the plot map, write the scene-by-scene synopsis, then actually write the book.

Lesson TOC (Table of Contents)...4

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