"Synopsis" by 5letters
* 1-Page Synopses
It’s been quite some time since I posted my resources for the query letter. It hasn’t taken me all that time to write the 1-page synopsis, don’t worry. The delay is due to my personal opinion, which in retrospect should not have been a factor in whether to post this entry or not. It was toward the end of completing my 1-page synopsis when I suddenly did an about-turn and start seriously considering self-publishing. As such, if I chose that route, there was no need of this synopsis.
One of the things I’ve learnt, however, is that even if you never publish your story, writing a synopsis can still be a worth while exercise, just like writing the query letter can be. It really makes you think about your story in its entirety, stripping away all the gloss and makeup and leaving you with the bare essentials. When faced with this, it’s amazing how clearly you can see whether the idea, the plot, has what it takes. I believe writing the synopsis has lead to some good changes in my final edit of the manuscript.
So what of this synopsis thing, then. I’ve seen a lot of talk about 3- and 5-page synopses, but so far I haven’t come across an agent who wants one, and thank God for that because the 1-page is hard enough.
In a way, the 1-page synopsis is basically expanding the paragraph you wrote for your query letter into a page. I say “basically”, but it’s actually a nightmare. You’d think it would be easy having all that extra space after doing your book in 1 paragraph, but the same problems remain. You still have to leave out all the minor things and concentrate on the bigger picture.
When it comes to format, like always, there’s conflicting advice. Some people say that although anything more than one page should be double-spaced, a single page can be single-spaced. Others say, you guessed it, even a 1-page needs to be double-spaced.
As always, if you’re doing a synopsis, check with the agent exactly what format they want: how many pages, font size, spacing etc.
The important thing to remember with the synopsis is to get in there all the major developments for the protaganist. So what makes your character imperfect, what is it that makes him/her do something about it, what is it that makes them unable to go back to the way things were, and what is it that allows them to finally overcome their imperfection.
Here I’m not necessarily talking about a physical imperfection. I could be referring to what it is that makes their life imperfect, for example.
Anyway, onto the resources that I used to produce my 1-page synopsis. This will be added to if/when I find something to add.
The Resources
Tips About How to Write a Synopsis: A very good tick-sheet style article. Short and sweet.
Writing a Synopsis from the Ground Up: It’s not the only post out there which suggests this method, but it’s a good one. I’ve used this a lot.
How to Write a Novel Synopsis (by leucrotapress): A well structured post, instructional, and a good checklist at the end.
Writing and Rambling – The synopsis conundrum: In interesting post that discusses the synopsis, as opposed to tell you how to write one, but I find these kind of posts enlightening and helpful all the same.
How to Write a 1-page Synopsis (on Let The Words Flow): This is a simply amazing post. Why have I left it almost last, then? Because I’m evil. I wrote many versions of a synopsis before finding this page, and when I followed the method given on this page it seemed like child’s play. However, I do think that all those other attempts first still helped.
Writing a Synopsis (by Charlotte Dillon): In particular, scroll down to the bottom to see some samples. They’re mostly/all for romance novels, but they’re good for ideas on structure etc.
25 Things You Should Know About Queries, Synopses & Treatments: This just in (at time of writing), over on Terribleminds, for an injection of humour after all that labouring.
And of course, folks, if you find any helpful links, feel free to bung ‘em into a comment.
