Write a Synopsis
A synopsis is a long, in-depth summary of a work that describes the content of that work from beginning to end. Synopses are important when you intend to publish a novel, nonfiction book, or journal article. Here's what you need to know about writing a synopsis for each major form of publishable written material.
Contents
[hide]Steps
Fiction Synopsis
- Start strong. The start of your synopsis should include a "hook," a statement that introduces the concept of your novel in an intriguing enough way to grab or "hook" the reader's attention.
- The hook often includes information about the setting, as well.
- The goal is to create a strong image in one to three sentences. The agent or editor reading your hook needs to have a clear idea about the conditions responsible for molding your characters.
- Introduce your main characters near the beginning. As soon as you introduce the conditions surrounding your characters, you need to introduce the protagonist. Within the first paragraph or two, you should also introduce any other major characters.
- When you introduce the main character, include one to two descriptive words capable of defining that character. You should also state how that character fits into his or her surroundings and the role that character will play.
- As you introduce other characters, you should introduce them in relation to the main character. For example, if your main character is named Sarah, you might introduce the antagonist as "Tracy, a popular girl at school who bullies Sarah relentlessly."
- As a general rule, you should only name three characters: the protagonist, love interest, and antagonist. Any other character you need to mention should only be referred to by his or her role: the father, the teacher, etc.
- Cover the entire narrative arc, including the end. You need to describe the entire main plot from beginning to end so that the agent or editor knows you are capable of maintaining a strong story throughout the entire novel.
- Do not be tempted to leave the end off in an attempt to "tease" the editor into wanting to read more.
- There are certain plot points you need to hit along the way. You need to describe the inciting incident, or the event that causes your main character to begin his or her journey.
- Once the journey begins, you need to explain the conflict that really propels your main character forward.
- Mention any turning points along the way, especially any moment at which conflict resolution seems impossible.
- Spend at least a full paragraph on the climax.
- End with the resolution.
- Demonstrate character development and emotion. As you advance the plot, you should also describe any character development your main character goes through. Explain the mental and emotional state of your protagonist with every new plot twist or event.
- If it helps to advance the plot, you should also explain the thoughts and feelings of the other characters named in your synopsis. For instance, if the love interest is a bad-guy-turned-good, you need to track his emotional progress and romantic feelings so that his switch to the good side makes sense.
- Polish the synopsis using a strong voice. As often as possible, you should write your synopsis using active voice and third person.
- Third person is generally advised even if your novel itself is written in first person. If you write the synopsis in first person, it might be difficult for the editor to distinguish your voice from the voice of your protagonist.
- Know when to stop. Usually, a novel synopsis should only be one page long. In an effort to reduce the amount of bulk, there are also a few details you should stop yourself from adding.
- Avoid subplots in your synopsis unless they are crucial to the main plot or unless you have extra space at the bottom of your page.
- Avoid mentioning too much: too many characters, too many events, too many minor plot twists, or too much description. You need to present the essentials of your plot, but every sentence should be concise.
- Resist the urge to editorialize. Avoid introducing scenes with phrasing like, "In one significant scene..."
Nonfiction Synopsis
- Include the basic information. Near the beginning of your synopsis, you should include all the essentials about your nonfiction book, including the title, genre, and length.
- You can either list these elements at the top of your synopsis, separate from the body of the synopsis itself, or you can weave them into a brief introductory paragraph at the start of your formal synopsis.
- Note that the length does not need to be exact. If your book comes to a total of 62,843 words, you can round the number off to 62,000 or 60,000.
- If you are offering a synopsis of a proposed book idea instead of a completed manuscript, estimate how many words you plan to write for your completed book.
- The length of the book can also be disclosed in the final paragraph of the synopsis instead of the first.
- Briefly describe the concept and its importance. Your concept is an explanation of the idea behind your book or the purpose the book is designed to serve. You should also explain why the book is important enough to be written and published.
- A good way to think about your concept is to recall what your initial thoughts on the subject matter were. Ask yourself what type of book you wanted to write when you set out, and arrange your reflections into a few sentences. Also ask yourself why you wanted to write the book in the first place, and form those reflections into a few more sentences.
- Elaborate on the content. This is, in some ways, a full summary of your book. Expand on the concept of the book, filling in the details to address how you plan to or have already covered the topic of your book.
- You can either address the content of your book as a block of prose, with each paragraph corresponding to a different chapter, or as a list of proposed or written chapters. The latter method is usually preferred.
- Each paragraph or chapter outline in your synopsis should address a different subtopic or portion of your overall topic. Introduce the main idea of the chapter and a few supporting points or questions covered in the chapter.
- Mention your own credentials. After discussing what your book is about, you need to sell to the publisher your own ability. The best way to do this is to mention any past credentials in the field you are writing about or within the field of writing.
- Regarding your credentials with the topic, you should mention any formal education you have had in the field as well as any professional and personal experience with the topic.
- Regarding writing credentials, you need to state any professional writing training you have received and any past, published books or articles, especially those related to the topic of your current book.
- Analyze the competition. Mention a few other works that address a similar or related topic and explain, in a few sentences, how yours varies from all of them.
- The main purpose of this portion is to show why your book, specifically, should be added to a collection of books already on the same general topic.
- Doing this also serves a secondary purpose. By mentioning other books in the field, you can demonstrate that you are realistic and knowledgeable about your competition.
- Suggest who to market the book to and how to do it. A publisher will want to accept a book that can sell. You need to indicate that you know of an audience who will be interested in your book and that you have plans of your own to help market it.
- List both general and specific readerships. A general readership would be something like an age group, gender group, religious group, or ethnicity. A specific readership would be something like a specific profession or organization.
- Regarding ways to market or promote your book, you should list any professional connections you have that can help or any audiences you already have, such as an active blog.
- Estimate your delivery. Describe how much of your book is already written. If your book is not yet finished, explain how long you expect to take in finishing it.
Academic Essay/Article Synopsis
- Stick to an appropriate length. When writing a synopsis for a research paper or academic journal article, you should aim to make the end result no longer than one to two paragraphs.
- Understand the function of a synopsis within the academic and professional worlds. A synopsis summarizes the article or essay and lets the reader know if the information is relevant to their needs or otherwise worth reading. As such, it needs to be short enough to read quickly.
- When submitted to a conference, synopses must be submitted before the presentation so that those attending the conference can determine which presentations to listen to. Since many synopses need to be included in the conference materials, each one needs to be fairly short.
- Maintain a professional tone. The tone of your synopsis should be the same as the tone for your essay or article: clean-cut and intelligent.
- Use third person. First person and second person comes across as being too subjective and biased.
- State factual or scientific information. Do not write about your feelings, and avoid mentioning opinions that are not backed with evidence.
- Provide an overview of your arguments. Introduce the premise of your essay or article, then lead into your hypothesis or thesis and the arguments that support it.
- For something like a history or literary article, you need to state your thesis and include a sentence for each of your main supporting points or arguments.
- For a scientific research article, you need to explain what hypothesis you are trying to prove and the method you used to study it, including details about why the method used would present a valid argument or piece of support.
- State your conclusions. Regardless of the subject or theme, each academic synopsis must state the overall conclusion you reached. Without that conclusion, the reader has no way of knowing whether or not the essay will come together in a sensible, beneficial manner.
- With literary and history articles, you need to show how all of your arguments lead up to one crucial and seemingly inevitable conclusion.
- With scientific research essays, you need to state the results of your experiment or research and quickly mention how that affects the topic as a whole.
- Put your synopsis in the right spot. The synopsis should be included after your title page but before the actual essay or article.
- Note that for some writing styles, the term “Synopsis” might be swapped out for the term “Abstract.”
Sample Synopses
Doc:Screenplay Synopsis,Graphic Novel Synopsis,Screenplay Synopsis Template
