Writing a book - tips from an author #8

The Synopsis - the most important page you will ever write! Why do we say the synopsis is the most important page in your novel? Because if it isn't great, and doesn't grab the attention of an agent or publisher, they won't ask to see the full manuscript, and you are not going to be published. First thing to remember is that formating is, if anything, more important in the book synopsis than in the novel itself. This is because all agents and publishers get countless submissions every single day, and even a TINY little obstacle to quick skimming will render your synopsis good for nothing but the waste bin and a rejection letter. So double space it, use courier font, and break it into easy to read paragraphs. If you have created the plot for your story using the Plot Card system at www.GetPlotted.com then creating the first pass of your synopsis is easy. Just click the button. Feel free to 'jazz it up' a little - add a little more about characters and so on. On the other hand, if you are doing it the hard way, a good place to start is the chapter structure. You can summarize each chapter manually into a paragraph, and set them down on a page or 2 to create a first pass synopsis of your book. It isn't necessary to ruthlessly include every chapter in your synopsis - you can just include the main thrust of your story. In fact, you can even stop before the climax - this can often be a good way of getting an agent's interest - like all readers, he/she will want to know what happens next. It also isn't necessary for a synopsis to go into great detail about characters - in fact some authorities claim that even using first names is overload on the poor old agent or editor reading your work. We say the level of detail you go into is relative to the complexity of the plot itself. It has to fit on a page or 2, remember! As an example, consider the 'Thomas Covenant' novels. A synopsis for the first one could simply introduce the main character as 'Thomas, a leper, finds himself facing a strange challenge as his illness intensifies' rather than 'Thomas Covenant, divorced father of 3 and a suffering from a form of leprosy, having lost his job as an accountant, and been told by Ben Williams, his Doctor that his condition is incurable, is surprised one day when...' you get the idea. Keep it brief and to the point. Synopsis writing usually happens in the present tense, and the third party. Even if your novel is a first person perspective, the synopsis should still be third party. In other words don't write things like 'I realize that all my investments have gone bad', write 'Ben realizes all his investments have gone bad'. You are effectively temporarily acting as an introducer - introducing your characters and plot to someone else. It can also be a good idea to try and reduce the plot to a 30 second soundbite e.g. 'An award winning psychiatrist, after a near death experience, turns his back on fame and fortune and determines that whatever the cost he will try and help a disturbed child who claims to be able to see ghosts. Compromising his marriage in the process, the doctor finally helps the child come to terms with his condition, only to realize at the end that he himself is actually a ghost, and the near death experience was in fact fatal'. Sixth sense, anyone? A good synopsis contains no dialogue - you simply don't have the space to include it. A prologue explaining the context may also be useful - for example, if your story is sci-fi or fantasy, you might want to outline the background to the plot before beginning the synopsis proper. An example - 'Three thousand years ago, the Dark Lord Sauron is overthrown by an alliance of Elves and men. Peace reigns across Middle Earth until Sauron's magic ring is accidentally found by Bilbo, a Hobbit'. There are tips for writing good dialogue at www.GetPlotted.com if you feel that your speech writing skills need a little work. Basically, remember that if your context is likely to be unfamiliar to your reader or editor, a little explanation will go a long way to helping the synopsis work. Synopsis length is also an issue. It is a summary, remember. More than 4 pages and most editors will think long and hard before launching in to it. These people didn't go into the publishing business because they enjoy hard work! Don't think that your own story can't possibly be compressed down to this - a good plot should fit in a paragraph if necessary. It only has to attract the attention of an agent or editor long enough for them to decide to ask you for the full manuscript. if you haven't actually written the book yet, your synopsis is in fact a 'proposal', and proposals by definition are fluid. If you get the go ahead to write the story, the proposal becomes an outline roadmap, not a series of explicit route instructions. That's about it for now!