Writing a literary synopsis -- the short road to a long tale

 In my previous post about writing literary query letters, I teased the possibility of one of their complements, a story synopsis. At last, I'm willing to discuss synopsis writing. In fact, I just wrote one myself.

But not entirely by myself. Because once again I climbed on the shoulders of other, better writers of this form. As with the previous post, I urge actually reading the complete words of wisdom from writers Caro Clarke (The synopsis: what it is, what it isn't, and how to write it) and Sudan Dennard (How to write a 1-page synopsis).

Are there whimpers of panic at the mention of one page?

Unless our agent insists on a single page, synopses can run a bit longer, maybe one to two pages. But remember, as with agent gripes about too-lengthy query letters, their patience can run short on the overly-long.

First, a little housekeeping. As previously mentioned, the query letter itself should be written in third person to avoid confusion about which words are the author's and which are the character's. The synopsis, however, is strictly first person. The only words it contains are those of the author (although giving glimpses of a main character's voice may be OK).

Image by Melanie from Pixabay

Did I neglect to state what a synopsis is? It's an outline of the story, although without Roman numerals and all that stuff we may have learned in high school English class. It's not the novel's themes, relevance, or even comparison titles. Just the facts, ma'am. What actually happened, all the way to the end. Spoilers included.

So, we've got a several-hundred-word novel to boil down to one (maybe two) pages. How is that even possible?

For this, I particularly love Dennard's outline, imagined as a movie:

1. Opening image -- setting the stage for the story
2. Protagonist intro -- a few words about the main character and what they want
3. Inciting incident -- what prompts the main character to take action
4. Plot point 1 -- the first action/decision that changes the story's direction
5. Conflicts & character encounters -- new life, new people, plus antagonist/villain
6. Midpoint -- the 180 degree change from which there is no turning back
7. Winning seems imminent, but. . . -- the main character thinks they'll win but oh no!
8. Black moment -- the main character must find the guts to get through this nadir
9. Climax -- the final struggle between the main character and the antagonist
10. Resolution -- happy ever after (or not), plus typing up loose ends
11. Final image -- has the main character succumbed or built a new life?

Sounds a lot like the Hero's Journey we probably took a class about, yes?

Dennard's outline is based on her favorite movie, Star Wars (A New Hope). But not every story needs to feature do-or-die stakes or light saber-flashing action. To steal another example from the book How to Tell a Story, courtesy of public radio's Moth narrative experts, what the main character wants can be as simple as "I'll get these pretzels out of this (expletive deleted) vending machine, even if I have to break the glass!"

Finally, a few more housekeeping issues. Avoid subplots unless there's a half-page of blank space (as if!) at the end of your first page. Ditto, limit named characters to the protagonist, possibly a side kick or love interest, and the antagonist (Evil Vending Machine?).

If any other characters must be mentioned, use only their titles/descriptors (alien princess, repair person, etc.). Some writers (agents, editors, etc.) want the first mention of characters' names to be ALL CAPS/BOLD FACE. When in doubt, check the agent's/editor's website for specifics.

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Still to come -- comparison titles. I blogged about agent Amy Collins' takes on these in my March 3, 2023, post, "From manuscript to published book: Part 2," but other agents have suggestions as well.