You have worked for months, maybe years, on your novel and now you are faced with the daunting task of writing the synopsis. Writers dread the work of condensing a 300-page manuscript into one page. Knowing what to include and how to include it is crucial to writing a compelling synopsis.

What a synopsis is not

It is not an author’s bio, nor the reason why you wrote the book. You can state this briefly in your query letter, but only briefly. It is not a character sketch, neither is it a list of plot points. Having said that, let’s take a look at what a synopsis is:

It is a summary of your book

Plain and simple. It contains the beginning andthe end with the high points of your story sandwiched between them.

It is compelling

Notice I use the word compelling because your synopsis should be as compelling as the story itself. And in order to do that you have to first start with a hook, just as you did at the beginning of your book. You want the editor to continue reading, right? Then in the body of your synopsis you write the salient points of your story in chronological order. This may not happen in your book, but for the sake of clarity, events should follow each other in order.

It uses strong verbs

Just as when you wrote the book, you chose strong verbs, used the active voice rather than passive and used adjectives and adverbs sparingly, do the same with your synopsis. And always write in the present tense.

It is concise

Leave out details that don’t matter. For example, if Anne confides in her friend, Susie, that she’s thinking of divorcing Jim, it’s not necessary to say Ann picked up the phone and called Susie and invited her to dinner and over a steak and lobster dinner … No, you are choking the details. Simply say what Anne tells Susie.

It includes action and reaction

Be careful to state how major characters react to events in the story – if their reaction helps to drive the plot. Let’s say Susie is thrilled at Anne’s news because she has had her eyes on Jim for a long time – then you must include that.

It follows the agent’s/editor’s guidelines

Some agents may ask for a one-page synopsis, some may simply say “short.” If they do not specify, limit your synopsis to two or three pages.

I heard someone say it’s a good idea to write the synopsis first. I don’t think that would work for me. My characters tend to change direction midway. But if you have carefully plotted your novel before you started writing your story, then you can give it a try. Either way, the more you practice, the better you will become. Why not try writing a synopsis for a story you have read?
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I’m sure you are familiar with the quote, “Write what you know.” Well, I came across another quote recetly: “Don’t write what you know—what you know may bore you, and thus bore your readers. Write about what interests you—and interests you deeply—and your readers will catch fire at your words.” ~~ Valerie Sherwood.

That’s what I did in one scene of my book when my protag and her love interest went fishing. After I finished the chapter, I felt dissatisfied. The setting was right, the emotion was there and the scene helped to move the story along, but to my mind it lacked that important ingredient – authenticity. I submitted the scene to my writer’s group with a little disclaimer that I had never, in the way-more-than-half-century in which I’ve lived, gone fishing, but it was something that interested me deeply and which I thought would fit well with the island setting of my book.

My group was wonderful. They helped me fix the factual errors I’d made – despite my research – and I rewrote the scene. But I still wasn’t satisfied. So last weekend, I thought it was time. I talked one of my buddies from work into going fishing with me. We went out on one of those charter boats with six other people, including the captain and his mate. There was not much room to move around, but who cared? I was going fishing. I watched as the guy baited the hook then gave a rod to each of us. I suddenly felt self conscious, but he was patient, showing me how to cast the line until the bait could no longer be seen. Everything went fine for the first hour or so. I leapt with excitement when I felt a tug on my line, but when I reeled it in, there was no fish, and half of my bait had been bitten off.

At our second stop, the waves were choppy. The boat moved up and down, and so did my insides. I was going to be sick! When I couldn’t hold it any longer, I made a dash to the lower deck where I was sick in the tiny, not-very-well-kept bathroom. That ended my fishing experience. Excited yells from the other fishers went unheeded as all I could think of was how sick I felt and how much longer my ordeal would be. Three hours later, I heaved a sigh of relief as we pulled up to the marina and I climbed shakily out of the boat.

So I ask again, to what lengths would you go as a writer to make your work authentic? I guess it depends on what you want to achieve in your story and how much it would cost you. Today, with the internet and television, we can easily do research from the comfort of our homes, but for me, I wanted to put myself in my character’s shoes. Was it worth it? I think so, even though my character had a much more exciting time than I did. She caught three fishes; I only caught sea-sickness. Will I do it again? Let me think about that.