Writing a Synopsis

[Nikki Duncan]

Am I the only one who hates writing these things? I just spent 4 days writing a 5 page synopsis. Then I sent it to my critique partner who knows the details of my story. She made that thing bleed, so I had to rework a bunch of it. I was half-afraid to send it back to her, but she's making me better so I'm game for that.

But surely others have the same hate for the synopsis. And how much attention do editors really pay to them? If it's a Romantic Suspense, as mine is, how much of each element do you want to see in the synopsis? Do you want the suspense and thrill? Or the relationship and feelings?

[Schuyler Thorpe]

I just write it how it is and leave it at that. And since I'm not going the traditional route, I'm not really concerned about getting it right by their standards--seeing how mine run a couple pages to say the least.

[Nikki Duncan]

I have two types of synopsis for each story. A short one for the people who prefer short, and a long one. My short ones run around 6 pages. My long ones run around 19-20 pages. Maybe I need to write less complicated stories and characters, but I have a feeling they're only going to get more complicated so I guess that theory is out.

[Morgan St. James]

In my opinion it's much harder to write a good synopsis than the book. Economy of words is a definite challenge. There are two kinds: the synopsis for the reader and the synopsis for the pitch. From what I understand, the agents and publishers don't like cliff hangers so you should reveal everything. As for the readers, I think you want those cliff hangers to encourage them to read the book or listen to the audio.

My sister and co-author for the Silver Sisters Mysteries is the editor half of our team and she is great at cutting to the chase and dumping the unnecessary stuff as well as putting on the ribbons and bows. I've really wrestled with a synopsis for the novel I'm writing on my own. I'm about half way through with DEADLY DANCE. It is really a hard one to reduce to synopsis since there are many elements and it was inspired by true incidents. It is definitely fiction and some of the events that are essential to the story were changed to become good fiction. Many of the other parts are pure invention. So I have to be careful not to infer that this is a true story.

I'd be curious to know if others have been faced with this problem. I'm not even sure some of the incidents ever were true as they were heard third hand from letters written to my mother by the mother of the victim when I was only about 15. True or not, it makes for a great story.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
A Corpse in the Soup - paperback, e-book, CD, cassette and MP3
Shopping for Dancing Shoes - Chicken Soup for the Shopper's Soul
Miracles Happen on Horseback - Amazon Shorts

[Nikki Duncan]

That's part of my problem I think. My story has so many plot elements between his internal conflict, her internal conflict, the issue of trying to figure out what the bad guy wants, which gives my hero and my heroine more internal and external conflict. It's a fun story that when I get to spend time writing it I just breeze right through it. The synopsis? No way. That's agonizing because I have to hit all the pertinent points in chronological order, but I can't forget to include the emotion and their developing relationship. I'm so glad to know I'm not alone in thinking the synopsis is harder to write.

[Tim Quinton]

I picked up a book titled: 2007 Guide to Literary Agents. In this book it talks about writing a synopsis which is something that I didn't know anything about. In the book, the author says that you should have one page of synopsis for every 25 pages of the book. So for my book The Sea Huntress, which is 261 pages, I should have a synopsis about 10 to 11 pages long. For my second book Elizabeth's Revenge, which is 315 pages, I should have a synopsis 12 to 13 pages long. There are also some websites that I've seen that help about writing a synopsis, but I don't have their addresses, you'll have to google them.

[Nikki Duncan]

I have a detailed one that runs about 1 page per chapter. My plot is complicated to say the least. My struggle is when I have to condense it all down to just a few pages. I had someone ask for a 2 pager once. Are you kidding? I can't give you a clue of the plot in less than 4, and then you're going to see no development of the relationship or the complexity of teh plot. A friend of mine, who's awesome at writing them, is helping with the one I've been working on. She's even struggling to cram everything pertinent in the few pages I have to work with.

[Nikki Duncan]

The long one is more painful to me than the short one. I tormented myself with a solid 6 pager and sent that to an agent. The detailed one, I'm told by a good friend of mine, is more like what I would need if I want to sell a book on proposal. Since my book is already written, they're getting a short synopsis.

[Ginger Simpson]

That seems to be a standard guideline, but quite often when you are querying, the agent or publisher has very definite ideas about the length of the synopsis. I'm just jetting something off to Dorchester and they want a synopsis of 4-5 pages at the most. My agent says when she pitches a manuscript, she includes a chapter-by-chapter synopsis, so what's right and what's wrong? What I find annoying is that we jump through all the guidelines posted by various agents and publishing houses and end up getting a no-name form letter telling us we didn't submit what they were looking for. Why the heck don't they tell us what they're looking for in black and white and stick to it?. If I don't see it listed on their website, I don't waste my time. It's such a double standard of respect. Okay.. putting away my soap box. Don't get me started. *lol*

[Joy Calderwood]

As a publisher I have suffered through too many synopses. The usual synopsis includes so many details it is impossible to see the basic plot. I am looking for two things: the ability to write interestingly, and a plot that works.

As Morgan says, I don't want cliffhangers. I also don't want all the subplots and ramifications. In almost all cases we have found the first few pages of the book to be a better indicator than the synopsis. If I see the prospect of an enjoyable read, I'll ask you for some chapters.

[Nikki Duncan]

Hmmm. Now this is something to give thought to. I write Romantic Suspense so I feel I have to include at least a little of the sub-plot because it helps drive the plot. I tried writing the synopsis without the subplot because I was trying to stay within a set # of pages. I found there wre gaping holes where even I was wondering what was going on.

I've heard some editors and agents say they don't even read the synopsis because it only shows them if the writer can summarize stuff. It doesn't reveal a talent for telling a good story. So armed with that, I write the best one I can and hope that it works.

[Joy Calderwood]

If the plot can't be written clearly without the subplot, it isn't a subplot. So you are right to include it, Nikki.

[Melissa Schroeder]

As I have told more than one editor, I hate these damn things. Mainly because mine are so dry compared to my writing. Just getting it written up is a chore and then they say, add your voice. JEEZ. I am lucky that for the most part, I write things that are more like blurbs and apparently all my editors accepted that I suck at writing them.