4 Steps to the Perfect Synopsis
4 Steps to the Perfect Synopsis
My book has to fit into what?!
One page. Your book synopsis has to fit into one page.
Yes, you were just told to write a 95,000 word YA manuscript, and yes, now you are being told that you have to summarize that in one page—which roughly translates into 800-1000 words.
So how do you do that?
What’s a Synopsis Anyway?
The synopsis is a frequently-requested part of your query package. It does the following things:
It tells the entire story of your book, from beginning to end
It spoils the ending and any major twists (note that this is totally different than your summary in your query letter, which doesn’t spoil the ending, and leaves the reader on a cliffhanger)
It helps the agent see that you have a through-line to your plot, and that it doesn’t have any major plot holes.
With these goals in mind, how do you create a synopsis?
Step 1: Reverse Outline
My favorite synopsis technique is called a “reverse outline.” I’m borrowing this from a college writing class I took because it’s a great technique - you go through your book and you write down all of the main events, as they happen. Make a list, make an outline, write it down in sentences, whatever floats your boat.
Step 2: Figure out the Main Plot
Now that you have a reverse outline, you’ll probably see the immediate issue - even this outline is longer than one page, in all likelihood. And if you fleshed it all out, you’d be telling the whole story all over again, and that’s definitely more than one page. So go through the outline and figure out what the main plot is. You want to follow your main character’s main conflict from beginning to end. Get rid of all side plots, side characters, etc. Pare your story down to the core.
Step 3: Flesh it Out
Next, you want to take your main plot and flesh it out. The synopsis is written in paragraph form, and should be 1-1.5 single spaced pages when you’re done. Every time you mention a new character, you write their name in all caps, like LAURA. Then, in any subsequent mention of that name, you write it normally.
Step 4: Make Sure You’re Hole-Free
The final step in crafting the perfect synopsis is to show it to someone who has never read your book before, and doesn’t know the story. Ask them if the plot makes sense. If they think it does, great! If not, you’ve probably got plot holes in the synopsis that an agent would pick up on. Make sure you fix them, and then ask your friend to read again!