How to write a synopsis

I’m not here to tell you how to write one. Sorry. There are plenty of guides that can do that. What I am going to do is tell you about the ways in which the synopsis form can help you during the writing process.

A synopsis is, in basic terms, a description of your work. The way you describe your work will change over time. At the beginning of a project, you won’t necessarily know what the work is about, what the story is, who the characters are. But you might have a more abstract sense of what it is, or what it could be, at least. Writing this down at the beginning of a project can help you focus.

I’m not a planner. I don’t plan anything. But I do like to prompt. I suggest you begin with a sentence, a couple of sentences, a paragraph. No more. A brief description of what it is that is interesting you about your work and what makes you keep returning to it. This isn’t a statement that anyone else will understand or necessarily be interested in. That doesn’t matter. It’s not for them; it’s for you.

When I was writing my first novel, the description I stuck onto my wall was ‘a book about New York City that gives a flavour of the city itself’. This was the description I kept coming back to. Write down what it is that most excites you about what you are writing and stick that to the wall. This is the embryo of a synopsis.

A long-form project changes over time. The embryo will grow. So, over time, it will be necessary to expand this description. A good time to do this is when you have completed a first draft. When you have reached the end of that messy process, written out everything you can think of, before you dive in to develop and edit, write another description. This description looks a bit more like a proper synopsis. But it isn’t one. This is not a document you would send to an agent. It won’t be polished. This is a description of the draft on the desk in front of you, a description of what it is, a way for you to consider the work away from the draft and in a shorter, more manageable form. This is called a ‘What is it?’ synopsis. It is a description of what you have written, a description of what the book is in its current form, without airs and graces, without any gloss. Describing a project in one page is very useful. You are basically trying to see the whole thing at once before you begin to pull it apart.

Once you have edited your work it’s time to write a proper synopsis, the slick and glamourous document that is going to have agents falling at your feet. This is when the real work begins. You will need to draw on every ounce of your determination to get this right. It will take many drafts. But there are tricks that can help.

Try assuming the persona of literary critic and write a glowing review of your work. This is a review that you would love to find a critic has written about your work, a barnstorming review that would have you happily, excitedly messaging friends and family. Part of what makes writing a synopsis hard is finding ways to describe what the book is without just listing a series of plot events. When we do this, we often forget to write what the book is about, what the themes are, what the style of it is. A review naturally incorporates these things. A review relates the work to current social themes and brings in other comparable authors and works. It is a looser kind of document, a naturally more persuasive one. A reviewer has their own writing style. They want their description to be persuasive. Adopting this form can help you do the same thing. Use your review as a starting point. Now it’s time to write your synopsis.