the craft. writing your synopsis.
Writing a book is hard in its own way. Writing a synopsis about said book? Somehow even harder. Like clearly you have written thousands of words, but trying to boil those words down to approximately 800-1500 words ( two pages) with the perfect mix of summarization but also intrigue, is a royal pain in the ass. You’ve likely seen authors lamenting over their synopsis online, and I’m here to say, same, friends, same.
I’ve been working on a book since 2021. Writing, revising, and now I’m at a point where I’m ready to go on submission with it. Except, my agent asked me for one small thing, the synopsis. Now, I did not have to write this for my first book. That baby sold, okay? But it’s a different time, editors have moved around and it’s actually a normal part of the publishing process. Editors have less and less time and they want the milk before they buy the cow or in simpler terms, before they dive into reading your full manuscript.
So, I thought it a good time to talk about synopsis. What they are if you’re unsure and some tips and tricks I've been picking up along the way.
In the simplest form, when I have to construct what the book is about, I think a lot about loglines for film. There are all these details of a show or a film, but most of them can be boiled down to very simple forms of storytelling in one line.
Insecure: Follows the awkward experiences and racy tribulations of a modern-day African-American woman.
The Game: A spinoff of Girlfriends (2000) featuring a group of women who all have relationships with professional football players.
Brown Sugar: Friends since childhood, a magazine editor and a hip-hop record executive stumble into romantic territory.
I do this very same thing for my books. I borrow a lot from the film industry in my writing. Partially because I have dreams of having my books optioned for film or TV. But I also think it’s how my brain works. So, for my latest work in progress, here is my logline:
A gifted musician's journey to redeem his career, heal from a lifetime of grief, and finally decide to let love back into his heart.
Do you have the ability to boil your book down to a logline? In Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need, Black Snyder lists these as great components of a logline:
Irony - the hook
A compelling mental picture
Audience and cost
Title - one that says what it is
I was reading an article in Poets & Writers (March/April 2024) featuring agent Tanya McKinnon and she talked about how much it stands out to her if an author has command over the story they’re trying to tell. That specifically for her, it didn’t matter as much if the story wasn’t quite there, like the idea wasn’t yet executed as well, but that the author knew exactly what they intended to say. Boiling your book down, first, to its simplest form of a logline, has helped me take command of the story I’m trying to tell.
In addition to this logline, I also work on jacket copy once the book is somewhat baked. Again, in the same way, it’s helping me sum up those 90k words in a succinct way. You’ll also find that you may be including things in the copy that you haven’t executed in your work. A great help in your own revising process. All of the pre-work, sets the foundation to be able to fill out a more complete synopsis.
After that, it’s time for me to jump into the full synopsis. And here are a couple things to think about in that process:
Introduce your main characters. You don’t need every Tom, Dick and Harry (this phrase always makes me laugh) mentioned in your synopsis. But you need the important people. Everyone we care about, should appear here.
Themes and motivations. Cue Kelly Rowland, but honestly, the synopsis should include what the character wants and what those overall themes are that you want to convey. In my current work in progress, grief is a huge theme throughout the book. Redemption. Mental health. All of this needs to be evident in the synopsis.
Stay on beat. This is not about including every side character’s arc or every possible event that takes place. This is about your main character, the inciting incident, and the major beats that follow and lead them to the conclusion of the story. This is hard, I must say, but you have to be able to decipher which elements are most central to the story.
The balance of compelling and informational. While it’s giving summary, it still should have some flair. I’ve shared this advice before, but I took a class where they said, “everything is a writing sample.” I truly took that to heart. While it may feel laborious to sum up your story in this way without all the details, it should still have a clear voice, and create intrigue for the reader.
Include the ending. Whoever is reading the synopsis wants to know the end. This is not the time for cliffhangers. They want to know the story front to back so that they can make an informed decision on it.
Get some feedback. I never like to send things to my agent without having another eye or two on it. Sure, she is there to help me as well, but I also want to ensure that she doesn’t regret her decision to represent me. J/k. But seriously, I always think it’s a good idea to get the feedback of some trusted folks in your circle on most things you write before sending them anywhere. You need a good circle of writers. And you can start right here in the Permission Granted community. Jump on our Slack and see if someone may be interested in reading for you!
Whether you write a synopsis before or after you’ve written the book, it’s actually a great way to make sure that your book makes sense. In a way, it’s the most generic of outlines. Here, you are picking out the major beats in your story, giving us the who, what, when, where, why, and how. This includes what’s happening and why we should be interested. In this process, you start to boil down what your story is even about. It also gives you the opportunity to fill in any plot holes. Especially if you’re more of a panster than a planner.
So many of my projects are in progress, but I promise, once they are in motion, I’ll share a version of a synopsis on the resource page. In the interim, Masterclass has a good step-by-step guide to writing your synopsis.
Northern Moon Semi-Annual Review invites writers to submit to their biannual Vernal Equinox Prize. Contest submissions will be accepted from 11:06 p.m. on March 19 to 11:12 a.m. on March 20. Submissions are capped, and the window may close early if they reach their emotional limit.
POETRY Magazine is accepting submissions for a special issue of young people's poetry, which will be edited by current Young People’s Poet Laureate, Elizabeth Acevedo. Submit by April 30
A Public Space is accepting applications for their writing fellowships. Writers who have not yet contracted to publish a book are invited to apply to the 2024 Writing Fellowships. Submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry are welcome. Three fellowships will be awarded. Deadline is March 31.
Shenandoah Fellowship for Emerging Editors will be open for submissions starting March 15th, with editorial fellows in multiple genres accepted on a rolling basis.
The American Society of Landscape Architects is hiring a Senior Editor. Landscape Architecture Magazine seeks a dynamic, creative Senior Editor to be a key team member in the growth of the magazine’s print and online publications. ($85k).
NPR is hiring a temporary Supervising Editor for Code Switch. The Supervising Editor will serve as a key leader on the team, helping set the editorial agenda and format of the show in collaboration with Executive Producer and other stakeholders. ($69.18/hr.)
LateNighter is hiring a New Reporter. The site's news reporter will hold down our news desk, developing stories and writing between 3-7 items a day. Qualified candidates will have a keen news sense and a deep knowledge of the business of TV.
