GENRE
Along with title and word count, you will need to identify the genre of your work. Sometimes this information will be requested in a query letter, but it is also useful to have it in a synopsis, unless submission guidelines stipulate otherwise. If you feel that your work doesn’t fit into a clear genre or category, you could be in trouble. It is to your advantage to nominate one. Think about where it might sit on the bookshop shelves. Even if you’re writing something that has elements from several genres, it’s important to understand it is likely to only be shelved in one place.
THE HOOK
The hook is an attention-grabbing single sentence that will make people want to read your manuscript. It can come at the beginning of your synopsis, or later. A common mistake I see is for people to try to use that one sentence to sum up every aspect of their story and then get frustrated when it doesn’t. The hook isn’t meant to be a synopsis of your plot, rather it’s bait to make people want to read it. It can refer to a scenario that entices the reader’s curiosity, pose a question, or encapsulate the story arc.
THE ESSENCE SENTENCE
Somewhere in your synopsis you should identify the essence of your story in one sentence. This is not what happens in your manuscript, this is what it is about. You’ll find an ‘essence sentence’ in most back cover blurbs. For example, Marele Day’s The Sea Bed (literary fiction): ‘The Sea Bed is an illuminating story of love, family and change.’ And from Ten Thousand Aftershocks by Michelle Tom (memoir): ‘A moving memoir of family, violence and estrangement.’ Or Lisa Walker’s Sex, Lies & Bonsai (romantic comedy): ‘A tender and witty tale about finding your voice, falling in love … and crab sex.’
Your essence sentence may take a while to hone, but it is very useful, not only for your synopsis, but for your own understanding of your work. Consider the themes at play in your manuscript. If you’re feeling stuck, try ‘This is a story about…’ or ‘This is a story of…’
THE STORY LINE
The professional reader considering your work may have a few sample chapters as well as your synopsis, but they will want to know what happens in your book through to the end. This is where the synopsis differs from the back cover blurb. In both cases you want to entice the curiosity of the reader, but in the synopsis you need to give the game away so that the agent/editor can consider the viability of the story as a whole.
But remember you only have around 500 words. Start at the beginning – the story set up. Include key characters, sense of place and the inciting incident. Think about what it is that your characters are striving for? Where are they hoping to end up and why? What’s in their way? What’s at stake for them?
Lisa Walker’s synopsis for Sex, Lies & Bonsai (445 words) begins: ‘Dumped by text message, Edie flees Sydney for the refuge of her childhood home, taking only a wilting bonsai as a reminder of her failure.’ This sentence survived not only numerous drafts of the synopsis, but is on the back cover blurb and opens the description of the book on the HarperCollins website.
After the set-up you need to summarise the main storyline with reference to key events, key characters and the ending. Make clear what’s at stake for your central character(s). You don’t need minor plot lines or minor characters. You may need to list things to cover ground in few words with phrases such as ‘The novel charts/follows…’ or ‘Along the way…’. If you didn’t get to delineating the key problem that needs to be solved in your story set-up, make sure it is covered in the overview of the storyline.
COMPARISON TITLES
Which titles/authors does your work resemble? Think about comparison texts, known as ‘comp titles’ in the industry. Having comp titles shows the publisher/agent that you are familiar with the market and that you are a reader. And it also indicates who you think your target audience is.
Choose your comparison titles with care. If you have two comparison texts that are very different from each other, this could be confusing. You can also think in terms of influences, not just comparison. Your comparison titles may not be bestsellers, but if they are too obscure, you’re not doing yourself any favours. It’s okay to reference an older title (from several decades ago) to indicate genre and target audience, but make sure you also include a recent title that sells well in the territory in which you are submitting work.
Be careful about pushing your work as unlike anything else published. On the one hand publishers are looking for new voices, but on the other, there may be a good reason why work like that hasn’t ever made it to the shelves!
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Your synopsis is not a sample of your prose style, it is a working document to enable an agent or editor or judge to decide whether to look at more of the work, or not. Trim away adverbs and adjectives where possible. Keep it simple and direct. And don’t, under any circumstances, write how wonderful the book is. A synopsis is not a review and the agent or editor is certainly not looking for your judgment of the work, you are looking for theirs.
PAY ATTENTION TO SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Always check the websites of publisher, agents, or organisations you are submitting to for submission guidelines and expectations. Pay close attention to all the details. Double check them – I am continually surprised at how many authors who send me work haven’t followed the clear guidelines I present.
EVERY STORY IS DIFFERENT
There is no one way to write the perfect synopsis. Every story is different. A memoir synopsis will need a strong sense of the main character, what’s at stake for them, and what makes their story extraordinary. A crime thriller synopsis will need to be strong on characters. For non-fiction you will need to explain why your topic is important to the intended audience and why you are the best person to write such a book. Literary fiction writers will need to show a beguiling storyline and well thought-out structure; romance writers will need to show the shape of the plot and the obstacles the characters face.
Like writing the manuscript itself, the only way to arrive at a great synopsis is to practise: hone, rewrite, revise, and do it all again. You may end up with dozens of versions of your synopsis written at different stages of the manuscript’s development. That’s okay. The challenge of distilling your work into 500 words or less is an important part of the process of understanding and shaping your manuscript. It may give you insights into what is and isn’t working.
Go on, give it a go.
