WHAT is a Synopsis? and HOW DO I WRITE One?

How to write a synopsis is one of the most discussed subjects at writers groups. So many people find it hard, and make it more difficult than they need to.

A synopsis is just a summary. It simply tells the editor/agent/publisher exactly what your book is all about.   The problem with summarising your own work is that it’s hard to know which bits to include and which to leave out.

My advice is simple. Practice on somebody else’s book first. For example, if I chose Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens,  I might write down the basic plot like this.

Set in Victorian times, this book tells the story of Pip. As a boy, he meets a convict and steals food for him. Years later, Pip is sent to play with Estella who is the ward of Miss Haversham, a wealthy, but strange woman who was jilted on her wedding day, and still wears her wedding gown years later. Pip falls in love with Estella, but she refuses him. Later Pip comes into money. He thinks Miss Haversham is his benefactor, but it turns out to be the convict he helped when he was a boy. In the end, Pip and Estella get together and it all ends happily.

As you can see, this really is the bare bones of the plot, but it does tell you what happens, including the ending.

Now try doing this with your own book. You will be end up with the kind of short, sharp synopsis that agents and publishers so often ask for. You will even have room left over for brief descriptions of the main characters.

Remember, publisher want to know is what kind of book you are offering them, and whether they find the subject or plot sufficiently interesting.