Succeed With Your Synopsis
|
|
|
|
|
Written by maljonic
|
|
Wednesday, 20 December 2006 |
If you write a novel and would like to have it published, you need to write a synopsis to send to an agent or publisher. Work that is sent without a synopsis will rarely be looked at.
The following article was published in Writing Magazine and written by Brendan Nolan of Ask About Writing
All trades and professions have their industry terms that are sometimes unclear to the uninitiated and in that respect the writing business is no different. While seasoned writers well know what a synopsis is, what a rejection slip might be and even what is meant by a CV not everybody is party to their meaning.
Take a synopsis for instance.
The synopsis is the bare bones of the proposed book where the writer indicates to a third party the scope and intent of the work. It usually fills a single sheet of A4 paper; but may be longer if the writer or publisher thinks it necessary.
A writer should know where the book is going; but until an agent or publisher has been let in on the secret it cannot be clear to them.
So, the synopsis is a way of informing others of what is to happen within the covers of a book. It may also serve as a route map and touchstone for the writer as the work progresses.
Some writers create a synopsis before they begin the journey of creation; others wait until the work is written down and then do a resume of the story as a synopsis.
The writer who writes the synopsis first will often go back and rewrite the summary since the story will have taken a life of its own in the writing and may differ from the original outline.
There are as many ways of approaching a synopsis as there are authors. To complicate matters further, some publishers differ in what they say they want to see in a synopsis.
For a beginner, conflicting voices serve up a cacophony of confusion.
However, the common theme is that the publishing professional needs to know what the book is about, who is in it, how it begins, progresses and concludes.
A synopsis is a narrative summary of the book told with clarity, feeling and vigour and is written in the present tense.
The synopsis introduces the main characters and their main conflicts, all woven together in the narrative. It is not however a listing of all characters and their detailed biographies.
The first mention of a character's name is capitalised and single spacing is used. The character thereafter is always referred to in the same way but not in capital letters.
It is not necessary to include every character or every scene, plot point, or subplot in the synopsis. But it should give a clear idea as to what the book is about, what characters a reader might meet and whether they will care about them or not.
It is a true telling of the story and should continue to its conclusion. To the reading editor or agent, an ending is as important as the beginning since they need to know how the book concludes.
A writer should ensure that the major scenes, major plot points are included. All important conflicts should be stated and their resolution included.
Somebody who is unable to state how a story ends in a synopsis is unlikely to fare very far with a publishing professional whose job it will be to shepherd the book from submission to publication.
Writing a good synopsis is often overlooked by a writer anxious to see a book in print. For the writer, the writing of
the book should be all-important; but the agent or publisher has to take more matters into account than the words.
A synopsis tells the publisher where the book may fit into a publishing schedule, where it might be sold, and to whom. It is therefore a very important part of the submission of a book. Accompanying some sample chapters it is as important a selling tool as any a writer can employ to persuade a publisher to take on the book.
Some writers do a straightforward narrative telling of the story; others prefer a chapter breakdown; but chapter telling can result in a lifeless recital of the story and may result in a tired publisher turning away to read a more engaging synopsis from some other writer.
One method favoured by some is to prepare a synopsis, write it as well as they can and then put it away for some time while the subconscious goes to work on it. They then take it out and rewrite it before sending it away.
To help explain matters a writer may pretend to be excitedly telling a new story they have just heard to a friend and they heighten their enthusiasm accordingly.
While it will accompany the first three chapters of the book, the synopsis should tell the story from the beginning and include whatever has happened in the submitted chapters so that the entire story may be read in one telling.
The synopsis is a sample of the writer's ability and not a filler item to throw in with the sample chapters. It will be used by the publisher's marketing department to sell the book to booksellers and to the ultimate reader. It is important to get right, on it may depend the future of the book.
The synopsis is a sample of the writer's ability and not a filler item to throw in with the sample chapters. It will be used by the publisher's marketing department to sell the book to booksellers and to the ultimate reader. It is important to get right, on it may depend the future of the book.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed