This week we have author Rachael Thomas talking about how to write a synopsis.
Synopsis.
It’s a word which can strike fear into just about every writer’s heart. How do
you put everything from your story into between two and five pages? You don’t.
After all, if you did, you’d be writing a book!
The
purpose of a synopsis is to show how your hero and heroine change from the
beginning to the end of the story. This change will be internal - their
emotional journey or arc.
To
show this, the first thing you need to do is introduce your characters. Bring
the hero and the heroine together on the page and show their conflict. At this
point, something will happen to change or challenge this for both the hero and
heroine. Otherwise known as the inciting incident.
The
journey your hero and heroine now embark on will challenge who they were when
the story opened. The cause and effects of these challenges will be shaping
them into the characters they are to become at the end of the story.
Next,
show how the stakes are raised. What choices are your characters forced to
make? What compromises? Or what beliefs are challenged? Raising the stakes
forces your hero and heroine to address something within themselves in order to
begin to open their hearts and minds to the idea of love and happy-ever-after,
which will be waiting for them at the end of the story. This can be a series of
events – internally and externally challenging the hero and heroine introduced
at the beginning of the synopsis.
Next
comes that moment when all seems to be lost. When the reader will wonder how
the hero and heroine can ever be together.
And
finally, the resolution which leads to the happy-ever-after your reader has
journeyed with your hero and heroine to see. The grand gesture that shows how
they’ve changed and proves they are going to be happy together long after the
reader has closed the book.
What not to put in a synopsis
The
synopsis is not a place to info dump the entire back story. Any important elements
about a character’s past should be included in their introduction. You don’t need
every plot twist and turn or to introduce every minor character. The synopsis is
not the place to raise questions like will
they ever reach their happy ever after? Keep your cliff-hangers for the
story itself.
How long should a synopsis
be?
The
answer to this is a long as it needs to be. Check your submission details for
this information, but once you have your synopsis you can either enlarge it or
cut it back to suit a particular submission.
Latest book from Rachael Thomas
The Greek's Outrageous Marriage Deal
Becomes so much more!
When Athena returns to their marital home in Crete, billionaire Kostas Kyriakou seizes the opportunity to reunite with his wife and have an heir for the empire he has created from nothing. It’s the only deal he’s prepared to consider. After all, heady passion and hot desire had never been lacking in their short marriage.
Athena has promised her father, who is again battling illness, that she will return to Athens with her estranged husband. Seeing the man she’d loved so completely, and hearing his outrageous demands to have his child, forces her to face all the pain and heartache of losing her mother as a young girl.
Time together, acting out a marriage reunited, brings back all that explosive passion, but can they truly share who they are this time and mend the marriage for real?
Ah yes, the dreaded synopsis...
ReplyDeleteDreaded is the word!
ReplyDeleteOh, I was just looking at a saved document on the topic. Thanks for this different take on it. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's funny...I enjoy writing the blurb but run away from having to write the synopsis.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for these books. They sound very interesting and I will put them on my list.
ReplyDeleteI hate writing the synopsis!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've found helpful is to do a draft before I've finished the book. It's (slightly) easier to see which are the main points before it's all written out in full.
It is really challenging to write a synopsis. Thanks for these tips!
ReplyDelete