This is so very helpful! I just wrote a synopsis for one of my books, and I really struggled. When you mentioned it should be 2-3 pages, I felt a bit relieved because synopsis was two and half pages, and I agonized over the length - thinking it was too long! Thank you for this video!
I've had SO many agencies ask for a one page synopsis, so what I did was just write one ... obviously way too long, then gradually edited and refined it until it was there.
I've often spent days trying to figure out the next sentence, so an hour would be pretty good. The one-sentence version, called a logline or a tagline, is actually pretty easy to write. It's not until I have to get into the details of the plot that my synopses break down. As for my narrative arcs, I discover them as the characters discover them. Publishers prefer MCs who run the show, as far as I can tell, so MCs who are perfectly fine staying in at night until someone does something to bounce them out of their cozy routine probably won't fly. I'm not sure how a synopsis for a reactive MC would go. The word synopsis is also very confusing. I've heard the same word used to describe the query hook as well as the long-form version.
Synopsis just means summary so it can cover a bunch of different things. This is why it's always important to check the submissions guidance to find out exactly what's needed. I hear you about the details - this is what I try to avoid by working from the inside out. I also try to remember that I'm summarising and that it's okay to lose a lot of the details. Necessary, even. The key for me is rewriting and spending lots of time on this document
This is so very helpful! I just wrote a synopsis for one of my books, and I really struggled. When you mentioned it should be 2-3 pages, I felt a bit relieved because synopsis was two and half pages, and I agonized over the length - thinking it was too long! Thank you for this video!
Glad to hear it's helpful!
I've had SO many agencies ask for a one page synopsis, so what I did was just write one ... obviously way too long, then gradually edited and refined it until it was there.
That is, of course, another way to do it. I just find working up from the inside out easier than chopping something longer (usually, anyway)
I've often spent days trying to figure out the next sentence, so an hour would be pretty good. The one-sentence version, called a logline or a tagline, is actually pretty easy to write. It's not until I have to get into the details of the plot that my synopses break down.
As for my narrative arcs, I discover them as the characters discover them. Publishers prefer MCs who run the show, as far as I can tell, so MCs who are perfectly fine staying in at night until someone does something to bounce them out of their cozy routine probably won't fly. I'm not sure how a synopsis for a reactive MC would go.
The word synopsis is also very confusing. I've heard the same word used to describe the query hook as well as the long-form version.
Synopsis just means summary so it can cover a bunch of different things. This is why it's always important to check the submissions guidance to find out exactly what's needed. I hear you about the details - this is what I try to avoid by working from the inside out. I also try to remember that I'm summarising and that it's okay to lose a lot of the details. Necessary, even. The key for me is rewriting and spending lots of time on this document