Friday, April 22, 2011

S is for Synopsis


Someone asked me how to write a synopsis the other day. Other than the fact that it is more difficult than writing a full-length novel, there are some guidelines that make the task less ominous.

Here are some things to keep in mind...

Your synopsis should have the following qualities:

Goal/ motivation/ strength/ weakness/ age/ setting/ plot trigger/ initial problem/ complicating events/ darkness/ present tense/ third person/ tone like book/ strong words- verbs/ no cliff hangers/ character driven solution/ satisfying ending

3 Part Synopsis

1- Hook
2-Problem (middle of the book- Complicate big problem, add excitement)
3- Climax (serious confrontation that combines strengths and flaws to get to solution)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

C&H always make me laugh. =]

This was a great post about synposes, Laura. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

It is tough to shrink your story down to a few words, isn't it? I remember Cheryl Klein saying somehting along the lines that if you can't tell someone what your story is about in one or two sentences, then you don't really know what it's about either.

C R Ward said...

Loved Calvin and Hobbs. Great "S" post!