Writing a Synopsis October 23, 2007
As I wrote that headline (”Writing a Synopsis”) I thought of several modifiers that could go in front of “Synopsis”… painful, evil, Satanic…. you get the idea. How on earth are you supposed to intelligently convey a 267 page manuscript in 5-10 pages?! And not only that, but it needs to be in the tone and style of your voice and be compelling and interesting, not just a listing of facts. Sheesh - no pressure.
I am entering my manuscript in the RWA’s national Golden Heart contest for un-published manuscripts and my submission is due by December 5th. The submission packet has to include a synopsis of not more than 15 pages. The total entry cannot be more than 55 pages — so the longer my synopsis turns out to be, the less actual manuscript pages I can submit. My goal is a 7 page synopsis, but so far I’m at 9.5.
I have a great critique group that I’m part of and they very kindly critiqued my first attempt at the synopsis and it was EXTREMELY helpful. Two of the people have already read my manuscript, so they gave me a different slant on what I’m including and leaving out in the synopsis. Others who haven’t read the manuscript asked good questions about important plot points that I clearly need to include in the synopsis. So now I’m ready to pick up the fantastic comments I received and go for round 2 on that evil, dastardly synopsis. Fingers crossed… 7 pages!
Don’t even talk to me about synopses. And the GH? Um, I paid already but have I started revisions on the book? NO. Slacker, I know.
Sounds like you’re making great progress, though! One step at a time and you’ll get there. Woohoo!
Yeah! You did a great job on that synopsis. Urg, I have to write one now too, also having entered the GH… Guh, I haven’t written one in literally years. (Insert cussing here.) It was helpful to read and crit yours to get ideas for how to structure mine. But I still feel adrift. Yikes!
Good luck, Lexi!!
Thanks for the kind words, Catherine. Your suggestions really helped. Although, I’m still doing my own fair bit of cussing. I think the pain is that you want to convey your whole story. How can you possibly choose what to leave out?! I think it would be better if someone else wrote my synopsis who wasn’t intimately connected with every word in the manuscript!!