When the book is written, before the first revision, comes the most tedious, most irritating, yet in many ways the most important task for the writer: The synopsis.
In a synopsis you encapsulate the book into a few short paragraphs. It’s supposed to be a brief telling of the plot so that an agent–and a publisher–can evaluate the entire book. You’re not supposed to get cute or write the synopsis with any flair or humor. It’s a dead retelling of the plot of a 250 page book.
Oh, and it’s only supposed to be one page. Did I mention that?
I am crafting a synopsis to “Minerva James and the God of War” right now. I have it boiled down to three pages. That’s from the eight pages of notes I took on the book to create the synopsis.
The problem I have with the synopsis is that I don’t know what to keep out. To me, every scene and every clue is important. But If I included all the stuff I thought important, I’d be back to eight pages.
I worry, too, that if I leave something out it will be the exact thing that the agent or publisher would have found intriguing.
Some agents say (on their websites) that the synopsis tells them just how good a writer you are. Forget the first 10 pages of the manuscript that you include, they are hot to read that damned synopsis.
To me, the synopsis is a necessary evil, but you can tell by reading it that I am not excited about the summary of my book. And that brings another worry: That the agent/publisher will see the lack of enthusiasm in the synopsis and tell themselves that the writer must not believe in his manuscript.
I’ve looked up other synopsis treatments on the internet. Every single one of them is much better than I will ever do.
I sigh. I wish I could hire someone to read the book for me and write that one-page summary. In fact, that would make a very profitable business for some enterprising young (or old) writer with lots of time on their hands. $300 for a synopsis? I’d pay it and gladly.
Alas, no one does such things. So I’m back to trying to boil 3 pages down to one. From flesh and blood and bones to flesh and bones to only bones–with a few metacarpals missing at that.
Mark Bruce, Writer 