Synopsis

The dreaded synopsis.  Even literary agents refer to it as this.  Almost everyone in the business seems to think it is a necessary evil of the submission process.  I propose here and now to do away with this most terrible of hoops we all must jump through!

Having said that, I know it is necessary for a few reasons.  First, it shows the agent or publisher you have a story with a beginning and end.  Secondly, it shows them you can plot and have a conflict for your protagonist.  There are likely other reasons for the synopsis, but these are the most important.

Why is the synopsis so difficult?  Because for those of us who write primarily in third person past tense or even those who write in first person, it is difficult to shift your style to third person present tense.  It feels unnatural.  Most people like to tease their stories.  They hate to give away the ending as they never want to know the ending of a novel before they read it.  In the synopsis, you tell your story from beginning to end and you give away the ending.  No matter how much it doesn't feel right to do, it is necessary for the agent or publisher to know you will bring your story to conclusion in a satisfying and exciting way.  Probably the hardest part for me is knowing which info to include in my synopsis and what to leave out.  As I've said in previous posts, I like to write ensemble, multi-POV pieces.  When drafting a synopsis, my tendency is to want to outline all their stories.  I finally realized I only needed to focus on the primary characters and in a sentence or two discuss there are sideline stories about the other characters.

You've narrowed your story down and you've outlined it.  Now, add some of your voice and story-telling skills.  Argh!

It's not easy to boil your 80,000 word or more novel down to three pages but it's necessary.  Think of it like this:  If you just so happened to get on an elevator with an agent who said tell me about your novel, you'd need to be able to do it quickly and succinctly.  This is why the synopsis is important.  So, go ahead.  Write it.  It'll ultimately be good for you!  At least that's what I tell myself:-)

I'm not expert (for sure!) and other people have said this better.  I just read a blog entry by author, Janice Hardy, that gives excellent information and just about every agent blog out there talks at length about it.  Also, a shout out to those agents who say don't bother with a synopsis.  Suzie Townsend, I'm talking to you!