Anyway.
The synopsis is important... and it's
not important. It all depends on a huge number of factors.
IF YOU WANT AN AGENT... Synopsises may
or may not matter at all. Nelson Literary never asks people to submit
synopsises. If you read that agency's blog for a period of time,
Kristin Nelson will mention that it's rare to see a well-written
synopsis. However, BG Literary wants to see a synopsis with the query
letter. Both of these agencies represent a large number of clients,
including many award-winners and best-sellers, so you can't say
anything about agency quality by their requirements. However, you
should have one ready to go. My first synopsis was written in a panic
shortly after my second partial request, when the agent wanted to see
50 pages and the (nonexistent) synopsis.
IF YOU WANT A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER...
Synopsises will probably matter. Agents will help you write and
polish them, if you have an agent, but the overall synopsis will be
your work. Synopsises are useful tools that allow even people who
haven't read the book to have ideas about who the characters are and
what occurs in it, which means they'll have easier times when
discussing, marketing, and selling your book if you have a good one.
IF YOU ARE SELF PUBLISHED... A synopsis
likely won't matter. In fact, many readers-- myself included-- will
likely consider a full synopsis to spoil the book.
None of this, of course, answers the
key question you may be wondering about right now:
WHAT IS A SYNOPSIS?
To put it bluntly, a synopsis is your
book if it were two pages long. Actually, two pages might be pushing
it; the most common request I've seen is for a one-page synopsis.
Some are fine with two page, and before I started actively
researching synopsis-needing agents, I heard of agents who would be
okay with five-page synopsises... but I have a list of 50 agents I
can submit to, and none of them would be okay with 5 pages.
Now, writing a synopsis is hard. I've
found a lot of advice on doing it, but here are the key things you
need to know.
First, decide who your main character
is. If you have multiple viewpoints, many characters, choose one.
Just one. Trying to do otherwise will give everyone involved a
headache.
Try to start with a quick description--
maybe two or three sentences-- of who that character is. Then dive
into everything else. Go in order-- I don't care if your story is
written in flashbacks, start at the first event and keep going. Write
in present tense. Name all of the key characters. Mention every major
event. Include how it affects them.
This is all harder than it sounds, and
will be doubly so because you're no doubt attached to your story. Try
writing one or two synopsises about other stories to practice: the
first Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz, or even a movie like Avatar.
Something you know really well. For examples, go to the following
link; that has lots of practical advice, as well as a number of
sample synopsises... but it may not be the most useful link, in many
regards.
For more solid, practical and condensed
advice, I'd recommend going here:
http://www.stellacameron.com/contrib/synopsis.html
And, to be perfectly honest, the advice
that helped me most was not about synopsises. By the time I found it,
I had six or eight bad drafts, so I knew what I was doing, but this
helped me put it to practical use. I'd recommend you start with the
one-sentence pitch.
http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/05/one-sentence-one-paragraph-and-two.html
That's all from me for now.
Happy Writing,
-Alaina
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