How to Write a Synopsis for a Literary Agent About Your Novel: A Comprehensive Guide
You’ve spent months or years writing your book. Now, at the very end, you are asked, in order to submit to an agent (or publisher), to write a synopsis. For many writers, this feels like one of the most daunting tasks in the late stages of the journey. How do you boil tens of thousands of words and a whole suite of scenes and plot points into a page or two? However, you need to do this. The synopsis plays a major role in finding representation. It’s your chance to showcase your novel’s structure, and prove its marketability to agents and publishers. A well-crafted synopsis can get you chances to enter the industry. A poorly written one can lead to rejection—even if your manuscript is good. A synopsis is a chance to show you can tell stories, which is what this industry is all about.
What is a Synopsis?
A synopsis is a concise, structured summary of your novel that outlines the plot, key characters, the quest, its arc and its resolution. Agents and publishers use it to evaluate whether you can tell stories, whether your story is right for its market, and whether they think they are the right person to represent it.
Agents request synopses so that they can ensure the plot holds together and has a satisfying resolution, to see if your book fits within its genre and whether it delivers on expectations and to get an initial sense of your writing skills. Surely a person who can’t write synopsis can’t write a novel? Well, no, that’s not the case, which is why you need to get your synopsis strong.
How Do You Make Your Synopsis Strong?
Clearly outline your story’s core elements, including the protagonist, central conflict, and resolution.
Synopses are typically 1–2 pages, single-spaced, so every word counts.
While not a sample itself, your synopsis should also convey the style, atmosphere and emotion of your story.
Start By Understanding Your Book’s Component Parts
To write an effective synopsis, start by identifying the most important aspects of your novel:
1. The Protagonist
Who is the main character?
What are their goals, motivations, and flaws?
How do they grow or change over the course of the story?
2. The Antagonist
Who or what opposes the protagonist?
What makes this conflict compelling and central to the story?
3. The Quest
What is the primary challenge or problem the protagonist must face?
What are the stakes if they fail?
4. The Major Plot Points
Outline your novel’s key events, including:
The Inciting Incident: What sets the story in motion?
The Turning Points: What events complicate the protagonist’s journey?
The Climax: What is the most intense moment of conflict or resolution?
The Ending: How does the story conclude?
While I wouldn’t have it like this, just a headline, colon, and answer, I would say in the text “The inciting incident happens when…” etc. Publishing professionals will know what you mean – and also like that you know this, too.
5. Themes Or Relevance
The importance of this varies across genres, but your synopsis should hint at the themes or deeper meanings underlying the plot, any thematic significance or relevance to current political or cultural issues that might affect its marketability or media presence.
How To Write Your Synopsis
It can be most helpful to start with breaking down the novel into its constituent parts. This will help you control the flow of the synopsis and making sure it feels like the novel itself.
Tip: The agent may well make a decision on whether to read your work without even completing reading your synopsis, so make sure your opening paragraphs are very strong.
Introduction: Introduce the protagonist, their world and the settings, and some basic foreshadowing of the story. Be clear about the opening scene and chapter, and really pay attention to capturing what is great about your book, and how it makes a strong first impression.
Act One: Now get into the story. Describe the rest of Act One, the inciting incident, outline the quest a little more fully, and the first major plot point, at the end of Act One, after which the main part of the quest begins.
Act Two: Provide a summary of the main parts of the plot and any major subplots. Summarise how your protagonist has to changes and grows throughout the story. Highlight their emotional journey as well as the external events driving the plot. Any love story should be prominently described.
Act Three: Detail the climax and resolution of the quest, how the character of the protagonist transforms and the final impression the book will have on the reader. Note that many agents will not read this part, so marking it as “Act Three” can be helpful to them; some want no spoilers! But you must include the resolution. Agents may want to know how your story concludes to evaluate its overall structure and satisfaction.
Now remember: all this has to take place in 1-2 pages, probably fewer than 500 words.
Tips And Tricks
Don’t worry about writing more than 500 words initially. It’s better to get everything down and edit back.
1. Look At It With Fresh Eyes.
· Put your synopsis away for a few days and come back to it to see how it reads. Try to look at it as if you had never read it before, through the eyes of someone else.
· If possible, get someone else to read it to see if it is clear and makes sense.
· Be honest with yourself. Any parts that are you focusing on the thing you are nerdily interested in or proud of but aren’t central to the synopsis should be reconsidered.
2. Cut!
Reduce or remove minor characters and subplots that don’t directly impact the main storyline.
Edit language to eliminate repetition and filler. Remember you are being evaluated as a writer!
2. Be Professional!
Avoid overselling your story. Don’t say that this is “the greatest novel ever told.” Let the plot and characters speak for themselves.
At the same time, think about your market and note (very briefly) anything significant about that. Don’t say “This novel is unlike any other ever written.” The entire publishing industry works on comparators, and this will worry an agent, not entice them!
3. Proofread!
Check for typos, grammatical errors, and awkward phrasing.
Read it aloud or use Read Aloud on Microsoft Word to hear it back.
Check Your Synopsis Is Right For Each Agent
The above will create a good basic synopsis you can use over and over again. But every agent or publisher has their own preferences when it comes to synopses. Always check the submission guidelines for what they want, and develop a new version from your basic synopsis, if necessary. (The vast majority will be happy with what is described above.)
Remember, your synopsis is your opportunity to prove that your story is not only engaging but also well-crafted and marketable. You are into the phase of selling yourself, so don’t be afraid of that: understand what you have written, understand who you are as a writer, and what any agent or publisher wants from you, and you’re on the right track.
How To Write A Novel Chapter By Chapter available here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Novel-Chapter-Outlining-ebook/dp/B0DJ8TMVWL?ref_=ast_author_mpb
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