Pam McCutcheon - Writing the Fiction Synopsis: A Step by Step Approach

Hands-on workshop in a book .

Synopsis-examples-R-us .

Yep. Thats what youre holding right now.

And youre about to find out that writing a synopsis can be painless. Really. Im not kidding. You dont have to be Einstein. You dont have to be Hemingway. You dont even have to be scared. Pam McCutcheon takes all the scary stuff out of the process.

Whats the scary stuff?

Figuring out what to put in a synopsis. When to put it in. What to leave out. How to convey your special tone and voice. How to define your characters. How to show the characters growth. Which scenes are critical. Appealing to your target market. Packing emotion into narrative. Pulling off the suspense. Showcasing alien worlds . ..

You get the point. There is so much a synopsis should contain that the mere thought of trying to condense our incredibly complex manuscripts to a few dull pages of narrative makes us want to run screaming into the bathroom where we can beat our heads against the tile.

Guess what? We dont have to do that anymore. All we have to do is write. Thats all a synopsis iswriting. And Im betting youre a writer or you wouldnt have purchased this book. Just as the right tools help you write compelling fiction, the right tools for synopsis writing can provide you with structure and form that deliver a concise, understandable and professional summary of your novel.

Wait!

Dont start tensing up at the thought of structure. I know most storytellers arent fond of organization. At least not the kind that comes with charts and graphs and guidelines. And if you flip through this book youll see a few charts and plot lines. Not to worry, Ms. McCutcheon keeps them to an absolute minimum, and every step brings you closer to a finished synopsis.

Thats her goalhelping you walk through the process of organizing, targeting, and writing a synopsis (or story blurb if you are self-publishing) that will get the job donewhether that is:

1. Convincing a reader to pay hard-earned money for your book,

2. Organizing your story so you can write it,

3. Making a traditional publishing editor or agent nod, smile with anticipation, and write a letter inviting you to submit the whole novel for consideration.

Heres how traditional publishing works:

Ordinarily, you send a query letter detailing the bones of your idea to an editor/agent who buys/represents the kind of fiction you write. If the editor/agent is intrigued, he/she will usually ask you to submit the manuscript or a partial (three chapters and a synopsis). Hopefully, after reading a chunk of your book, the editor/agent is wowed by your writing and picks up your synopsis to see if you understand how to put a story together. Is your plot logical? Your resolution satisfying? Does the story contain enough twists and surprises to be fresh and unique? Have your characters grown?

A well-written synopsis virtually ensures editors and agents will ask for the full manuscript or continue reading the one in hand. How can they not? They love your writing, and O frabjous day! you understand story, which means the agents and editors understand your story. Theyve got to ask for the full book or keep reading.

Heres how self-publishing works:

You have to figure out how to write a great story. Writing a synopsis can save you weeks or months of false starts and dead ends. Once youve got that great story, a great blurb can help you find readers. But its hard to sell anything if you dont know what youre selling. A synopsis is a great focusing tool to help you distill a great sales blurb. (Youll find help on blurbs in this book, too!)

So stop banging your head against the tile and start reading this book. Even betterstart the process. Do the exercises. When youre finished, the scary synopsis will be a thing of the past. Youll have tools that will help you the rest of your career.

DEBRA DIXON

Author of GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict

Begin a ... synopsis where the story begins.

Pattie Steele-Perkins, Steele-Perkins Agency

Industry parameters may have changed over the years, but writing a synopsis is a professional skill we still need in todays market. In fact, synopsis skills may be more important than ever. In this second edition, material has been updated to reflect the exponentially growing popularity of e-books, the proliferation of agency and publisher information on the Internet (not always available in 1998) and the alterations these changes have made to the process of submission and publication. In addition, I have added information on how to write a back cover blurb (another type of synopsis) for those who plan to publish their work themselves.

For those of you who have been badgering me politely requesting a how-to guide to the plotting board I use in my work, youll be happy to see an entire section devoted to using the plotting board to create your synopsis and your story.