Creating a Synopsis

The good news is I've made a lot of progress with my story and am now looking forward to submitting it to a publisher. The bad news is that it's time to draft the wretched synopsis, a task most writers dread. Although I've published two stories before with the Wild Rose Press, and successfully employed the query and synopsis, this part of the publishing process never seems to get any easier. I've found it helps to break the task into sections. I have five chapters in my story, and as each section is edited and completed, I include it in the synopsis (hint: focus on major plot points, not descriptive details, in your synopsis).

In the past, I've found Charlotte Dillon's website for writers to be one of the most helpful guides in writing a synopsis. Right now, I'm working with her "Writing a Synopsis" page, and though some of the links are broken, she still has a lot of information available. For instance, her "Synopsis Samples" page includes a variety of examples from published authors who generously agreed to share their synopses. I found Lucinda Betts' example especially useful, since it shows how to write an effective one-page synopsis.

I find that looking at examples of other writers' successful synopses is inspiring, so now I'm returning to crafting my own. Happy writing!