Lessons Learned: Cut the CRAP Out of Your Synopsis!

I've actually been teaching writers how to craft successful synopses for awhile now. So we're going to start off with a vocabulary lesson because I speak Frankie...which is a little bit French, a little Latin and totally gibberish.

Synopsis(ses): synopses is the plural form of synopsis. Synopsis is a shortened version of your book, kind of like a blurb, but longer and you give the ending away.

Plot Point (PP): A plot point, later referred to as PP, is a major climatic event in the structural plot line.

Structural Plot (SP): The structural plot, later referred to as the SP, is the story line that pushes the characters into action. It’s the murder that needs to be solved, or the prophecy that needs fulfilled.

Character Plot (CP): The character plot, later referred to as the CP, is the story line that makes the character grow. It’s the female mc and the male mc getting together, or the mc overcoming all odds to fulfill the prophecy, or the mc facing her fears in order to solve the murders.

Transitional Actions (TA): The transitional actions is the action or the road that takes the characters from PP 1 to PP 2. Example: PP1: Beth is on a ship for the Americas to marry a man she’s never met. PP2: She stranded on an island with Dread Pirate Bill. What’s the transitional action that got Beth from a boat in relative safety to being stranded on an island with a pirate? TA1: The storm that crashed Beth’s ship and Bill’s ship together, smashed them on the rocks, and left her and him stranded along with Bill’s crew, which is now holding Beth’s crew hostage. 

I think that’s all of the vocabulary lessons we need.

What makes most synopses fail? Well, a number of things.

1. Too many plot points.
2. It’s confusing. We don’t know how or why we’re going from one PP to the next.
3. It’s jarring to read.
4. It’s boring.
5. There are too many characters.

What makes a good synopsis successful?

1. It has a handful of great characters that we get to know in the short synopsis.
2. It has a great plot that’s easy to understand without being bogged down by subplots I don’t understand.
3. It has a great character plot that’s easy to understand and engaging.
4. It has a great voice.

So, now we know what makes a bad synopsis and what makes a good synopsis. Here are a few tricks to help you out.

1. Stop CRAMMING all the CRAP you possibly CAN into your 1,000 word synopsis.
2. Stop throwing ALL of your characters into your 1,000 word synopsis.
3. Stop throwing ALL the subplots in there with one sentence of description and just ASSUME that I’ll get it.
4. Stop with the play-by-play analysis. This isn’t an outline. This is a STORY!
5. Repeat #1 over and over until you get it through your head. STOP CRAMMING CRAP INTO 1,000 words! There’s just not enough space.

So how are we going to make this work?

Toss out the CRAP and find the real gems!

How do you do that? Well, do what I did below to find out.

For Fall of Sky City, the plot bullet is this:

Nix thinks she’s captured the ultimate prize, Synn. But is she strong enough to control him?

Now, find (3) Plot Points using your Bullet as your compass. Ignore the minutia. Pay attention to what that line of thought hit.

PP1. Getting captured by Nix and tortured.
PP2. Escaping Nix and trying to survive on the outside.
PP3. Striking Sky City.

Now, let's try to do the same thing with the character plot. Find the character plot Bullet.

After being captured, beaten and broken by Nix, Synn discovers there's more to life than surviving.

Find (3) Character Plot Points using your Character Bullet as your compass.

CP1. He sees his father murdered in front of him as Synn is Marked.
CP2. He discovers that he's been compulsed by Nix, so that after he leaves, there's something inside of him pulling him back.
CP3. He sees her Knight destroy an entire city and kill their lethara trying to get to him.

All right! These sound pretty strong...and they don't make a lot of sense. Right? How in the world did we go from escaping from Nix to attacking Sky City?

Now it's time to put these (6) points in chronological order and find your Transitional Actions (Why? How?).

TA1. The Families are gathering for the breaking of the ice when the Umira Family is attacked.

TA2. Synn's father goes to help the Umira, if he can, and protect the Ino people who are still trapped in the ice and cannot defend themselves.

CP1. Synn sees his father murdered in front of him as Synn is Marked.

PP1. Getting captured by Nix and tortured.

TA3. Because Synn's Mark is so strong, Nix decides she's going to train him to be her Knight. She takes it a little too far after giving Synn a few too many freedoms.

PP2. Synn escapes Nix and tries to survive on the outside.

CP2. He discovers that he's been compulsed by Nix, so that after he leaves, there's something inside of him pulling him back.

TA4.  Synn endangers the entire crew who escaped with him as he attempts to go back to Nix. They hide with the Ino Family where he's trained to control his gift and his compulsion.

CP3. Synn watches Nix's Knight destroy an entire city and kill their lethara trying to get to him.

TA5. Synn knew they were going to have to strike the Hands. They were just too powerful, but it wasn't until he saw their brutal destruction that he found the motivation to do something.

PP3. Striking/disabling Sky City.

You now have everything you need to tell a 2-page synopsis. Use your 2-bullets, your plot points, character plot points, and your transitional actions and...

...tell a story because ultimately, that's what a synopsis is. Use the Voice of the book, but keep it 3rd person, present tense - even if you wrote it in 1st person past tense. *nods*

Add (1-2) PP's and CP's for each additional page there after. If you need help, let me know.