This isn’t how I think everybody should write a synopsis. It’s how *I* write one.
The requested word length will inform how much detail is required, but the structure doesn’t change.
A story naturally breaks into four parts:
- Act One: Setting up the status quo, building the world and getting the protagonist into the story
- The first half of Act Two: Into the meat of the story, where the protagonist is learning what they’ve gotten themselves into, up to the Midpoint Twist
- The second half of Act Two: Revising the journey to fit with the change that comes about in the midpoint, up to the “oh, crap, we’re in the soup” all-is-lost moment
- Act Three: The final piece of the puzzle is discovered, and the path to the conclusion is clear but riddled with ever-increasing battles until the big bad is overcome.
When a synopsis is requested, I write four paragraphs, mirroring the above list, with as much detail as the allowed word count permits. (I allocate 1/4 of the allowed word count to each paragraph). All major characters are introduced in the first paragraph. Major plot points happen at the end of the first paragraph, the middle and end of paragraphs two and three and at the beginning and end (if there’s a twist, and there should always be a twist) of paragraph four.
The synopsis doesn’t hide key parts of the story. It’s meant to let the reader know that 1) the story is completed (or at least thought through completely) and 2) you, the writer, know how to structure a story.
Now go forth and synopsis.
