How to Write a Synopsis (The Writers' Rooms)

As you may know, I'm the Director of The Writers' Rooms, a literary organization focused on providing a free, safe environment to all writers, no matter their experience, income, gender, etc. The specific "Room" I lead is The Violet Realm, which is our Sci-fi/Fantasy group. What's a Room, you ask? It's a two-hour session with a literary lesson during the first hour and then free writing/sharing the second hour. We have a plethora of groups ranging from poetry, romance, LGBT, all-genre, with more coming soon! The community is wonderful, and I'm thankful for every person who brings their story to us. Best of all, the Rooms are free. 

Tonight, we talked about how to write a synopsis. I thought I'd share it with you so you could get an idea of the information that The Writers' Rooms has to offer, and also provide some tips on how to prep a synopsis for querying an agent. 

What is a synopsis? A synopsis is, in short, the summary of your story. You’ll need this if you’re querying a traditional publisher. But, this is also a great way for you to figure out the main plot of your story! 

Rules of thumb: 

• Only name your MC and main villain (typically only 3 characters at most). Briefly outline their roles so you can refer back to them throughout the synopsis. The first time you list the name, write it in all caps.

• A good synopsis should only be about 500 words. Any longer, and an agent may toss it out the window, or you may realize you have some work to do.

• You must tell the whole story, including the ending gasp! The agent has to know where the story’s going, and so do you!

• Focus on the main plot, not any of the subplots. The subplots are for the book.

• You need to know what your characters want and make the plot out of that. What are their ultimate goals?

How to Set Up the Synopsis

You may remember from a previous session that we talked about the Beat Sheet to set up your entire story. Making your synopsis is very similar. Together, we’ll take a look at an amazing resource called “How to Write a 1-Page Synopsis”  with a little flare added. Source is at the bottom. 

• Set the Scene: Create the stage for your world and your characters. We need to know what genre/timeline you’re focusing on. Fantasy? Show us the castle. Science Fiction? Show us the ship and the world. Enchant us with the very first line.

• Introduce the Protagonist: Bring in your Main Character (in all caps). We want a couple descriptive words to say what he/she wants, and to help us identify him/her. Blacksmith? Banker? Butler? Let us know!

• Inciting Incident: Yes, we’re taking a trip to Freytag’s Pyramid. What event, decision, or change prompts the main character to act? Is it a death in the family? A murder? A young boy buying a robot with a hidden message?

• Plot Point #1: This is where we get into the first big change in the story. What’s the first turning point? What does the MC do to change the book’s direction? This is the point where your heroine might start out on her journey to travel to a different planet or go on an epic quest.

• Conflict and Other Characters: Your character enters a new world/environment. What new life experience does she have? How does she meet the antagonist/villain? This is also a chance for you to bring in, say, a love interest. But again, only include important characters.

• Midpoint: This is the point when the MC may have to make a 180 degree change or emotion in the story. Once she crosses this line, she can’t go back. She makes a decision that changes everything. Or maybe her cowardly nature turns to heroism.

• We’re Winning! Whoops, No We’re Not: Reveal when your MC thinks she has the upper hand but then the antagonist swoops in to ruin everything. Maybe a magical item gets stolen, or an escaping ship gets shot down. For once, the villain has the advantage.

• Darkest Night: This is when your MC has hit rock bottom. She has to fight through it both emotionally and physically. Maybe the villain has trapped her. Maybe she’s had everything taken away. How does she find the strength to enter the final battle?

• Climax: Battle time! What happens when the MC and the antagonist come head-to-head? Yes, we do need the conclusion.

• Resolution: How does the climax end? Does everyone live happily ever after, or are we doing a Shakespearean ending and killing everyone? How do you tie up loose ends, and loose romances?

• Closing Scene: What’s the last scene you want to leave your reader with? Has the MC won or failed? Is there a future waiting? We want to know!

Prompts: 

1. Take your story and write a synopsis. Use the outline above to separate out each important moment from your plot.

2. Think of a new story and use the outline to plot it out.

How to Steal Writing Time From a Busy Schedule

In this crazy world called life, it's often hard to find time to sit down and write. Between work, families, extra-curricular activities, shopping, adulting, etc, when are we supposed to work on our books? Many people say they have stories in their head but no time to put them on paper. I can sympathize, really. I'm usually running around from 8am-8 or 9 pm depending on the day, which leaves only a couple hours to get things done.

So what do you do? How do you steal some time from your busy schedule so you can create your masterpiece?

• Meeting: Set aside a half hour or hour on certain nights and treat it like you would a work meeting or an appointment. If friends, or work, try to schedule things at that time, calmly explain you have a meeting that you can't miss. The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll be at adapting to the new schedule. It could be once a week or several times a week. Either way, it gives you time when you know you can work.

• Spurts or Sprints: I learned this little trick during NaNoWriMo. You set 10-15 minutes aside, turn off all distractions, and write whatever comes to your mind. Don't worry about editing or going back to research, just write. Friends of mine and I will hold sprints to see who can write the most in that time frame. It's a fun little challenge, and it forces you to get text on paper. Likewise, if you find yourself with 10 minutes to spare, use that time to type on your phone or computer, or write in a journal that you bring along. Even if you don't get a lot out, it may get your mind moving so you'll be ready to work on your book that night.

• Record: How many hours do we spend in the car traveling from place to place? How many times have you been in the shower and gotten a great idea but couldn't write it down? Record yourself. I've been on road trips and clicked 'record' on my phone and rattled off scenes and story ideas. Even if they're not directly on paper at that moment, at least I got the idea out of my head and didn't lose it. There are also speech-to-text programs like Dragon Speech that will record you and type what you say. It takes some getting used to, but it works great if you're doing dishes or some other task and want to still get the words out.

• Change Sleep Time: Now, I wouldn't recommend this if you have insomnia or sleep trouble, but, if you can safely wake up a half hour early or go to bed a half hour later, you can use that extra time to get work done. One of my friends gets all of her writing done between like 5 and 6 am when she's not being disturbed by anyone. Can you do that too?

• Lunch Hour: If you get a lunch break at work, that might be a great time to work on writing. Right now, I'm munching on a sandwich and writing this blog entry because I was too tired to write it last night. I still get a break from work, but I'm also being productive with my own craft. But, if you fear you'll get burnt out, make sure you still take that break.

• Competitions/Deadlines: Maybe you want to try to push yourself to write because there's an anthology deadline out there, or a writing contest. I might not write for three months because I know that in November, I'm going to spend 30 days writing for National Novel Writing Month. I pour out 50,000 words, taking more time for my craft that month than usual, because I know it's only going to last a month. If you set goals for yourself, it might encourage you to find time during a busy schedule.

Whatever you decide to do to get writing time in, remember a couple of things:

1. You don't have to write everyday.

2. Take care of yourself. If you're burning yourself out writing, you're not going to enjoy it as much.

3. Make sure you're still getting downtime for yourself.

4. Have fun.

Do you have ways that you fit in writing? Share them below!