Synopsis Advice
Synopses have very much been on my mind of late, as I’ve had to make submissions for Black Library, and plan a speculative original fiction series that I’m hoping to pitch to a publisher soon (The City of Eternal Days will hopefully see the light of… err… day, soon).
My history with Black Library and relationships with the editors has meant that my synopses for them have varied from a two-line short story idea, to a two-page synopsis for a trilogy and first book outline. Of course a synopsis isn’t just for the editors, it also helps you, as the writer, keep the story on track. If you reach a roadblock in your writing it’s well worth referring back to your original synopsis to check you haven’t gone astray, or to identify issues with the story that are only coming to light now you’re half-way through.
It is becoming clearer to me that having a good concise synopsis makes for a quicker and easier writing process. Spending the time upfront will save you time later in the process, which is particularly important when you are working to a deadline. I’ve published a few blog posts about writing a synopses, as well as actual synopses that I’ve submitted, and I thought it would be useful to bring these together in one place for anyone out there who is struggling with this particular aspect of writing.
Synopsis Advice
I go through several stages when writing a synopsis: concept > structure > notes > synopsis. The first three stages are outlined in this blog post, along with an example of the ‘notes’ version for my book Shadow King. I also blogged about using plot-cards when fleshing out the synopsis for Deliverance Lost. And here you can read my structural notes for The Crown of the Blood – this was my first original fiction trilogy, so they are more comprehensive than something I would usually produce for Black Library.
With my tie-in fiction the story ‘topic’ is often suggested to me by the publisher, along with the required length (for example short story / novella / novel). This blog post discusses fitting your story to the suggested word-count, and how this relates to the synopsis.
When writing an original fiction novel, or an area of tie-in fiction that I’m not overly familiar with, I’ll often create an emotional psychological study of the main characters, which in turn feeds into creating a thoroughly considered synopsis; you can read about this process here.
A couple of blog posts highlighted the usefulness of the synopsis to the writer, with real-world examples of how a synopsis can help focus thoughts when reading through a completed first draft, and using a synopsis to identify issues with your writing.
Here are the sample synopses for some of my published books (needless to say, they contain spoilers if you haven’t read the books yet):
13th Legion
Angels of Darkness
Annihilation Squad
Caledor
Catechism of Hate
The Ninth Book
I published a few caveats for the Annihilation Squad synopsis, which applies to all those listed above, so it’s worth publishing again here.
Writing doesn’t always go smoothly, and I’ve written about some challenges I’ve faced as a result of a poor synopsis here and here. Hopefully these will help others avoid the same issues.
Unless you’re writing entirely for your own amusement at some point you’ll have to pitch your story idea to a publisher. This blog post discusses pitching your story, and gives general advice on what the synopsis should look like.
And finally, if you want to read everything I’ve written that contains even a smidgeon of advice about synopses, click on the “Writing Advice – Synopsis” tag link below.
Being a writer is a constant process of learning and improvement, so if you have any advice or experiences with writing synopses, please share them in the comments. If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.
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