This part was requested by Kanaya_1113.
Seven Steps for Writing a Synopsis Using Index Cards
These seven steps are the most useful I've ever seen. Every author online raves about this process. Hopefully, it'll be just as successful for you as it has been for authors like Jane Friedman.
Step 1: Start With Plot Basics
You know that your plot is a sequence of events that proceed through several basic stages. These include:
1. The inciting incident that gets things moving, sets the protagonist on course towards his goal, etc.
2. Event(s) which illustrate opposition to the Story Goal.
3. The crisis: the decisive event or turning point that sets the story on a course for either achieving the goal or failure.
4. The resolution or the climax, which illustrates the achievement (or not) of the goal and its aftermath.
Step 2: Add the Main Character's Arc
The emotional side of the story will be expressed in part by the main character's progression through four stages as well. For instance, see if you can answer the following questions:
1. Who is your main character at the start of the story? What kind of person is he/she? What is his/her approach to life?
2. Describe how your main character is thrust into a situation where he/she is pressured to change.
3. Does your main character decide to take a leap of faith and change? Does he adopt a new approach or take some uncharacteristic action? Or does she hold true to who she is and become more entrenched in her attitude or approach?
4. At the end of the novel, is the main character better off because of the choice he/she has made? Does the reader feel he/she has done the right thing?
Step 3: Consider the Impact Character's Role
The impact character (or sometimes characters) are responsible for pressuring the main character to change, generally by giving an example of an opposingly different approach or outlook. He or she shows why and how the main character might need to change. So consider:
1. When the impact character enters the novel, how does he/she express a different approach or attitude to that of the main character?
2. How does the impact character pressure or influence the main character to either abandon his old ways or learn a new way of doing things?
3. If the main character changes at the climax of the story, the impact character typically remains fixed in his ways. On the other hand, if the main character stays the same, the impact character may be forced to change. How is this illustrated in your novel?
4. Is the impact character better or worse off at the end of the novel?
Step 4: The Major Relationship
Another aspect to a well-rounded story is the progression of the relationship between the main and impact characters. For instance, in a romance these two are usually the romantic hero and heroine. In an adventure, they could be the hero and villain, hero and mentor, etc. Regardless who these two characters are to each other, the relationship between them will also exhibit an emotional arc. You may need to consider:
1. How their relationship stands at the beginning of the story.
2. How their relationship develops or is tested in the course of the story.
3. The climax of their relationship (a decisive change).
4. Their relationship at the end of the story. How is it different?
As you can probably guess, all of the "#1"s from each of the steps above will go into the first part of your synopsis. All the "#2"s will go into the second part, etc.
You may find it useful to write each point on an index card or piece of paper. Then you can sort them into four piles representing the order they will appear in your synopsis.
An Important Note to Remember:
When writing a synopsis for the back cover of your book or for your Wattpad summary, it is important to keep pile "#4" separate from the others.
When writing a synopsis for querying editors and agents for publication, do include pile "#4" into your synopsis. I delve deeper into this topic in Section X: Publication.
Step 5: Include Thematic Considerations
• What issues do your characters struggle with in your novel?
• What themes will be addressed and weighed in the story?
• What is the message or moral?
If these points are a crucial part of your novel, write them on index cards and put them into the appropriate pile, depending on where they are illustrated in your story.
Step 6: Include the 8 Basic Plot Elements
1. Story Goal: The Story Goal is, generally speaking, what your protagonist wants to achieve or the problem he/she wants to resolve. It is also the goal/problem that involves or affects most, if not all the other characters in the story. It is "what the story is all about."
2. Consequence: The Consequence is the negative situation or event that will result if the Goal is not achieved. "What disaster will happen if the goal is not achieved? What is my protagonist afraid will happen if he/she doesn't achieve the goal or solve the problem?"
3. Requirements: What event(s) might need to happen for the goal in your novel to be achieved?
4. Forewarnings: These are the counterpart to requirements. While requirements show that the story is progressing towards the achievement of the goal, forewarnings are events that show the consequence is getting closer. Forewarnings make the reader anxious that the consequence will occur before the protagonist can succeed.
5. Costs: A problem or goal that matters to the protagonist so much so he/she is willing to make sacrifices or suffer pain in order to achieve it. Such sacrifices are called Costs.
6. Dividends: The element that balances Costs in your plot outline is Dividends. Dividends are rewards that characters receive along the journey towards the Story Goal.
7. Prerequisites: Prerequisites are events that must happen in order for the Requirements to happen. They are an added layer of challenges to your plot outline. Like Requirements, as Prerequisites are met, the reader feels progress is being made towards the goal.
8. Preconditions: The last element to balance your plot outline, Preconditions, is a junior version of Forewarnings. Preconditions are small impediments in the plot. They are stipulations laid down by certain characters that make it more difficult for the Story Goal to be achieved.
Write an index card for each of the eight basic plot elements, describing how it is illustrated in your novel. Once again, put each card into the appropriate pile, according to where the illustration appears in the story.
Step 7: Edit All Your Points Together
By now you have a set of over 24 index cards, each describing an element of your novel. The cards are in four piles, representing the four acts of your story. Your final step is to arrange the cards in order within each pile and write/edit them together to create a summary of your story.
However, still keep pile "#4" separate if writing your synopsis for your Wattpad summary.
If you have included all of these elements, you should find that your synopsis covers not only the events that make up the plot but also the emotional side of your novel.
The Most Common Novel Synopsis Mistake
Before you consider your synopsis complete, make sure you don't make the most common novel synopsis mistake, as told by author Jane Friedman:
Don't make the mistake of thinking the synopsis just details the plot. That will end up reading like a very mechanical account of your story, and won't offer any depth or texture; it will read like a story without any emotion.
Think what it would sound like if you summarized a football game by saying. "Well, the Patriots scored. And then the Giants scored. Then the Patriots scored twice in a row." That's sterile and doesn't give us the meaning behind how events are unfolding. Instead, you would say something like, "The Patriots scored a touchdown after more than one hour of a no-score game, and the underdog of the team led the play. The crowd went wild."
Common Novel Synopsis Pitfalls to Avoid
• Don't get bogged down with the specifics of character names. Stick to the basics. Use the name of your main characters, but if a waitress enters the story only briefly, call her "the waitress." Don't say "Bonnie, the boisterous waitress who calls everyone hon and works seven days a week." That's a huge and unnecessary tangent.
• Don't spend any time in the synopsis explicitly explaining or deconstructing the themes the story may address. This synopsis tells the story; it doesn't try to interpret what it means. (But it does tell us the characters' feelings or reactions.)
• Avoid character backstory. A phrase or two is plenty to indicate a character's background; you should only reference it when it affects how events unfold. This may mean, if you've written a story with flashbacks, you probably won't include much if any, of that in the synopsis. However, if the flashbacks are really about what happens in the book rather than why something happens, then they may belong in your synopsis.
• Avoid including dialogue, and if you do, be sparing. Make sure the dialogue you include is absolutely iconic of the character or represents a vital moment in the book.
• Don't split your synopsis into sections, or label the different plot points. In rare cases, there might be a reason to have subheads in the synopsis, due to a unique narrative structure, but try to avoid sectioning out the story in any way, or listing a cast of characters up front, as if you were writing a play.
• While your synopsis will reflect your ability to write, it's not the place to get pretty with your prose. That means you should leave out any lyrical descriptions or attempts to impress through poetic description. You really can't take the time to show things in your synopsis. You really have to tell, and sometimes this is confusing to writers who've been told for years to "show don't tell." For example, it's okay to just come out and say your main character is a "hopeless romantic" rather than trying to show it.
How to Avoid Novel Synopsis Wordiness
Synopsis language has to be very stripped down. Here's an example of what I mean:
Very Wordy: At work, Elizabeth searches for Peter all over the office and finally finds him in the supply room, where she tells him she resents the remarks he made about her in the staff meeting.
Tight: At work, Elizabeth confronts Peter about his remarks at the staff meeting.
How to End Your Novel Synopsis
When writing your synopsis for your Wattpad summary, the ending paragraph is very simple: Ask rhetorical or unanswered questions. Remember, your goal here is to entice a reader.
When writing a synopsis for querying editors and agents for publication, incorporate pile "#4" into your synopsis like you did with the other three piles, and do not ask rhetorical or unanswered questions. Remember, your goal here is not to entice an editor or agent. You want to tell them the ending, the resolution. They want to see how your story wraps up together in a neat package.
A tip: Look at other published books that are similar in genre to yours. Notice how they organize their synopsis. How do they introduce the protagonist? The conflict? How do they entice the reader? Do they hint at the ending or at least at the protagonist's goal?
If this part has helped you, be sure to give it a vote!