Car 54, calling all synopses…

As submissions cross my desk, I can often be found biting my nails over the vast number of writers who don’t understand how to put forth an effective synopsis. A synopsis, whether it’s a paragraph or two pages, has to be clear to the poor dolt who’s reading it. I am that dolt. If I’m left scratching my head trying to figure out what the storyline is, I’m more likely to drown my confusion in a glass of wine and reach for the form rejection. I really hate doing that. Okay, I’ll admit that I like the wine part, but I detest rejecting an author because they can’t communicate effectively. Yet, day in and day out, I do just that.

I’ve had many writers tell me that they can blow out 90,000 words with a smile on their face, but they’d rather have root canal without aid of some serious drugs than write a synopsis. Huh? All you’re doing is telling the aforementioned dolt (me) what your story is about. Sure, I like to be entertained with a witty synopsis just as much as the next dolt. It’s the difference between my being thrilled to jump into your first pages or dreading it.

I also understand that it can be difficult to put together a few short paragraphs that will part the clouds and make angels sing. Relax. It’s okay. But what you have, have, have to do is tell me the guts of your story. Don’t smoke my doors off with introducing characters that have nothing to do with the main guts of your story. Secondary characters are terrific in a story, but leave them out of your synopsis. They make my eyes glaze.

A synopsis has three basic elements:
1)Word count
2)Genre
3)Plot. The plot is the toughest.
*Who is the protagonist and what does he want to do?
* What is his personal journey?
* What antagonist or dilemma does he face?
* What is the goal of the antagonist/dilemma?
* What happens when the antagonist/dilemma meet the protagonist?
* Does the problem get resolved?
* If not, what happens?
* If yes, what is the outcome?

If you tell me that nothing gets resolved in your story, then you may want to revisit your story and buy a snooze alarm. Or buy it for me. The most important thing is to never give an editor a reason to reject your work other than the story may not be right for them or the writing doesn’t live up to their standards. The true tragedy is in being rejected because the editor can’t figure out what the story is about. If you can’t communicate it, I’m not going to slog around trying to find it.