No writer likes the job of coming up with a synopsis of their novel but it is a necessary evil. A synopsis, at its most basic, is a summary of the book and agents want to see them because they want to see if your completed manuscript will be worth their time in reading it. A novel synopsis is not terribly easy to write so I’ve drawn up 5 tips that will help you.

Make Sure Every Major Event is Detailed

And that includes the ending. In fact, the ending is actually the most important bit because it defines the synopsis. You would never put the ending of your story in a pitch or in a query but you would in a synopsis. Please bear in mind that a synopsis is not meant as a teaser; it is meant to explain all the major points of the story explicitly.

It Should Double-spaced on Two Pages

At one time, a synopsis used to go on for several pages but, as time has passed, they have gotten shorter because that’s what the agents want. Unless your agent requests anything different stick to two pages, double-spaced or one page, single-spaced.

If the Genre is Fiction, Take More time Over Your Synopsis

A synopsis is not very easy to write if it centers on literary fiction driven by characters because there may not be much of a plot. Your agent will understand this but if you are writing a fictional story, the agent will want to make sure that your book has a proper start, middle, and end to it, not to mention something unique that they won’t have seen in any other story. Take your time writing this; it is very important that you get it right.

Be Dry If You Want But Stay in Narrative

Prose and query letters require you to write in a certain voice and style but, with a synopsis, this isn’t so important. If possible, by dry because your synopsis has to explain so much in so little space. Short sentences are fine so long as you stay in the narrative.

When You Introduce a Character, Capitalize Their Name

When you introduce a new character for the first time, their entire name should be in CAPITAL letters; after the first mention, go back to normal text. This ensures that your agent can see straight away which names are important. One thing you should do is not name too many of your characters – stick to no more than five if possible. This might be hard, but you can do it and it will force you to cut out the small subplots and characters from your synopsis, making sure you focus on the main plot and characters. This will provide your synopsis with real strength rather than a rambling length of what amounts to nothing more than confusion.

These are not easy to write but you can help yourself by writing your character names and plots down on a piece of paper and then putting them in order of importance. From there, you can remove what isn’t required and build your synopsis around what is left.