I have written quite a few synopses (plural of the synopsis) – short, brief, a slight taste of what the story is about. But a complete plot overview? A full synopsis? I was quite surprised by a recent request from a publisher considering my latest novel:

Thanks for your submission, would you be able to send me the full synopsis (plot overview)

If you could provide an entire synopsis (the mystery told and the ending provided in a summary)

As my attempts to produce what the publisher wanted continued to flood back to me for greater clarification, I quickly realized that what they were looking for was a chapter by chapter overview of what happened within each chapter. I felt like I was rewriting the novel, a flash fiction style for each chapter.

Needless to say, I finally managed to present what they wanted, sent it on its merry way, and, you’ll never guess what? You’re right. I never heard from this publisher again.

It did get me thinking, though. Who knows when I might be asked to undergo a similar exercise again? Instead of panicking, I should have considered what I was being asked to provide. Basically, what this publisher wanted was the Sparks Notes (back in the day, we called them Coles Notes) version of my novel. It so many ways, it’s like writing the novel all over again. For anyone who has coasted through English literature using Sparks (or Coles) Notes, you’ll know what I mean.

I needed a plan to prepare myself for a similar request in the future. It wasn’t enough to merely provide a list of happenings per chapter. Pulling out an old Coles Notes from the 1960s, I studied their approach. Summary, demonstration of the events and the interrelationship between events, characters introduced and developed in the given chapter, and so on. But not so much info that you’re retelling the story in its entirety. Just the main points.

First, I had to summarize the exposition: how I set the stage for events to come, the characters and the setting, and how I introduced the main conflict.

Next, I needed to lay out the incidents and rising action within the story, and at which point the climax is reached.

And then there’s the climax. The point of no return. This is what changes the story’s direction. Everything and/or anything can change in the climax: the characters, the incidents – the climax can set off an entirely new, cataclysmic chain of reaction events leading to the resolution.

Finally, I must address how I managed to tie up the plot, bringing the story to its full resolution, complete with outlining how the characters resolve their own issues and deal with the resolution.

Overall, not an easy undertaking. I decided to start with this plot overview as my basic outline, the initial step to actually writing the novel. I knew it would change as my plot, character, and setting strategies unraveled, but it was a start. Something I could rely on to keep me focussed during the initial writing. Something, too, that I’d have at the ready should a publisher make that horrendously time-consuming request for a full synopsis or plot overview.

It was a good exercise. Another valuable lesson learned: how to create and write a full synopsis or plot overview. Just in case. You never know when a publisher will demand such an exercise.