Synopses

[cloudscudding]

I have to write the synopses for Vicesteed now, and it's terrifying me. I mean, I can get it down to three paragraphs, but anything less than that feels impossible. And I'll definitely need a one-paragraph version and (ack!) a one-sentence pitch

Comments

[alecaustin]

Lie.

No, really - I'm pretty sure the only way to get a novel (or at least, any novel worth pitching) simplified down to the point where you can represent it in a single sentence or paragraph is to pick one or two hooky, pitch-friendly elements of the book and act like everything else didn't exist.

(I am, I should note, awful at this - I'm pretty much incapable of writing a synopsis without constant feedback from other people to keep myself from producing something utterly confusing.)

[cloudscudding]

It does feel like lying.

[thoughtdancer]

I'm pre-coffee, so I didn't read the details... but does it tie thematically together more tightly than the story/stories do? If so, use that to tie the one sentence pitch together.

Otherwise, what alecaustin said. Just give the hook, paragraph that makes the hook interesting / engaging. Don't summarize the plot.

[kitryan]

What if it has a bit something like: 'three very different characters/people come together to solve a mystery/each have a piece of the puzzle...' and then some description of the mystery and/or milieu so you don't need to go into each individual character- admittedly, that's hard to still keep engaging, but you've got to lose some areas of its complexity to fit it into such a small space.