How To Write A Synopsis (Repost)

While it is true that I have sold five books to Love Inspired Historical, I cannot claim any kind of authority on synopsis writing.

So it stands that three e-books later and five print books later, I am once again reading articles on how to write a selling synopsis.

So the link I used to have on this post changed, so I did a bit of googling (or duck duck going *grin*) and found this gem. I love examples because it's one thing to say how to do it, quite another thing to show how to do it. (Novel Synopsis Examples: How to Write a Synopsis (theazrianportal.com)

Examples are a great way to compare your synopsis to how others read. See if you can note plot points, transitions, character arcs. And then check your own synopsis for the same things. 

Have you written a synopsis yet? Do you like it? How did you learn?

Comments

denise petrovich said…
That was a very good Article and the author had a nice sense of humor and was very clear and concise.
January 13, 2015 at 10:21 AM
Susan J. Reinhardt said…
Jess - This was great! I printed it out and will link to it (giving you a hat tip). :)
January 18, 2015 at 2:20 PM
Jill Kemerer said…
I think I'm pretty decent at writing a synopsis, but only if the story has been developed in my head. And, yes, brownies are essential! I bake them from any box mix on sale!
January 23, 2015 at 5:10 PM
Jessica Nelson said…
Thanks so much, Susan!!

Jill, lol! I'm due for some brownies. Yum, yum, yum!
January 26, 2015 at 8:42 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We All Got to Learn to Do It Sometime

*grossness alert* We all have to learn to deal with doo-doo eventually. Consider me a newbie mom, but it never occurred to me that my son should be wiping himself until about a month before kindergarten. And then the flashbulb went on and I scrambled to teach him. One problem. He didn't want to. He's fastidious and doesn't like to make mistakes, so the thought of taking care of this daily chore literally reduced him to screaming and crying on the toilet. Basically, he didn't trust himself. He was afraid. Scared to get his hands dirty. Afraid he'd miss something. This is probably weird, but it made me think of us as writers. There comes a point where we have to "grow up" and trust ourselves. We can't always rely on a crit group, agent, or editor to wipe up our mess. I think this should be a part of maturation for every writer, that we can look at our work and be confident in our ability to clean it up. Not saying we'll make it perfect or that we won...
Read more

Work First, Play Later

I'm back! I had a wonderful time with my family. Thank you all for asking. :-) In 2009 my schedule evolved into a blog first/write later kind of thing. It happened that way because my husband began using the computer in the afternoons and evenings for his project, but now that I have a router, my schedule's changing. It's time to work first, play later. That means I do my chores/errands in the morning, write at naptime, and visit your wonderful blogs in the afternoons and evenings. So if I don't show up in the morning, don't be alarmed (if you even notice, lol). I'm just changing things up. I'm too exhausted in the evening to write, that's why. During the day I have way more energy to write but at night there's a fifty percent chance I won't do it because I'm so tired. When's the best time for you to write? I also need to shout out my awesome crit partner, Linda Glaz! Some of you may have met her at ACFW. She's a wonderful, faithful, ...
Read more

Melodramatic Mother

Mom, this one's for you. *wink* The other day we were on the phone and my mom was describing some of her ailments to me. She's normally a healthy person, but she does suffer from allergies and sinus issues. She's also a vivid person and this comes across in her language. In this case, she told me her pain was skewering up through her nose. Skewering. She never finished the description because I laughed. What a perfect word! Strong, to the point, I had an exact (if somewhat gross) image of what was happening. Do you have a vivid person in your life? Someone who thinks in ways you forget to? And in your WIP, are you using the strongest verb possible to convey EXACTLY what you mean?
Read more