How to Write a Novel Synopsis

A Guide for Drafting a 2-page Novel Synopsis

Learning Objective: By the end of this post, you will know how to write a two-page novel synopsis.

Summarizing a 300-page novel in two double-spaced pages is a daunting task. When it comes to writing a novel synopsis, I break this task down into three manageable writing exercises:

1. The 15-Beat Synopsis

2. The Story Hourglass

3. The Final Synopsis

Today, we’re breaking down the steps for writing your final synopsis. A sample synopsis is provided at the end of this post. To get the most out of this lesson, I recommend reading our previous two lessons if you haven’t already.

Before we get into the writing exercise itself, let’s review the best practices for creating a synopsis.

What Is a Synopsis?

A synopsis is typically a two-page pitch that concisely summarizes the entire plot of a novel.

The synopsis’s main purpose is to function as a sales tool that will help you (1) sign with a literary agent and (2) sell your novel to a traditional publisher. To sell a novel to a traditional publisher, writers are usually required to write a query letter for potential agents and a submission letter for potential publishers. These letters both focus on the premise and marketability of your novel. A synopsis, however, provides the agent or editor with a bird’s eye view of your story’s plot in two pages or less. Not every agent or editor requires a synopsis, but it’s a crucial skill to develop because synopses are often requested with a quick turnaround. In addition to the querying and submission process, novel workshops also sometimes require a synopsis to accompany your workshop submission.

As a whole, it’s best practice for your synopsis to follow these two form constraints:

• Third person

• Present tense

Even if your book is in a different tense or point of view, professional synopses are typically written in third person present tense.

How to Structure a Synopsis

Save the Cat beats as seen on my desk at work

In my experience, a synopsis is easiest to write if it truly is a scaled down version of your novel. I use the Save the Cat beat percentages above to pace my novel, and I use the exact same percentages scaled down to two pages to structure my synopsis. Generally speaking, one page, double-spaced in 12-point, Times New Roman font is approximately 250 words. In total, you’ll have about 500 words to work with for your synopsis.

Of course, in reality, one page with this formatting could be up to 390 words long, but we’re going to use 250 words for easy math.

Using the percentages in the image above, the words-per-beat breakdown will look something like this:

• Act I: ~100 words (20%)

  • Set Up

  • Inciting Incident (Catalyst)

  • Turn into Act II

• Act IIA: ~150 words (30%)

  • B Story

    • Note: Depending on the story, it might not be necessary to mention the B Story in your synopsis.

  • Fun and Games

  • Midpoint

• Act IIB: ~150 words (30%)

  • Bad Guys Close In

  • All Is Lost

  • Break into Act III

• Act III: ~100 words (20%)

  • Finale

  • Final Image

As you may remember from our 15-Beat Synopsis lesson, there are more beats than what I listed above, but these eleven beats are the most crucial for the final synopsis.

Breaking your novel down into these ~100 word chunks might seem intimidating, but remember, you’ve already succeeded at a similar exercise twice. Your 15-Beat Synopsis summarized your plot in ~5 double-spaced pages. Your Story Hourglass summarized the cause and effect of your story in ~3 double-spaced pages. Now, using our 15-Beat Synopsis as our guide, we’re going to do two things to create the final synopsis:

1. Condense each beat to the word counts listed above

2. Add one sentence of cause and effect toward the end of each act

How to Write the Final Synopsis