sbdrag
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2024
- Messages
- 78
- Points
- 48
Since I was going through the feedback channel and noticed I was giving the same advice a few times, I thought I would just make a post of my general advice for writing a synopsis. I wrote my current synopsis for DKG like two years ago and have being doing a bad by just copy-pasting it, so I'll just update my synopsis as my example, since I know it helps me to have an example. Here's the synopsis as-is:
It's not terrible - it has gotten me success on other platforms, and it covers the basic plot vibes, but we can snazz it up to be more eye-catching.
The first sentence of your blurb is the most important one - if people aren't drawn in by it, they're not going to read the rest. Sometimes, you can come up with a really killer hook - and sometimes it can be a struggle. My advice? Start with a log line, movie style. Not the "log lines" they throw out on the poster, the ones they use to pitch their scripts to studios (though some of those do end up on posters).
For a good log line, you need to cover three basic details: Who, What, and Why. There are variations on this, but I'm trying to keep things simple. Additional rules for this: no character names. Use descriptors - people don't know your character's name, but they'll key in on a solid descriptor. So, let's break it down for Demon King's Gardener:
Who: the Demon King
What: hires a human gardener
Why: because he's been secretly tending the gardens for a decade
You can tool around with how you present this information, but now I have all the information I need to sell the basic premise of the story. In example:
Now that we have a basic premise, we can consider if there's ways to tweak it to make it a bit more descriptive. Adding an adjective, or an additional short clause that introduces a conflict, if the basic premise doesn't make the conflict clear. You can add a second sentence, but I would recommend trying to keep to just one sentence as much as possible. For example, if I tweak a bit:
Now there's a conflict - the demon court isn't a fan of a human Royal Gardener. But by using "annoyance" instead of a stronger word, I let the reader know the conflict isn't in the serious drama vein and more on the humorous side - as it is a comedy story.
After the first line introducing the premise, you can add more details. I would recommend trying to stick to only one or two short paragraphs - try to figure out what people really need to know about the story to be interested, and which details can wait until they read the story. And try not to repeat the information in the opener unless you're expanding on it. Non-exhaustive examples might be:
What you include will depend on your story, and what the major elements you think a reader should know about going in. DKG is a slice-of-life romcom - so now that I've set up the premise, my second paragraph should convey what readers can expect when they start reading. Here's an example of something I've used in the past:
This gives you a bit of information in here, and it's not terrible, but there's a couple things that can be polished up:
On point two: do I really need to include that it's a "Reunification Campaign"? Not really! It doesn't mean anything to the reader of this blurb, and it's not really a focus of the story, either, so I can be way less specific to get the same general idea across. Sometimes, throwing in universe specific words can intrigue a reader wanting to know more about what the word means - but in my case, the Union/Reunion Campaign isn't really a draw for the slice-of-life crowd I'm looking for and doesn't play a huge role in the plot anyway.
The good in here? "Using his authority over the sentient plants". It gives you a little teaser about the kind of setting the story has, and that actually is a major theme of the story (some readers have even told me the gardens are their favorite character). This is also where you can (and should) introduce character names, since you're getting into more detail.
Slice-of-life can be particularly tricky to blurb, especially if there isn't a consistent central conflict or particular goal the characters are working towards. I am in this boat, which is why I tend to stick with the conflict at the start of the story, rather than diving into everything that happens after. But what do I actually need to convey to the kinds of readers who will like my story?
Yeah, there are tags for most of these, but a lot of people don't read the tags, or only read the tags after they've been hooked by your blurb. So you still need to work this kind of information into it - tags are great, but more for the things that don't fit in your blurb, than the things to do - if that makes sense?
So, let's try this:
That conveys most of the information I wanted it to above, and doesn't repeat anything form my opener. You can be longer than what I have here. but you do want to keep things short - especially when it comes to online platforms. People are going to skip over long paragraphs in your synopsis - at best, they might skim for keywords they like and actually read the synopsis if they find them, but mostly, long paragraphs are going to get ignored. Remember, you're not trying to tell them the story - you're just trying to tell them why they should read the story.
To that end, I also don't recommend using a prose opener - that is, unless it's something that does the job of conveying the Who, What, and Why or introduces the major conflict in an interesting way, don't use a line from your story in the synopsis.
Speaking of major conflicts, the closer is an excellent place to establish the stakes or consequences of failure. It's also a good place to put the major conflict if it hasn't been established already - for example in my case:
Yup, that's right, I didn't really change it beyond phrasing. This is the (first) major "conflict" of the story, and it helps convey the comedic tone of the work and the romantic plot. So, let's see what this looks like all together:
This version gives you a lot more concise information about the plot, while taking out some bits that didn't really need to be there. It tells you the major players, the main conflict, and the setting, along with some themes.
Now, this isn't the only way to write a blurb - there are plenty of awesome blurbs out there that don't do all these things. These tips are just to help people who might not be very confident with their blurb writing skills find a place to start - it's always much easier to edit and tweak something than it is to come up with something in the first place. This is also to help you consider what the purpose of your blurb is, and what you need it to do for your particular story.
A lot of the synopses I've seen in the feedback channel just really throw way too much information into the blurb, and - as I said above - leads to longer synopses that get skimmed and skipped over instead of read. It might feel a little dry when you first put it down, but you can always keep tweaking and refining it once you have something.
Anyway, tl;dr:
Hope this helps anyone new to synopsis writing!
It's not terrible - it has gotten me success on other platforms, and it covers the basic plot vibes, but we can snazz it up to be more eye-catching.
The first sentence of your blurb is the most important one - if people aren't drawn in by it, they're not going to read the rest. Sometimes, you can come up with a really killer hook - and sometimes it can be a struggle. My advice? Start with a log line, movie style. Not the "log lines" they throw out on the poster, the ones they use to pitch their scripts to studios (though some of those do end up on posters).
For a good log line, you need to cover three basic details: Who, What, and Why. There are variations on this, but I'm trying to keep things simple. Additional rules for this: no character names. Use descriptors - people don't know your character's name, but they'll key in on a solid descriptor. So, let's break it down for Demon King's Gardener:
Who: the Demon King
What: hires a human gardener
Why: because he's been secretly tending the gardens for a decade
You can tool around with how you present this information, but now I have all the information I need to sell the basic premise of the story. In example:
Now that we have a basic premise, we can consider if there's ways to tweak it to make it a bit more descriptive. Adding an adjective, or an additional short clause that introduces a conflict, if the basic premise doesn't make the conflict clear. You can add a second sentence, but I would recommend trying to keep to just one sentence as much as possible. For example, if I tweak a bit:
Now there's a conflict - the demon court isn't a fan of a human Royal Gardener. But by using "annoyance" instead of a stronger word, I let the reader know the conflict isn't in the serious drama vein and more on the humorous side - as it is a comedy story.
After the first line introducing the premise, you can add more details. I would recommend trying to stick to only one or two short paragraphs - try to figure out what people really need to know about the story to be interested, and which details can wait until they read the story. And try not to repeat the information in the opener unless you're expanding on it. Non-exhaustive examples might be:
- What led to this situation
- What's the MC's main goal
- Who is the antagonist
- What's the setting
- Are there additional obstacles to completing the goal
- What's the major theme/s of the story
What you include will depend on your story, and what the major elements you think a reader should know about going in. DKG is a slice-of-life romcom - so now that I've set up the premise, my second paragraph should convey what readers can expect when they start reading. Here's an example of something I've used in the past:
This gives you a bit of information in here, and it's not terrible, but there's a couple things that can be polished up:
- Now that I've retooled my opener, it has repetitive information.
- There's some information in here that isn't really necessary to hooking the reader
On point two: do I really need to include that it's a "Reunification Campaign"? Not really! It doesn't mean anything to the reader of this blurb, and it's not really a focus of the story, either, so I can be way less specific to get the same general idea across. Sometimes, throwing in universe specific words can intrigue a reader wanting to know more about what the word means - but in my case, the Union/Reunion Campaign isn't really a draw for the slice-of-life crowd I'm looking for and doesn't play a huge role in the plot anyway.
The good in here? "Using his authority over the sentient plants". It gives you a little teaser about the kind of setting the story has, and that actually is a major theme of the story (some readers have even told me the gardens are their favorite character). This is also where you can (and should) introduce character names, since you're getting into more detail.
Slice-of-life can be particularly tricky to blurb, especially if there isn't a consistent central conflict or particular goal the characters are working towards. I am in this boat, which is why I tend to stick with the conflict at the start of the story, rather than diving into everything that happens after. But what do I actually need to convey to the kinds of readers who will like my story?
- It's slice-of-life
- It's a fantasy setting
- It has a major romance
- It's queer
- It's a comedy
Yeah, there are tags for most of these, but a lot of people don't read the tags, or only read the tags after they've been hooked by your blurb. So you still need to work this kind of information into it - tags are great, but more for the things that don't fit in your blurb, than the things to do - if that makes sense?
So, let's try this:
That conveys most of the information I wanted it to above, and doesn't repeat anything form my opener. You can be longer than what I have here. but you do want to keep things short - especially when it comes to online platforms. People are going to skip over long paragraphs in your synopsis - at best, they might skim for keywords they like and actually read the synopsis if they find them, but mostly, long paragraphs are going to get ignored. Remember, you're not trying to tell them the story - you're just trying to tell them why they should read the story.
To that end, I also don't recommend using a prose opener - that is, unless it's something that does the job of conveying the Who, What, and Why or introduces the major conflict in an interesting way, don't use a line from your story in the synopsis.
Speaking of major conflicts, the closer is an excellent place to establish the stakes or consequences of failure. It's also a good place to put the major conflict if it hasn't been established already - for example in my case:
Yup, that's right, I didn't really change it beyond phrasing. This is the (first) major "conflict" of the story, and it helps convey the comedic tone of the work and the romantic plot. So, let's see what this looks like all together:
This version gives you a lot more concise information about the plot, while taking out some bits that didn't really need to be there. It tells you the major players, the main conflict, and the setting, along with some themes.
Now, this isn't the only way to write a blurb - there are plenty of awesome blurbs out there that don't do all these things. These tips are just to help people who might not be very confident with their blurb writing skills find a place to start - it's always much easier to edit and tweak something than it is to come up with something in the first place. This is also to help you consider what the purpose of your blurb is, and what you need it to do for your particular story.
A lot of the synopses I've seen in the feedback channel just really throw way too much information into the blurb, and - as I said above - leads to longer synopses that get skimmed and skipped over instead of read. It might feel a little dry when you first put it down, but you can always keep tweaking and refining it once you have something.
Anyway, tl;dr:
- The first sentence of your synopsis will determine if the rest gets read, and should include the Who, What, and Why of your premise.
- Keep your synopsis to two short paragraphs maximum, focusing on the major themes and conflict a reader will want to know about. Longer paragraphs will often get skipped and/or skimmed.
- Close with the consequences of failing, the major conflict if it wasn't introduced previously, or a hint to a major theme not covered previously.
- Avoid including lines from the story unless they manage to accomplish the goals listed above.
Hope this helps anyone new to synopsis writing!