Editing What is the best way to write a good synopsis?

[witch_sorrowful]

The synopsis is important - it's the second thing the reader is going to look at.

Now, a synopsis in a book is easy to write - you can summarize the main plot line, and leave the reader with some breadcrumbs towards where the rest of it is heading.

But how do I do that in SH? What are the aspects of a book that a reader wants to find in a serialized novel? Are there any good tricks to include in it that helps piques the reader's interest?

Some ideas will be very appreciated.

 

[NotaNuffian]

+1 please help.

 

[Agentt]

Well, a bad idea is to use vaguely cool words like.
What happens if someone breaks the system, rebels.
Opium bleeds as he reclaimed what was rightfully his all along.
These lines would attract people but not readers. Of course, the synopsis should not be too clear, there must be space for doubt, for thinking by the readers.
A good example is The Agatha Loop

They asked Amber to become a magical girl three times.

She refused.

That only made her more interesting.

The fourth time, she asked them.

Not any cliche lines, but still intriguing enough
Or well, I consider my synopsis good enough
Title: Don't Choose Your Own Adventure
Synopsis:
A not choose your own adventure novel. I will be posting a poll at the end of each chapter and max vote shall win, but does it even matter now?
Nope, not any more.
Yep, really bad but it checks all the boxes

Also, a main difference between a real book and a digital copy is that when people buy a real book, they ussually read it all to get their money worth. Not here, the reader thinks the story isn't going anywhere, he will just drop it. The synopsis should have clues to where it is heading. Which is something you will not find in my work since it is daily updated according to the polls.

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

Wordbait. One way to get your readers curious of what your novel is. Just like clickbait but you only need to write a specific synopis for them to be attracted to your work. Such as...

*No harem - Those peoppe who hate your harem genre will try to read your novel.

*A unique non-OP protag - people already hate the genre but still can't help but get curious.

*A senario of building a worldview - They will try to be interested if you write a good synopis that describes how you build your world.

*Unique protagonist with good characterization - why not make a character that is the same as you? Like, being a loner, introvert and basically useless. People will love to see the growth of your character as you progress your story.

I can give you more but y'all might steal my ideas.

 

[witch_sorrowful]

Wordbait.

Yes! I think that is a good template. You have to try to recognize which type of person will be interested in your story, and then proceed to explain to those specific people why your book is good. This is a good approach.

I can give you more but y'all might steal my ideas.

Haha, fair.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Short and sweet. Dont bog me down with details i can find out as i read. Like i dont need to know the entire world state. Which powers are against which, for example. At the least, dont make more than a paragraph outta it.

Other than that i like a fun synopsis. Comedic, even. That wont work in a serious story tho. So. Eh. But the first thing i said will always work.

The longer your synopsis the easier people will lose interest in reading the book itself. Unless its REALLY good and builds the world enough where the length dont matter.

 

[Jemini]

One point I have observed, the first 15 or so words of your synopsis are the most important part of the entire synopsis. You need to select them very carefully, and they need to be written in such a way it leaves the reader wanting more details.

For instance, in the synopsis to my story, "Key to the Void."

"Asaren and Tiaren are the first Elven twins to ever be born."

In 11 words, I set up that the story features tiwns (also giving their character names,) that they are elves, and that normally elves NEVER have twins. As in, this has never happened in the entire history of the race up until the two of them were born. This means there is something incredibly unusual about their birth. Also, because they are elves, that also establishes this is a fantasy world, and thus you can extrapolate there may even be some magical hyjinks behind this twin birth in some way.

There is a huge amount of information packed into those most crucial 11 words, and it opens up a lot of questions in the reader's mind that make them want to continue reading the rest of the synopsis. Then, I proceed to use the rest of my synopsis to answer the questions I left the reader with in those first 11. However, those first 11 words really were the single most important part of my entire synopsis.

I have seen other strategies as well, using a series of short unresolved phrases in the space of those first 15 words that leave the reader with a sense of unease that makes them want to continue reading in order to resolve the statement these short phrases leave in their mind.

In short, in those first 15 words, you really need to think of some kind of hook that can draw your reader in.

 

[AKnightWithaKnife]

A good synopsis isn’t to long. A sentence or two is all yah need. There was this one synopsis of in WN that had a huge synopsis that was some how longer than the first chapter

 

[witch_sorrowful]

A good synopsis isn’t to long. A sentence or two is all yah need. There was this one synopsis of in WN that had a huge synopsis that was some how longer than the first chapter

LMAO

In short, in those first 15 words, you really need to think of some kind of hook that can draw your reader in.

That is just an excellent advice. I always think great stories have great synopses. The problem is writing one when your story isn't complete. But, I think this is a way to avoid divulging to much. It really is quite the art to do so within even the first 30 words.

 

[Jemini]

That is just an excellent advice. I always think great stories have great synopses. The problem is writing one when your story isn't complete. But, I think this is a way to avoid divulging to much. It really is quite the art to do so within even the first 30 words.

To be clear, the purpose of the hook is just to get the reader to read the rest of the synopsis. I actually saw another story that had a pretty good first 15 words that went something like this.

"Bullshit artist. Con man. Liar."

Those were not the exact words, but it was something to that same effect. Anyway, those 5 words amount to a hook. The entire point is that these very short phrases simultaneously shock you but also draw you in. You want to see why it's saying those things. The next few words were something along the lines of "These are some of the things that (protagonist name) has been called." And proceeds to explain all of that.

However, I only call the first 5 words of that the hook and don't include the following words because it was those first 5 words that had and did the job of drawing the reader in.

It's not that the entire message and point is in those first 15 words. It's just that it has to have something that makes the reader want to read more.

EDIT: Also, generally, figuring out the hook is the hard part. The rest of the synopsis is mostly just resolving the hook, so the content of the rest of your synopsis is largely determined by whatever the hook was. It's not like thinking of a good hook is all you have to do. You still have to put in the effort for the rest. But, the kind of person who can think up a good hook is usually plenty capable of finishing up the rest of the synopsis well enough afterward.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

The synopsis is important - it's the second thing the reader is going to look at.

Now, a synopsis in a book is easy to write - you can summarize the main plot line, and leave the reader with some breadcrumbs towards where the rest of it is heading.

But how do I do that in SH? What are the aspects of a book that a reader wants to find in a serialized novel? Are there any good tricks to include in it that helps piques the reader's interest?

Some ideas will be very appreciated.

It really depends on the type of story you want to go for and how you want to.

If you want it mysterious, only talk about some vague or interesting parts about it. Or cliffhangers. Something that is an attention hooker so readers who are curious will press the read button to find out more. Make it like a good trailer - don't give everything away, but just enough for readers to sort of get an idea what the story is about, though vague enough that they still want to find out the rest.

I also see some stories on here where they just state what the story is like. This is if you know a specific type of audience and want to grab their attention that this is the type of story you want to read because it fits into your reading list of this X_____ genres and stuff.

The first scenario, where you tell but don't tell everything is what I see in story infos for published novels. Some webnovels also do this too.
The latter one, I see in some webnovels. Straightforward so they tell you what it is and if you don't like that type of story, you can move along but if it's your fit, then great, you're all good to go.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Throw in a question or two that will entice the reader to find out what happens.

 

[Motsu]

Keeping it clean and simple without having to try so hard. Or usually, in my case, a synopsis that doesn't spoil the entirety of your novel and can yield contemplation about interesting question (like, 'what'll happen next after she got cursed by a Kalar Queen?') making them interested and distinctly rousing them to read the story.