How to write a synopsis for a novel, with a one-page structure

A synopsis is a short, plain account of everything that happens in your novel, ending included. To write a synopsis for a novel, tell the main story in order, in the present tense and the third person, through your central character's choices, and keep it to one page unless the guidelines ask for more. It is not a teaser and it is not a blurb. Its job is to show an editor that the book holds together from first page to last.

That is the short answer. The rest of this page is the method we would give a writer sitting across the desk from us, plus a structure you can fill in this afternoon.

What an editor uses a synopsis for

The opening pages tell us whether you can write. The synopsis tells us whether you can build. We want to see that the story goes somewhere, that the middle doesn't sag, that the ending is earned rather than arriving from nowhere, and that the main character changes or is changed.

Some editors read the synopsis before the pages, some after, and some only when the pages have made them curious. Whichever way round it happens, the synopsis is a working document. Nobody expects it to sparkle. They expect it to be clear.

That is why the most common mistake is holding something back. A synopsis that ends with "and she must decide whether to risk everything" has told us nothing we can use. Give us the decision and what it costs.

How long should a synopsis be?

There is no single rule, and guidelines differ from one publisher and agent to the next. One page is the most widely requested length, and a one-page version is the most useful one to have ready. Some places ask for two pages, or a longer chapter-by-chapter outline, and if they do, send exactly that.

A practical way to work is to write one page first. It forces you to find the spine of the story. If someone asks for more, you can add a few scenes back in, which is far easier than cutting a five-page synopsis down.

On a single page you have room for roughly 400 to 600 words, depending on your margins and spacing. Use the same clean, readable layout as your manuscript, single-spaced unless the guidelines say otherwise, with your name and the book's title at the top.

What goes in and what stays out

The hard part of a synopsis is choosing. A novel has dozens of characters, threads and good moments. A one-page synopsis has room for the main story and very little else.

Put in:

The main character, named, with one line on who they are and what they want.
The situation at the start, and the event that disturbs it.
The key turning points, in the order they happen.
The main character's decisions, and what each one costs.
The climax and how it resolves.
The ending, stated plainly, including what has changed for the character.

Leave out:

Most secondary characters. Name four people at most. Anyone else can be "her brother" or "the landlord".
Subplots, unless one changes the main story's outcome.
Backstory, beyond the single fact a reader needs to make sense of the plot.
Themes stated as themes. "This is a novel about grief" is a claim. Showing the character grieve in the action is the proof.
Dialogue and quotations from the book.
Rhetorical questions, cliffhangers and any sentence that sounds like a back cover.

A useful test: if you removed this sentence, would the ending still make sense? If yes, it can probably go.

How to write a synopsis for a novel: a one-page structure

Most novels, whatever the genre, can be told in five or six short paragraphs. This structure works because it follows the order a reader needs the information in.

The opening situation. Who the main character is, where and when we are, and what they want or believe at the start. Two or three sentences.
The disturbance. The event that sets the story moving, and the choice the character makes in response. This is the point of no return.
The complications. The two or three major developments in the middle of the book. Each one should raise the pressure or change the character's understanding. Join them with cause and effect: because this happens, she does that, so this follows.
The crisis. The low point, where the character's original plan or belief fails and they have to choose differently.
The climax and resolution. What the character does, what happens as a result, and how the main conflict ends.
The ending. Where the character is now, and what has changed in them or their world. One or two sentences, plain and complete.

A few conventions hold for almost every synopsis. Write in the present tense ("Mara finds the letter", not "Mara found the letter"). Use the third person even if the novel is in the first. Put each character's name in capitals the first time it appears, if that is the convention in your market; it helps a busy reader keep track, but it is optional, so follow the guidelines if they say anything about it.

A worked example

Here is a synopsis for an imagined literary novel, written to the structure above. It runs to about 300 words, which leaves room on the page for a title, your name and a longer, more complex plot.

MARA OSEI, thirty-four, has spent six years caring for her father in a seaside town she meant to leave at eighteen. When he dies, she plans to sell the house and move to the city, where a job is waiting.
Clearing his study, she finds a bundle of letters from a woman named HELEN VOSS, written over twenty years. They show that her father had another family a few miles down the coast, including a son, TOM, now nineteen. Mara delays the sale and goes to find them.
Helen is guarded, but Tom is eager to know his half-sister. Mara starts spending weekends with him and lets the city job lapse. She tells no one, including her older brother DANIEL, who is pressing her to sell. When Daniel discovers the letters, he accuses her of protecting a father who lied to them both, and refuses to meet Tom.
Mara learns from Helen that her father had intended to leave the house to Tom, and had told Mara nothing because he feared she would resent him for keeping her there. The will he never signed is in the same drawer as the letters. Mara now holds the power to honour his wish or ignore it, and either choice will cost her one of her brothers.
She shows Daniel the unsigned will. He tells her that if she gives Tom a share, he will contest the estate. Mara decides that the house should be divided three ways, and she accepts that Daniel may not speak to her again.
Months later the house is sold. Daniel has signed but stayed away. Mara uses her share to rent a small flat in the town she once wanted to escape, near Tom, and starts the work she always meant to do. For the first time, she is staying by choice.

Notice what is missing. There are no descriptions of the sea, no lines of dialogue, no mention of the friends, the neighbours or the funeral. Each paragraph turns on a decision, and the ending is told, not hinted at.

Common problems and how to fix them

It reads like a list. "Then this happens. Then that happens." Connect events with cause and consequence. A synopsis is a chain, and each link should explain the next.

The character disappears. If the plot is happening to your character, the synopsis will feel flat. Make sure every major turn includes what they decide.

Too many names. If a reader has to hold more than four names, they will lose the thread. Describe minor characters by their role.

It explains the theme. Cut sentences that tell the editor what the book means. If the events are right, the meaning is visible.

It sounds nothing like the book. A synopsis should be plain, but it can still carry a little of your novel's tone. A comic novel's synopsis can be lightly wry. A thriller's can move quickly. Clarity comes first, voice second.

If you are also preparing your opening chapters, our note on what an editor listens for in the first ten pages covers the other half of what we read.

Before you send

One page, unless the guidelines ask for something else.
Present tense, third person, main character named early.
The disturbance, the turning points, the crisis, the climax and the ending are all there.
The ending is stated, not teased.
No more than four named characters.
Every major event is tied to a choice the character makes.
No themes explained, no rhetorical questions, no dialogue.
Your name and the title are at the top, and the layout is clean.
Read it aloud once. If you stumble or get lost, so will the reader.

Then put it with your opening pages and covering letter, and send us your work. Every manuscript we are sent is read by a person, from the first page.

How we work: editorial standards and corrections.