HOW TO WRITE A SYNOPSIS: Hint: It’s Not A Long Plot Summary

An Agent's Perspective (Take Two)

After years of reviewing submissions and performing writing critiques, I’ve noticed most writers make the same mistake when writing a synopsis: they treat it like a long plot summary. So instead of showing the story’s underlying structure, they provide a condensed retelling of the manuscript.

A synopsis isn’t designed to entertain, tease, or recreate the reading experience. It’s designed to demonstrate that the story works—show the protagonist has a clear goal, the conflict escalates, the plot unfolds logically, and the ending resolves in a way that is earned.

Agents and editors ask for a synopsis because it allows them to evaluate whether the story is structurally sound--confirm it holds together, before they spend hours reading the manuscript.

I had previously written an article on this topic, and in hindsight, I don’t think it was as helpful as it could be. So let’s try this again with clear examples and a stronger sample synopsis.

What a Synopsis Is

• *Usually 800 words max. (single or double spaced)

• Is written in third person, present tense.

• Reveals the entire story, including major twists and the ending.

• Focuses on the primary character arc and central plot.

• Secondary characters are mentioned only if they’re intrinsic to the plot.

• Demonstrates cause and effect.

• Shows the protagonist’s character arc.

The synopsis is written using key plot points that show how the story develops and moves forward. You’re not putting the kitchen sink in there: every subplot, every side character, every reveal, and every emotional beat. Just focus on the important broad strokes.

Now’s your chance to “tell” what happens. Each plot point is told in two to three sentences. You want to be succinct, but not cryptic. You don’t need to provide step-by-step, just the main point.

Example for a murder mystery:

NO: Sally searches the house and finds a broken broom, which leads her to X. At X she finds Y, that sends her to the next place and the next place, finally bringing her to the basement where she finds a bloody knife.

YES: Sally searches the house, finding clues that lead her to the basement where she finds the murder weapon.

Let’s go back to the long summary. Though it tells us what happens, it doesn’t tell us how. On the surface the statements seem fine, but they can also be misleading.

For example:

Long Summary: Sally has five days to pay the taxes on grandma’s farm or she’ll lose it. After paying off the taxes in time, Sally…

Synopsis: Sally has five days to pay the taxes on grandma’s farm before the town seizes it. On the fifth day, Sally finds a bag of money behind a bush and pays off the taxes.

The long summary tells us what happens - but when we find out how we practically pull a muscle rolling our eyes--it’s pure Deus ex machina. Hence, the story isn’t holding together.

Another common synopsis issue is failing to show how each event leads to the next in a cause and effect way. Each thing that happens should be for a specific, productive reason. Those moments should cause or inform the next thing that happens, either as a result/consequence of the previous event. Think of it as: This happened, and because of that, it led to this next thing.

Let’s use the murder mystery again.

NO: As Sally searched the house, her phone fell out of her pocket, and smashed on the basement floor. Sally went to a diner and ate lunch where she met…

What is the point of smashing Sally’s phone? The cause was the phone being smashed -- how is the effect going to get lunch? Also, it’s written in past tense.

Like a good murder mystery, it should lead to the next issue:

YES: As Sally searches the house, her phone falls, smashing on the basement floor. She picks it up and climbs the basement stairs only to find the door locked.

Now we have escalating tension. Her phone smashed (and because of that) she can’t call for help when she finds the door locked -- and because of that she must now figure out how to get out. She’s in a basement, there should be plenty of things to help her.

Maybe she finds another clue as well, which she’ll mull over while eating lunch where she meets, Bob, and because of that….

I’ll pause here. I already hear, “But the reason for my (insert plot device here) doesn’t show up until much later. Yes, sometimes things happen that will come into play later—not the immediate consequence like the broken cell phone in a locked basement. It’s fine.

For example: Sally loses her ID badge; not a big deal in theory. But X# of pages later, we’ll find out the person who stole it, poisoned someone in the office and now Sally is charged with murder. So it works.

The point I’m trying to make is each scene moving into the next should make sense.

Example: Twelve year old Susie loses both her parents in a car accident. The next scene should be the the result of that event:

Susie goes to live with her mean aunt. Or Susie has no extended family and is sent away to boarding school for orphans. Each of these will then lead us to the next thing that happens as we march to the conclusion.

Cause & Effect: Susie lost her parents→She is sent to orphan boarding school→She meets her soul mate/mean girls/an evil spirit→next key plot point the moves the story forward from the loss of her parents, to her new home, to what happens because of those events.

Not: Susie lost her parents in an accident. Susie has always wanted a dog, but she’s allergic.

Starting the Synopsis

You can jump right in, or start with a lead in paragraph. A few sentences that sets the stage, which usually includes the inciting incident. Then begin with the next key plot point.

Done correctly, your synopsis reveals the underlying architecture of your story. It should show not only what happens, but how it happens, allowing an agent or editor to follow the chain of events that drive the story. By the end, they should feel confident that the manuscript delivers on the promise of its premise, and the story holds together.

For those who want to know how to write a synopsis with multiple POVs, I suggest you check that section out in the first article here.

SAMPLE SYNOPSIS

**DETECTIVE MARY SMITH has spent five years trying to solve the murder of her younger sister. When a wealthy philanthropist is found strangled in her own home, Mary notices disturbing similarities to her sister’s murder. Both women had matching ligature marks, and stab wounds. Both bodies were posed in the same manner, and had a piece of jewelry taken. These similarities convince Mary the murders are connected.

While searching the victim’s recently purchased farmhouse, Mary discovers muddy boot prints leading to a hidden basement door. There she finds a bloodstained hunting knife wrapped in a charity volunteer T-shirt. As Mary photographs the evidence, her phone slips from her hand and shatters on the concrete floor. When she tries to leave, she discovers the basement door has been bolted from the outside.

Searching for another way out, Mary uncovers storage boxes containing charity records. The files reveal the victim, Mary’s sister, and three other women who died under suspicious circumstances all volunteered for the same local organization. Hidden among the paperwork is a photograph showing the women standing beside a teenage volunteer Mary recognizes from her sister’s old case file: THOMAS WELLS.

Mary escapes through a coal chute and turns the evidence over to the department. Her captain dismisses the charity connection and orders her to focus on the victim’s husband, who inherited millions upon his wife’s death. Frustrated, Mary takes the charity records to a diner across from police headquarters to review them herself.

Mary places her order and calls the accountant listed in the paperwork who managed the charity’s finances for decades. The accountant identifies Thomas Wells as a volunteer who appeared shortly before several of the women died. He also remembers it was Wells’ mother’s testimony that finally put serial killer JAMES PORTER in prison after Porter raped her twenty-three years ago. This information convinces Mary that Thomas may be the connection between her sister’s murder and the philanthropist’s.

After lunch Mary takes the files to her apartment, and calls a friend in the youth criminal division asking him to look into Thomas. He finds no criminal record, but through an internal inquiry discovers Thomas has been flagged as a known associate of James Porter.

Mary visits Porter in prison. He refuses to discuss Thomas directly but boasts that some people understand his work better than the police ever could. Mary leaves convinced Porter is communicating with someone outside prison.

Before she can gather enough evidence to obtain a warrant, another former charity volunteer is murdered. The victim’s missing necklace matches the pattern from the previous killings. Public pressure mounts, and Mary’s captain removes her from the investigation after learning she has been pursuing leads connected to sister’s cold case.

Ignoring orders, Mary continues digging. Security footage places Thomas Wells’ vehicle near the philanthropist’s farmhouse the night of the murder. Mary breaks into Thomas’s apartment hoping to find enough evidence to reopen the case. She finds receipts showing Thomas had previously rented the farmhouse before it was sold, along with hundreds of letter from James Porter. Behind a false wall she discovers a hidden room containing the missing jewelry from every victim, photographs tracking their daily routines, and her sister’s driver’s license.

Before she can cover her tracks, Thomas returns home and catches Mary inside.

During a violent struggle, Thomas admits that Porter is his biological father, and he is bent on proving Porter’s innocence. Thomas blames his mother for ruining their lives, and says she’s next on his list. Thomas escapes before Mary can stop him. Realizing Thomas is heading for his mother’s house, Mary races there.

Mary arrives to find Thomas strangling his mother in the kitchen with the same braided cord used on the previous victims. Mary grabs a pan from the stove and hits Thomas knocking him unconscious before calling 911 from the kitchen phone.

Thomas is arrested, and a warrant issued to search his apartment. The evidence behind the false wall links him to every murder. Prison correspondence establishes that Porter spent years encouraging Thomas’s obsession, though he never directly ordered the killings. Thomas admits to murdering Mary’s sister first when he was seventeen, then resumed the killings after Porter encouraged him to finish what he started.

Finally having closure on her sister’s death, Mary visits Porter one last time to tell him Thomas has confessed and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

* Always follow the agent guidelines when querying. Some will request a synopsis of 1-2 pages. Some will say up to 5 pages. Some will have single or double spaced requirement. Please follow their format direction.

** First intro of the character will be in all caps. The following mentions will be normal case.

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