User blog:DJay32/On Writing Synopses

A synopsis is a brief summary of a work's plot, condensing the content into a form from which any reader can easily grasp the meaning.

A synopsis generally goes in the first heading on a blog's article unless you had years of research put into your blog's development, in which case your first heading would be "Background," followed by "Synopsis" or "Summary" or "Plot."

A synopsis ideally conveys the rough idea of "what happened" in your story in as few words as possible. For practice, try to describe your blog's plot in one sentence. If that really doesn't cut it, try it in two. If not that, try it in three. Keep practicing until you either can get it in one sentence or have a blog where there's more than one central conflict.

"Wait, DJay. Does my synopsis really only have to be one sentence?"

No, that's just for practice. But for the sake of aesthetics and coherency, try to shoot for a paragraph or two. Hey, if I can describe Rapture's plot in a paragraph, I can guarantee you can describe yours in as few words as well.

"Surely there are exceptions to this."

Yeah, heh, there are plenty. Just because a synopsis ideally consists of as few words as possible doesn't mean yours should. But try to watch yourself when you're writing out a summary; sometimes we basically end up telling our stories all over again. A synopsis is not your opportunity to convince us to read your story. A synopsis is entirely here so we don't have to skim through your blog to find out who the main characters are, what their struggle is, and how that goes for them.

And please for the love of chips don't get descriptive in your synopses. Again, a synopsis is not your opportunity to convince us to read your story. The Wiki is not about that. The Wiki is an objective resource for the Fear Mythos.

While writing your synopsis, ask yourself these questions:
 * Is this piece of information vital to understanding the story?
 * Does this feel like it's being written by someone who isn't the author of the story?
 * Is this line trying to make this character look good or bad to the audience?
 * Do I need to mention every Fear that's in the story?
 * And remember: You don't even have to write a synopsis! Oftentimes a blog can be accurately summed up in the opening paragraphs, sometimes even opening lines of an article.

Here are some examples of synopses:
 * Citizen Kane: Journalists look into the life of a newspaper tycoon to try and decipher his dying words, only to find no concrete answers, just a lot of clues to an empty life filled with riches but not enough love.
 * War and Peace : Four Russian aristocratic families develop over the course of the Napoleonic War, illustrating author Tolstoy's opposition to the historical Great Man theory.
 * Homestuck: Eight kids and the aliens they meet play a video game in attempt to give birth to a new universe but accidentally get drawn into a nefarious plot with the summoning of a demon and are forced to rethink their life choices.
 * Grand Theft Auto V: A young man attempts to break out of his criminal environment, only to get involved with a formerly-retired criminal and his extremely dangerous old friend. Together, they try to make it out of a hyperbolic post-crash America with some money to spare.
 * Moominpappa at Sea : A happy family goes on a trip to an isolated island to satisfy their father's midlife crisis and finds themselves losing their nerves as their father becomes obsessed with the sea.
 * Mephi: A shy woman becomes a time-travelling Lovecraftian horror and loses herself in the process.

Notice how only one of those had two sentences (and really, I probably could have worded it in one if I wasn't half-asleep)? Yet in most cases you can get a sharp idea of where the story is generally going to go just from there. I don't even have to put that in Citizen Kane you find an empty answer to the meaning of the tycoon's dying words, or that in GTA V the protagonists ultimately succeed (well, if you choose the right ending, but that's touching more on the theme of the thing and this is not the post for that). You can usually get a good idea of these things without being told them, because twist endings for the sake of twist endings are cheap and good art uses cathartic endings. But again, this is not the post for that.

Just. Please, take from this post what you will. I just hope it's helpful in some way.