So yesterday I had the pleasure of writing a one-page synopsis for a client of mine. I say pleasure because I love to play with words. I love the challenge of taking strings of sentences and cutting them down to something shorter. Of course, this is part of the fun of screenwriting - the economy of words. We get to try and say what would take a normal person (screenwriters aren't normal right?) 100 words to say, and do it in 17. Oh, the fun.
But doing it in your screenplay is one thing. We all grow and learn and challenge ourselves daily to go in and make lines shorter, cut dialogue so it moves better, cut action to be as fast as possible. And we enjoy it, or at least we should, or we are doing the wrong thing.
But how do you go about cutting your entire world of story and characters down to a one-page synopsis of about 600-700 words. It's a chore. And not a fun one. How do we decide what to put in there and what to leave out? It is always a difficult choice and it is hard to always pick the right ones. There are two things that I suggest you keep in mind when trying to get a selling synopsis together that manages to make the magic of the script come alive on that page:
1) Have someone else write it for you. We all have writing colleagues. When you do a script swap, you can easily ask each other to write up a synopsis for each other as well as feedback. The reason this can help, at least as a rough draft option, is that you get to see what a person on the outside of your script world (because admit it, we become part of that world and we have to fight to get out) felt and saw and focused on in your script. This can be an invaluable tool for seeing the story points that really make the screenplay work. You can then take this document and toy and play and make sure it hits all the marks you want it to.
2) Write it yourself through your tears. This is always hard. And of course it is, you have so many favorite aspects of your script and you want them all to stand out and be seen. But the synopsis is about selling the concept and characters and twists and turns and emotional highs and lows. You need to start it off with your main character and who they are and the world they are in. You then tell us what happens to them to push them out of their comfort zone. You then want to tell us a few things that happen as obstacles that present danger or comedy or heartbreak. You want to give us that rock bottom moment and tell us how your hero/heroine is going to rise above and put themselves in a place where they will overcome all odds... or not. And that RIGHT THERE is the trick. You want to sell them on your story and characters and unique view on the world. But don't just throw the money shot at them. Leave them wondering, give them something to think about, something to want. A synopsis is the perfect sales letter; more important than the pitch, as it gives them a little tidbit, a morsel to salivate over and yearn to know where the story ends - if you do it right. Because if you give it all away, then why do they even have to read the script?
The thing to remember is that you want to make sure your unique voice as a writer comes through in your synopsis; that we can feel your characters and world and want to fall into that world and spend time with those people.
Easy, right? Good luck.
Now go... and Write Hard!
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