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One important aspect of writing a fantasy novel is to take the whole plot and condense it into a paragraph or page(s). There are two ways to condense the story but they differ from each other in several respects. In this article, we explore synopsis vs. summary and how and when you use them.
Synopsis vs. summary are two methods that while they have similar uses, you use them differently. This can be a bit confusing but it makes sense when you think of it. Essentially the gist of both is that they act as a small preview of what your novel is. If you can easily do so, you have a great idea! If you wind up having difficulties, the plot might be too complicated which means you’ll need to simplify it.
The first method, the synopsis, is a generalized description of the main story. It adds more details to give would-be readers more information about the book. The synopsis can contain more characters, subplots, and so on. As a consequence, it tends to be longer than the summary but it contains more info which is always a plus!
In synopsis vs. summary, the latter provides a brief summary of the main plot. Whenever you’re at the bookstore, looking for a book to read, you read the back cover where a small paragraph or two tell you what it’s about. That’s the summary, though you can sometimes find it inside the jacket of either or both the front and back covers.
When it comes to synopsis vs. summary, some people prefer the first whereas others like the latter when describing what their book is about. But did you know that you don’t actually have to choose one or the other? You can actually use both and doing this will give you more benefits than choosing one of them.
This is the thirty-sixth article in the writing a fantasy book series. For more, check out our blog page. New ones come out every week!
Of the synopsis vs. summary, the former focuses on the salient points of the story. It provides all the essential information from main characters to subplots. Think of it like writing a mini-version of your novel!
What goes in a synopsis? All characters that play a prominent role in the story, the main plot and subplots, the plot twists, and character development are several things to include in it. And yes, it also includes spoilers so prospective readers will have to read at their own risk. It’s essentially an in-depth overview of the tale.
How long should a synopsis be? At bare minimum, it can be just a few paragraphs that cover the important points of the tale. At the other end, it can be a few pages which would make it quite lengthy but chock-full of information!
While the synopsis is mostly used by writers to pitch their books to other writers or agents, it can be considerably quite useful for the person writing his book. It helps you hone on on what matters the most in your novel, whether it be major characters or other plot-lines while taking out those that don’t contribute to it in a meaningful way.
When should you write it? The best time to do it is after you’ve written the first draft of your novel. By that point, you’ve already put in the work and know all the important details such as the major characters or plot twists, thereby making it easier to compile it all in one place.
One important thing to note when writing the synopsis is to write it in a way that spurs people to want to read your book. Writing a humdrum one will make them think your novel is, well, boring. You don’t want all your hard work to go down the drain by penning a dull, uninspiring synopsis, do you? Of course not!
Just remember that even though you’ve written one, you’ll still need to revise it. Ideally, you should do so after you’ve made revisions to your book so that it’s up-to-date.
In synopsis vs. summary, the latter simply features the highlights of the plot. It contains information like the main character(s) and the plot. Not included are other major characters or subplots or anything else.
The summary itself merely provides a broad overview of the story. It doesn’t show plot twists, character development, or dive into any details about the main character or the plot. This is a stark contrast to the synopsis, which typically is overflowing with details.
Unlike the synopsis, the summary is short in length. At its shortest, it can be simply just a few sentences, sometimes in paragraph form or not. It can be as long as a paragraph or two. In other words, it draws its power from simplicity since it is essentially a stripped-down version of a book.
Why would you want to write a summary? It’s a good technique to assess whether your novel is too complicated to describe to either yourself or anyone interested in reading it. If you can explain it easily without losing any of the main points, you’ve done a good job of writing it. On the other hand, should you have trouble, you might need to do a major rewrite to make the story more simple.
The best time to write one is after you’ve written the first draft. Like the synopsis, you already know all the important information so you shouldn’t have any issues in composing a simple summary. If you make any major changes to your book, you’ll need to update the summary as well.
If you opt to write a summary to get would-be readers interested, you need to present it in a way that catches their attention. Give them a good reason why they should read your book instead of someone else’s.
In regard to synopsis vs. summary, you might be asking yourself one question: which one should I use? We’ve explored what each one brings to the table and the easiest answer would be to go with one that works the best for your and your book. A synopsis might work well for one book whereas a summary would suffice for another.
The synopsis works best if you want prospective readers to go in with plenty of information. However, the drawback to going down that route is that the synopsis tends to have spoilers which can potentially ruin a reader’s experience of going in blind. If you go for one, try to keep spoilers to a minimum.
As for synopsis vs. summary, the latter is perfect if you want potential readers to go in without knowing much information about your characters or the story. They get to experience the plot twists without being spoiled which can heighten the experience. The trouble with using a summary is that it provides sparse info which can turn off some readers who’d like to know a little more as they decide whether to buy your book.
There’s no problem with using one over the other as long as it’s the best for your book. But what if you didn’t have to choose one or the other? Suppose you could use both? You might be wondering how that would work.
Believe it or not, you can actually use both and there are advantages to taking this approach. One of the best advantages is that you get to experiment to see which one brings in more readers. Some readers like knowing more before they go in and others like not knowing. You can even use both to target different types of readers!
Another advantage in using both of them is that they’re great promotional tools. If you have social media platforms or are running a promotional campaign for your novel, you can use one on your social media and the other on the campaign and cross-promote them. This can help increase your outreach and reach potential customers.
In terms of synopsis vs. summary, they both describe what your book’s about, albeit in different ways. The former provides a wealth of information as opposed to the latter which gives only the bare essentials. Using either one of them correctly goes a long way in helping bring readers to your book!
While the synopsis contains all the information a discerning would-be reader wants to know, it might give out a tad too much info. For instance, a potential reader might discover things he didn’t want to know while reading it. The best way to circumvent this is to put as few spoilers as possible in the synopsis.
The latter in synopsis vs. summary merely describes only the most important info such as the plot. Using a summary means you don’t run the risk of putting spoilers in which means your readers can go in and enjoy all the ups and downs in your story.
When it comes to synopsis vs. summary, ideally you’d like to go with the one that best fits your book. But did you know that you don’t necessarily have to choose one? You can even use both! Going with both gives you the best of both worlds as you can take advantage of what they have to offer to help reach different types of readers.
The main takeaway from synopsis vs. summary is that regardless of which one you select, the both of them help you describe what your book is about which enables you to focus on writing down the information that actually matters. They’re just two different paths that have the same destination.
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