Synopsis Question...

[artisaninexile]

I've finally made it through the brainstorming that I needed to do for my pitch to Tokyopop, and now I'm organizing and penning it, but I'm having trouble with the synopsis. Not necessarily wording, but content.

Do I just give the general idea of the story?
The general idea of the story set to the story arch? (Since they want us pen a story arch for 3 novels.)
Or a synopsis of each novel?

[kamikaze]

I would give a short synopsis on the idea of the story in general, then tell a little about each arch. Make the synopsis to the point.

[Papercuts!]

I've finally made it through the brainstorming that I needed to do for my pitch to Tokyopop, and now I'm organizing and penning it, but I'm having trouble with the synopsis. Not necessarily wording, but content.

Do I just give the general idea of the story?
The general idea of the story set to the story arch? (Since they want us pen a story arch for 3 novels.)
Or a synopsis of each novel? I've found that you should tell them the entire story as quickly and succinctly as possible. But before you do that, start it off with the "high concept" -- "It's Pirates of the Carribean meets Clerks."

The other surefire method to start off with is to boil it down to it's general nuts and bolts concept -- "This is the story about a man who loves a woman who's doomed to die." And THEN get into your story synopsis.

Hope that helps.

[Eric Palicki]

I've found that you should tell them the entire story as quickly and succinctly as possible. But before you do that, start it off with the "high concept" -- "It's Pirates of the Carribean meets Clerks."

The other surefire method to start off with is to boil it down to it's general nuts and bolts concept -- "This is the story about a man who loves a woman who's doomed to die." And THEN get into your story synopsis.

Hope that helps.

I agree with Papercuts! Broadly speaking, although as a matter of personal preference, I prefer the second method to the 'high concept' (It's ____ meets _____.) Try boiling the story down to a single sentence, if you can (and you should) and go from there. A snippet of dialogue that encapsulates the story also works well, I find.

Better yet, try to boil the story down to two sentences; one outlining your plot and the other outlining theme. Then spend a paragraph or two explaining how theme and plot are intertwined.

Think of it as if you're writing an essay. That first sentence - the one that encapsulates your story so succinctly - serves the same purpose as a thesis statement, and then everything that comes after should support that thesis.

For example:

DIE, NAZIS, DIE* is a tragic story of love and revenge set against the backdrop of Berlin in the days leading up to, and during, the Second World War. After young Jonas loses his true love, Esther, to the horrors of the Final Solution, he takes up arms against Hitler's regime, assuming the mantle of the masked hero, SWASTIKILLER.

Swastikiller's exploits pit him against the Nazis at every turn, and our hero meets with varying degrees of success, even as the SS discovers his identity and threatens to raise the stakes even further. Jonas' struggles against the Nazis culminate in a climactic showdown during the Battle of the Bulge, in which Jonas plays a vital role in assuring an Allied victory in Europe.



There. That tells an entire story in half a dozen sentences, and it includes all the vital information: Theme (love and revenge), Plot (vigilantism in Nazi Germany), Setting (Germany, WWII), as well as the major players, their motivations, and the climax of the story. Fewer than six sentences, and yet you could surely turn this into an ongoing series.

Also, keep in mind that a synopsis/pitch should never take the place of the script or finished project. It merely needs to generate enough interest in the script of finished project.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

*Copyright (c) Eric Palicki 2006. All Rights Reserved.

[martin993]

Did you just make that up or is that an actual comic book you've done? That sounds ace!

I guess you just proved your point with the whole synopsis thing. I'm sold.