A story synopsis is not just for script coverage or pitch fests. A story synopsis can be the next step to solidifying your story’s foundation and a successful launch into writing pages.
After a writer has learned the “7-Step Premise Development Process,” the obvious next question is, “What do I do next?” Presumably, you now have at least one workable premise and log line. Even if it is not in the best shape, you have worked the process and know you have a story or a situation, you know the Visible Structure components, you have a working moral component, and you may feel ready to start pages. And you have probably started pages on earlier scripts with a lot less in place than you have now, so where’s the harm, right? The fact is, you could start pages, if you really wanted to. Regardless of how strong or weak your premise line might be, you probably have a stronger foundation now than ever before at this stage of your writing process. While some screenwriters prefer to dive in at this point and get the writing done, I would strongly suggest you wait. There is value in delaying a shift to script pages, and focusing instead on short synopsis writing.
Screenwriters are familiar with synopses, as are novelists. But few screenwriters see synopses as part of the development process. Synopses are meant for readers, or agents, or producers that you are trying to pitch for a job or a sale. Or they are meant for script submission websites, where you upload your script for social networking, crowdfunding, or script competition purposes (e.g., Amazon Studio, The Black List, or contest sites). All these, and more, can be leveraged by a good synopsis, but a synopsis can also be powerful next step in your script’s development.
I should mention here that many screenwriters, when they get to this point in the development process, rely on a tried-and-true method for breaking out their stories: the index card method. There are many books and Internet resources that detail how to use this method of script outlining. I use it myself and love it. Basically, you take a standard index card and write a slug line at the top to identify what scene you are in, and then add a short few sentences under the slug line describing the action of the scene, and maybe a line or two of important dialogue that might happen in the scene. You do this for every scene in your script and then arrange them in order on a corkboard using pins to hold the cards in place. You can then rearrange, delete, or add to the cards as required to get the perfect flow and pace of scenes. This is an incredibly low-tech tool, and one of the best screenwriting (or novel-writing) tools you could imagine. While you could ignore all other solutions, including synopsis writing, and just jump right into using index cards, I recommend you first do a short synopsis, for the following three reasons:
Any smart screenwriter knows that in the 21st century to have a viable career as a writer, he or she needs to be writing in multiple platforms across different industries. The days of “just being a novelist,” or “just being a screenwriter” are over. A synopsis for the New York Times bestselling novel Pictures of You, by Caroline Leavitt, is included in Appendix B. The format is different from screenplay synopses, but it is instructive and worth reviewing, especially if you are considering branching out into writing novels or adapting your unproduced scripts (which I highly recommend).
The short synopsis is your first opportunity to translate your premise line into a real narrative. If you can get the flow of the synopsis to reflect the structure of your hard-won premise line, then you know you have hit your mark and are on solid ground. If the synopsis doesn’t come easily, or feels forced to write (based on your premise line), then one of two things is happening: the premise line is wrong, or you are focusing on minutia and not on the big-picture story structure that tells the story. You will readily see, given your experience now with premise development and your understanding of the Invisible Structure, whether it is the former problem or the latter.
We will assume that the premise is in good shape. The idea now is to break out the structure of your story into a more determined form, i.e., to make it more visible. To do this, you will need to use the second structure you need to tell a story: the Visible Structure. The Invisible Structure revealed the core structure of your story, and you used the “Anatomy of a Premise Line” template tool to map that Invisible Structure into a usable and practical form, i.e., the premise line.
The synopsis is a more detailed expression of the Visible Structures of your story. So, to realize this in an actual narrative you have to know what you’re looking for. You have to create actual scenes that illustrate all of the structure components held within your premise line. The job now is to expand and unpack the riches held within your incredible premise line. To facilitate this process, you can use the “Short Synopsis Worksheet (blank)” (see Appendix A for the hard copy or Appendix C for the website where you can download the electronic version). It walks you through each of these Visible Structure components in the context of your premise line, and then prompts you to come up with actual scenes illustrating them in action. This is challenging but critical as a first step in writing your script. All this story structure, premise writing, and synopsis writing are designed to get you into a space where you trust your story and its flow so that you are not writing blind. Imagine starting pages and never having any of this premise and structure work under your belt. You would almost certainly be lost in the woods after the first fifty pages.
Beginning a synopsis can be as intimidating as starting your script pages. Many a time I have found myself staring at the blank page, unable to write, my head so filled with first sentences that I couldn’t decide which to write down. Writer’s block for some—but not really. As you will learn in the very last chapter in this book, writer’s block is a myth and doesn’t exist, but the experience of it can seem real enough. The solution—the breaking of the “block”—lies in falling back on craft, and specifically your knowledge of story structure. That is what gave birth to the synopsis-writing process I am showing you below.
There are four forms used for this exercise. These can all be downloaded from the e-Resources/Companion website URL listed in Appendix C. They are also listed in hard copy form in Appendix A and B.
Short Synopsis Worksheet (blank): This form can be used to kick-start your short synopsis writing process. It walks you through a detailed list of questions, helping you brainstorm key scenes and story milestones that can assist you in fleshing out the first pass of your short synopsis. This form emphasizes the Visible Structure components of the premise process. This is found in Appendix A.
Short Synopsis Worksheet Example: This form shows you a sample worksheet filled in with all the story detail needed to generate a short synopsis from a sample script, Green Gloves. This is found in Appendix B.
Full Short Synopsis Example: This is an actual short synopsis of the Green Gloves script, developed from the “Short Synopsis Worksheet Example” of that story. This document demonstrates how the worksheet data is translated into a real narrative. This is found in Appendix B.
Full Short Synopsis Example with Notes: This is the short synopsis of Green Gloves with annotations in the right margin illustrating exactly where text corresponds to the “Short Synopsis Worksheet.” This is found in Appendix B.
As you fill out your blank worksheet, you will use everything you have developed to this point to take the next step and begin the actual narrative of your story. If you feel blocked, fear not—the Invisible and Visible Structures, and the supplied worksheets, will come to the rescue. Even if you can’t fill the form out exactly, the questions asked on the “Short Synopsis Worksheet” will get you thinking structurally about how to write your story, and guide you through some of the main story milestones every synopsis needs. The important point to remember is to try to come up with actual scenes that reflect each of the premise line clauses. These scenes are the “stuff” that will make your synopsis a story and not just an intellectual exercise filling in blanks on a form. Try for two to three scenes per clause and try to have them be visual scenes that show in action the Visible Structure elements related to that clause. The scenes don’t have to be in any order here, and you don’t have to do three, but you need enough to fuel 3–6 pages of narrative. Be careful not to get caught up in descriptions, minutiae, irrelevant filler like backstory, etc. Just address the Visible Structure components in action scenes between characters. It may be helpful for you to take some time and review the synopsis example document and the “Short Synopsis Worksheet Example” in Appendix B. They will show you how the worksheet relates to an actual synopsis narrative, or you can just dive in and begin.
The form is broken into four sections, one for each of the four premise clauses: protagonist clause, team goal clause, opposition clause, and dénouement clause. Each section prompts you for specific Visible Structure data that can help you connect your narrative dots and flesh out the story structurally. Again, this isn’t about getting into the minutiae of every scene, but only the big-picture story beats needed to tell the story. If you don’t feel confident identifying what a “big-picture story beat” is, don’t worry. This is a craft skill that comes with time and experience. The more you do, the easier it will become.
When Belfast heavyweight contender MICKEY KERRY, obsessed with becoming the Northern Ireland Area Heavyweight champ, is approached by reigning champ BARNEY WILSON for a title fight, Mickey joins with BEN, his manager, to secretly prepare for the fight of his life, hiding the truth of his terminal illness from everyone, while trying to set his wife JANE up in her own business so she and Mickey Jr. won’t be homeless when he dies. Jane discovers Mickey’s scheme and kicks him out, turning to a potential suitor, INIS, who is ready to step in and replace Mickey. When Mickey loses the Wilson fight, he is exposed as a liar, and in desperation arranges a winner-take-all bout with his worst nemesis, knowing it will lead to his death—he wins the fight, wins back Jane, and saves his family from ruin, after buying Jane her dream sandwich shop—only to succumb to his illness on Boxing Day, 1967, after spending the best Christmas of his life with his family.
Write the “Protagonist” clause (Character-Constriction: Protagonist-Moral Component):
When Belfast heavyweight contender MICKEY KERRY, obsessed with becoming the Northern Ireland Area Heavyweight champ, is approached by reigning champ BARNEY WILSON for a title fight…
Constricting Event (moves them from life line to action line):
Moral Blind Spot:
Belief Under the Blind Spot:
Immoral Effect (show in action):
Scenes:
Scene 1: Constricting Event (Call to Action/Key Incident/Inciting Incident/Whatever):
Scene 2: Moral Blind Spot Revealed (the moment we first see the blind spot appear)
Scene 3: Immoral Effect in Action (in addition to the reveal in scene 2)
Write the “Team Goal” clause (Desire-Relationship: Chain of Desire-Focal Relationship):
Mickey joins with Ben, his manager, to secretly prepare for the fight of his life, hiding the truth of his terminal illness from everyone, while trying to set his wife Jane up in her dream business so she and little Mickey Jr. won’t be homeless when he dies…
Chain of Desire (Overall goal and smaller “link” goals supporting the overall goal, if you know them):
Focal Relationship or Teaming (Who’s spending the most time with the protagonist during the middle of the story?):
Scenes:
Scene 1: Overall Goal Revealed
Scene 2: Focal Relationship Established
Write the “Opposition” clause (Adventure-Resistance: Opposition-Plot & Momentum):
…until Jane discovers Mickey’s scheme and kicks him out, turning to a potential suitor, INIS, who is ready to step in and replace Mickey. When Mickey loses the Wilson fight, he is exposed as a liar…
Who is the opponent/antagonist?
What is at stake at the midpoint overall?
What is at stake for the protagonist at midpoint?
What is the Doom Moment (at about 3/4-way through the story)?
Scenes:
Scene 1: Introduction of Opponent/Main Antagonist
Scene 2: Midpoint Stakes (overall stakes rise)
Scene 3: Midpoint Stakes (protagonist’s stakes rise)
Scene 4: Doom Moment
Write the “Dénouement” clause (Adventure-Change: Plot & Momentum-Evolution-de-Evolution):
…and in desperation arranges a winner-take-all bout with his worst nemesis, O’Reily, knowing it will lead to his death—he wins the fight, wins back Jane, and saves his family from ruin, after buying Jane her dream sandwich shop—only to succumb to his illness on Boxing Day, 1967, after spending the best Christmas of his life with his family.
How does the protagonist change (what does he learn about his moral blind spot)?
Final resolution with main antagonist (and minor opposition)
Protagonist’s change in action (how is he/she going to act differently now?)
Scenes:
Scene 1: How the protagonist changes.
Scene 2: What does the final confrontation look like?
Scene 3: How does the protagonist’s change show itself in action in the end?
This is how you fill out the “Short Synopsis Worksheet.” You should be able to see how this form will help you take your high-level premise line and begin to break it out into scene-specific story beats that can eventually inform all your further development efforts, be they index cards or pages themselves. After you work on this form and get it into shape, once you feel ready to tackle the actual synopsis, then you translate all this story data into narrative.
Review the “Full Short Synopsis Example with Notes” in depth, as it shows you (in the right column comments) how to tie the content back to the work you did on the “Short Synopsis Worksheet.” Here are some key points to keep in mind as you expand your worksheet into a full-fledged synopsis:
What follows next are the first couple of pages of the Green Gloves full short synopsis. The full synopsis is included in the appendix for reference. Once again, you can compare the worksheet example above with the “Full Short Synopsis Example with Notes” and look at the right column comments to find where they correspond back to this sample. This will be very instructive for how to flow your own content. Notice that not all the correspondences are sequential in the text. Meaning, some of it gets a bit out of sync in terms of the linear progression on the worksheet. This is fine; I don’t want you blindly following the list of “to-dos” on the worksheet and just plopping them in sequence into the synopsis. Make the prose flow; let it be natural. Tell the story. This is actually the time to do creative writing and stop all the process-procedure, seven-step this and seven-step that stuff. Now you get to write!
Project: Green Gloves, (screenplay by Jeff Lyons)
Genre: Family Drama, Sports (Boxing)
Type: Short Synopsis
A 1960s Irish heavyweight contender, with a terminal illness, fights one last bout to save his family from ruin, knowing the fight will kill him.
When Belfast heavyweight contender MICKEY KERRY, obsessed with becoming the Northern Ireland Area Heavyweight champ, is approached by reigning champ BARNEY WILSON for a title fight, Mickey joins with BEN, his manager, to secretly prepare for the fight of his life, hiding the truth of his terminal illness from everyone while trying to set his wife JANE up in her own business so she and Mickey Jr. won’t be homeless when he dies. Jane discovers Mickey’s scheme and kicks him out, turning to a potential suitor, INIS, who is ready to step in and replace Mickey. When Mickey loses the Wilson fight, he is exposed as a liar, and in desperation arranges a winner-take-all bout with his worst nemesis, knowing it will lead to his death—he wins the fight, wins back Jane, and saves his family from ruin, after buying Jane her dream sandwich shop—only to succumb to his illness on Boxing Day, 1967, after spending the best Christmas of his life with his family.
ANCIENT ARENA—A boxing match is underway in the style of the first Olympics: naked, brutal, bloody, to the death. MELANKEMOS, “The Untouched Boxer,” fights a bloody, broken fighter. The broken boxer is unrecognizable. Melankemos benevolently looks down on the broken boxer, who now takes on a recognizable face, MICKEY KERRY. Mickey looks up to Melankemos in fear. He hears the crowd shouting for Melankemos to end it. Melankemos looks down to Mickey silently as if to ask, “Ready?” Mickey hesitates and then nods, yes. Melankemos smiles, but not malevolently; mercifully, as he raises his fist. The arena grows silent. Only the wind can be heard. Mickey closes his eyes. Melankemos’s fist moves rapidly in to strike him.
BELFAST, IRELAND 1967—MICKEY KERRY comes to on the mat, waking from being knocked out. He’s in a fight with Rufus Bigalow, a fight Mickey intends to win. Determined, he gets back up and makes short work of Bigalow, to the crowd’s delight, flashing his trademark green boxing gloves. Mickey’s wife, JANE, finds it hard to be upbeat about the win; she’s tired of the fight game and wants him to quit. During the post-fight party, Jane reminds him of their deal. If after ten years he was not world champ, he would hang up his gloves and they would live a normal life; well, ten years are up. Jane expects him to abide by their agreement.
After the party, Mickey drives Jane past her dream location for a small sandwich shop she wants to open, and she gets very wistful about “dreams coming true.” They both know the store is beyond their means to buy, but keeping this dream alive helps deflect Jane away from Mickey’s fight ambitions, so he doesn’t discourage her dreaming, in fact, he makes a strong suggestion she should expect a miracle.
Visiting his doctor, Mickey pees red into a cup. His doctor tells him he’s got months to live if he keeps fighting; years if he quits and settles down. Mickey knows no one would fight him if they knew he was terminally ill, so he decides to hide the truth from everyone, including Jane and his manager, BEN. He’s not sure what to do: fight or give up.
But when Barney Wilson’s team approaches Ben and Mickey about a possible title fight, all bets are off for Mickey; he makes his choice at last.
(The entire synopsis can be found in Appendix B, “Examples.”)
Synopsis writing can be the next step in your development process, after the premise and log lines have been created. You don’t have to do synopsis writing next, but I highly recommend it, as it informs all your other writing and development efforts, and gives you a useful promotion tool—before you have a final draft.