Although this chapter really doesn't have anything to do with making your book better, I still believe it to be important. To clarify, the kind of synopsis I am referring to is not the chapter-by-chapter summary that you would sometimes be required to submit to a publishing company; it is what you would find on the back of a book, commonly referred to as a "blurb" on Wattpad.

Anyway, this chapter is included in this book for the same reason as my cover tutorial was: they are both selling points of your story. No one is going to want to read your book if the blurb is no good. Enter me. I'll hopefully be able to impart you with some valuable tips that will stick with you throughout your writing career.

For every story, there are three basic necessities it must include. You should briefly mention the main character (hinting as to their gender and general age, if not telling), the setting of your story (past, present, future, place in your story's world), and the conflict. The last part is the most important and should create the basis of your synopsis. Mention the external conflict, but also hint at an internal struggle or hard choice the main character may have to make to solve that conflict.

Write in third person. Always. You can say "I" all you want but it makes it way harder to get your point across and ends up sounding more like an excerpt from your story versus something you would find on the back of a book. Plus, it gives your character a name.

Make your story sound unique. If you are writing your synopsis and it sounds basically like a million other stories you've read, it's missing something. You have to include an element that will separate it from another story. If you don't, someone will read your blurb and decide to read another story instead that sounds similar. I'm going to give you two examples of a blurb. The first one will be fairly cliché and the second will have a unique twist to it.

Example #1:

Lily has always considered her life to be painstakingly ordinary. She has two loyal best friends, a college degree, and everyone at her high school seems to mind their own business. That is, until the new kid turns up, charming and handsome Adam Robinson. With his glowing smile and natural charisma, he is every girl's dream. Lily's life seems to finally be getting exciting when Adam demonstrates his growing interest in her. Except as their bond deepens, Lily has to ask where their relationship is going and if she is ready for what it may ask of her.

There's my first example. The plot is predictable and I'm fairly certain I've read the story before. Let's see how it could be changed.

Example #2:

Lily has always considered her life to be painstakingly ordinary. She has two loyal best friends, a college degree, and everyone at her high school seems to mind their own business. That is, until the new kid turns up, charming and handsome Adam Robinson. With his glowing smile and natural charisma, he is every girl's dream. Lily's life seems to finally be getting exciting when Adam demonstrates his growing interest in her. Except as their relationship progresses, Lily begins to question what she knows about Adam. After delving into his past life she comes to a shocking realization: Adam isn't who he says he is and his reasons for being with her are far from what she had hoped.

Admittedly not my best work, but I like to see the second synopsis as an improvement from the first. It provides a suggestion of a new kind of conflict, one that doesn't generally grace the genre of teen fiction. That in itself may be enough to pull in more readers than you usually do.

The writing in your synopsis should always be clear and easy to read. Use simple words, nothing elaborate. Using the word "syzygy" in your blurb probably wouldn't be your smartest idea. Likewise, your transitions must be smooth and each idea should flow from one to the other. If your blurb is confusing, people won't want to read the actual story.

Never include spoilers! You can hint at things to come, but revealing your biggest plot twist is probably the worst mistake you could ever make. People want to read your story to be surprised. It will lose all of it's intrigue if you let the readers know the big reveal before the story has even begun. However tempting it is to give a spoiler because you want to prove your story will "get good" or is worth reading, resist.

At the end of the day, you have to be able to pull your readers in. The first way you can do that is by having an intriguing plot but the second thing you have to do is raise questions from your reader's end. Make them wonder about a certain element of your story or how the conflict will be resolved, etc. Once you have an interested reader, your story will do the rest.

A common trend on Wattpad is including an excerpt from their story in addition to, or even in place of, a regular synopsis. Usually the text they choose to include reveals the beginning of their plot or even a climax of sorts. Not only does this spoil the story, but it is inefficient. No one wants to read a wall of dialogue that could be summed up in one or two sentences. So please, don't ever do this. It is much more professional looking and logical to write a summary instead of stealing two or three paragraphs out of your story. That I can promise.

Keep the blurb as short as you can make it. Your synopsis should never exceed half of a page on a word document, and even that is iffy. Only include the barest details that you must include to both hook and inform readers with the information they are required to know for the story ahead. Remember that your blurb shouldn't have any information in it that won't be explained in your story. You shouldn't depend on it for your readers to understand what they are reading.

Keep the characters in your blurb to a minimum. The only characters that should be mentioned are your main character and occasionally one or two other characters directly related to the conflict, such as an antagonist or a love interest in a romance novel. Other than that, it can afford to be left out. Going off of my last point, only include what is necessary and most characters aren't.

In your summary there has to be an emotion, even if it is barely there at all: hope. What that means is that there has to be a suggestion of overcoming the conflict. Otherwise, your readers won't feel inclined to read your story. Believe it or not, but the prospect of doom isn't very attractive to most people.

Usually people read a synopsis to get an idea of what they will be getting themselves into. Part of that is what their emotional state will be during the book. Sometimes they want something more upbeat instead of heavy. They should be able to make a guess as to what the mood will be like. Dark, light, humourous? Make sure your synopsis is consistent in mood with the rest of your story.

Now that my tips are out of the way, I'm going to top off this chapter by giving you some examples of what I consider "effective" blurbs. You can let me know what you think about them in the comments. Please remember that these blurbs have been used in stories before and are covered under copyright. Don't think for a moment that you can get away with stealing either them or their plot.

Example #1:

All Natalie Falls ever wanted was to be loved.

After jumping from foster home to foster home, job to job, it seems like this goal is even further away than she ever imagined. But when a stranger offers her employment in his luxurious mansion she believes that her life may be just beginning to take a turn for the better.

Her sweet haven doesn't last for long, however, when the boss's handsome son, Jem, demands of her the one thing that she vowed never to give. Haunted by her troubling past of seduction and accusation, she is determined to stay true to herself, as she always has been. Yet, Jem is relentless and isn't willing to taking no for an answer. Natalie is determined to continue with her work unscathed, but when Jem catches her in a situation she can't cover up, she is forced to do what he wants, no matter the consequences.

After bending to his will for months, things decide to take a turn for the worst again, but this time Natalie isn't sure that she can get through it, especially since everyone has their own opinions on how she should deal with it and no one seems to care about her. Battling with betrayal, rivalry, and the feelings that clash in her heart, she has to learn how to get past this bump in the road. Will she sacrifice her own happiness for that of someone else or continue fighting for the happy ending she has never known?

Example #2:

Lyra knows that it is a huge honor to be accepted into "The Program", a training camp for gifted teenagers. With all the mystifying deaths happening around the globe by unidentified culprits, it seems as though help from the next generation is more in demand than ever. So when she receives the letter in the mail asking for her help, she is more than willing to oblige.

At the camp, she continues to hear of the "paradise" that only the most talented and resourceful are taken, separated from the rest of the world by a vast and mysterious maze. On her quest to prove that she is one of the "elite", Lyra discovers that the jungle of metal walls and treacherous traps that restrain the outside world from unraveling it's puzzles aren't the only things guarding secrets.

The truth of what waits on the other end may be even more deadly than the labyrinth itself.

Example #3:

During a picnic at her family's farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson witnesses a shocking crime, a crime that challenges everything she knows about her adored mother, Dorothy. Now, fifty years later, Laurel and her sisters are meeting at the farm to celebrate Dorothy's ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this is her last chance to discover the truth about that long-ago day, Laurel searches for answers that can only be found in Dorothy's past. Clue by clue, she traces a secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds thrown together in war-torn London—Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—whose lives are forever after entwined. - "The Secret Keeper"by Kate Morton

Thanks so much for reading this chapter. I truly hope that you enjoyed it! I hope you'll keep reading. This story is nearly finished.