Do you know how to write a plot synopsis for your novel? I’ll share what I learned in the second WLT 2025 Agent Symposium supplemental presentation, “Writing a Plot Synopsis without Losing Your Mind” with Amy Collins, Talcott Notch Literary.

Amy crammed a lot of information into the one-hour session. Here are my many takeaways:

1. Women’s fiction is now called Upmarket.
2. A plot synopsis is a 1 to 3-page document that you send along with your query letter to get an agent.
3. A synopsis also doubles as an industry document that the publisher, editor, and sales reps all use to help sell your book.
4. There is no such thing as a spoiler in a plot synopsis. Tell the beginning, the middle, and the ending.
5. A plot synopsis is not sales copy or a jacket blurb.
6. Just hit the highlights. Don’t cram everything about your story into the synopsis. Avoid saying and then, and then, and then.
7. Tell the story of your story. Describe your plot, don’t explain your plot.
8. Go through your draft to make sure you have addressed these questions:
   • Did you write the plot synopsis in the third person?
   • Set up the conflict and stakes?
   • Walk through the story mentioning the biggest turning points?
   • Did you show how the protagonist evolves and how the antagonist ends up?
9. You can either write your main plot from beginning to end or follow your main character from beginning to end. Don’t mix.
10. Include key characters, not side characters. If the crazy aunt or plucky best friend is not in one of the three main plot points, don’t include it.

Bonus takeaway: Her system for writing a synopsis involves writing the answers to these questions on note cards (or sticky notes, paper, etc.). Only write a sentence or two.

1. Who’s your main character? Include two to three characteristics that make them interesting.
2. What is the situation they are in when we meet them? (ex: out of work and single, on a ship, madly in love)
3. Who and where is the main character at the end of the book?
4. Choose one plot moment that is responsible for your MC becoming the main character at the end. (it could be the inciting incident, but not always. It could be something that happened before)
5. Name another important plot moment that is responsible for the main character’s change.
6. Now name a third.
7. Who or what is their biggest antagonist/enemy? (Bad guy, nemesis, issue (unemployment, climate change, religion), institution (church), etc.)
8. Who or what do they think is their biggest antagonist/enemy? If you have a red herring, include it.
9. What specific choices do they make? (you can put this on more than one card). Do they have agency or are they being swept along by the plot?
10. What happens to the real enemy? How do they end up?
11. Write down one (only one) major plot point you haven’t mentioned yet.

When you are done, move the cards around to create an outline to start telling the story. Write a first draft. Include descriptions only if important. Spend the next week revising. Wait a few days. Revise and get feedback. Ask your readers if they had questions, if any part confuse them, and if there was any part where they got bored or skimmed through.

The ten-month Writers League of Texas (WLT) virtual agent symposium included three package-only presentations. Learn about the upcoming WLT 2025 Agent Symposium sessions.