Synopsis Maker Online

🙌 Synopsis Maker: 5 Benefits

1. It was specially created to create the best synopses. In the first place, it refers to literary and fictional works, but the synopsis maker is also helpful with academic summary assignments.
2. It is really fast. Insert the text into the respective field, add several adjustments, and press the “Summarize” button. Et voilà, the result!
3. Additional features that make the synopsis maker stand out from other summarizing software. For example, you can opt to highlight the keywords (and change them if you have better variants).
4. It is free to use as many times as you need. We won’t charge you anything even after the 100^th time you create a synopsis with our tool.
5. We don’t ask our users to register. We believe it is an unnecessary complication that wastes their precious time. Whoever enters the link can use the summarizing tool straight away.

🔰 What Is a Synopsis & When Is It Needed?

A synopsis (Greek: syn – together and opsis – seeing) is an explanation of the plot. It mentions the central characters and states how the narrative ends. It summarizes what happens in fiction or movie and specifies how characters change by the end of the plot.

The 2 principal characteristics of synopsis are:

• Its length,
• The number of details.

They depend on the purpose of writing. For instance, you can be assigned a resume at school to check how familiar you are with the book on the curriculum. You can as well write it in the framework of a literary analysis or a full-scale research paper. All these types of synopses will be brief.

Authors write long synopsis when they bring their texts to a publishing house for print approval. Thus, it is unlikely you’ll have to prepare one during your education years.

Synopsis: Tone & Format

Tone	Be neutral and business-like. It is not a creative paper or work of fiction. Your job is to convey what happens in the book and with who. Neither is it a blurb or book store advertisement, so don’t try to “sell” the author or their work.
Point of view	Regardless of the original point of view of the text, always write your synopsis in the third person (omniscient).
Length	A synopsis for a publishing house should be up to 500 words or two pages. For academic purposes, this word count is usually much shorter. In any case, follow your teacher’s instructions.
Format	If the task does not require otherwise, use regular fonts (Times New Roman or Arial), standard margins (not less than 1 inch from all sides), and 1.5 line spacing. Use bold to introduce the characters for easier navigation. You can also put the age of the characters in brackets when mentioning them for the first time.
Abstract	When the synopsis is long (for example, when you write it for a publisher), it is a good practice to add several lines in the beginning, summarizing your piece. Include the most intriguing fictional events here.

👣 How to Make a Synopsis

Step 0: Read the Book / Watch the Movie

This step is unnecessary if you are the author. But when writing a synopsis of another person’s creation, you should read or watch the original several times.

If you write a synopsis of your own work, the only preliminary work you should do is to complete the writing. Thus, you will have a finalized picture of the events.

Note: Below, you will find the process of writing a detailed synopsis. For shorter versions, it would be much simpler.

Step 1: Outline the Synopsis

Outlining should take place during the second (and any subsequent) reading or watching. As a result, you will obtain the list of characters, plot structure, and the set of unique features.

1. Prepare the list of characters.

Books like A Song of Ice and Fire are the most challenging for a synopsis writer, not just because they are long. They have so many characters it becomes impossible to narrow your choice down to a half-a-dozen. The best way to sift out secondary actors is to determine who develops the plot and who stands in their way.

Still, most works of fiction won’t be as complicated in terms of their characters. As a rule, you’ll have:

• One protagonist;
• Their love interest(s);
• One villain;
• Their accomplice(s).

If you’ve spotted these 4+ people, accept our congratulations. The work is done.

2. Note down the structure.

Almost any fictional work follows a typical dramatic structure. You can use it for any synopsis, whether a book or a movie, regardless of the final text length.

A standard dramatic structure usually includes 5 elements:

1. Exposition;
2. Rising action;
3. Climax;
4. Falling action;
5. Resolution.

But you may prefer a different way of structuring the synopsis. Mind that it will leave you less freedom in the resulting word count. In general, this approach is efficient only for a detailed overview.

• If it is a novel or memoir: summarize each chapter in a sentence or two.
• If it is a play: write down the significant events of each act.
• If it is a short story collection: identify the central theme of each piece.

3. Identify what is unique about the book.

This point is all about the stylistic experiments of the original author and their favorite literary devices. Here’s a brief list of examples you might use here:

• A non-trivial point of view;
• A mysterious plot twist;
• An unexpected ending or its absence;
• An out-of-the-box approach to a popular theme.

Step 2: Draft the Text

1. Start with introducing the main characters. Provide the initial setting in a couple of phrases and mention what the protagonist was doing when we meet them first (if it is an important detail). Describe the other characters in relation to the first one and according to their emergence in the text.
2. Summarize the plot. If you were a good student and didn’t skip the “Outlining” step, you have a ready-made structure at hand now. Add the crucial facts, particularly the most significant obstacles on the protagonist’s way to happiness (or wherever they might go). No matter how exciting they might seem, don’t mention any subplots, dialogues, or characters’ observations.
3. Write the resolution. Do you like reading spoilers while watching a TV show? It is the shortest and the most appealing part of any synopsis. Just say who the murderer is.
4. Describe the protagonist’s development (optional).Fictional authors adore bringing their characters through hardships to show how they’ve changed over time. You can mention these dynamics in the end or throughout the plot description.

Step 3: Edit Your Synopsis

1. Check the formatting. Both publishers and professors will provide you with a detailed list of formatting requirements. They vary depending on the company or institution, so you’ll have to adapt to every particular case.
2. Delete any emotional writing. No phrases like “a heart-breaking scene” or “a stunning plot twist” are allowed. Only facts will do here. Edit your text to make the synopsis look professional.
3. Proofread the synopsis. Let’s admit it: most of us ignore this step. Online grammar corrector is usually applied by default when using a synopsis maker. In all the other cases, you’ll have to check the grammar, punctuation, word choice, and other dull things by hand.

📌 Synopsis Maker FAQ

Updated: Apr 19th, 2024

🔗 References

1. How to Write an Incredible Synopsis in 4 Simple Steps
2. What Is a Novel Synopsis? 2 Examples of Novel Synopses
3. 8 Steps to Getting to Know How to Summarize a Book – Medium
4. Definition and Examples of a Written Summary of Text
5. Dramatic Plot Structure