A Writing Tip for Talking about your Book

If you’re like me, then you dread the question, “What’s your book about?”

It’s not that I don’t know what my book is about. That would be silly. I’ve just spent years writing this story. These characters are my friends. How could I not know? The problem is that I know my book too well. How could I possibly reduce the story to just a few sentences? Instead of telling people what my book is about, I get caught up in the metaphors and the images and the importance of what I’m trying to say. But that’s not what they’re asking. They’re trying to get a grasp on what I mean when I say, “I wrote a book.” They’re trying to step into my world a little bit, so they need the reader’s digest version. In other words, they need the synopsis.

I would suggest writing three different versions of your synopsis.

1. Start with the tag-line synopsis. As our friend, Paula LaRocque, says in her work, The Book on Writing: the Ultimate Guide to Writing Well, “Find your exact focus or theme by reducing the main point of the whole project to one sentence. Identify the string that ties everything together.”

For Dance With Me, this is the sentence:
Dance With Me is about the everyday phantoms—absent parents, imaginary friends, unrequited love, and unspoken words—and how Charlie uses literary prose to come to terms with them.

For this exercise, it may also help to liken your novel to other recognizable books out there. I’ve heard of books described as “Harry Potter without the wizardry,” main characters described as “part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew, and part Dirty Harry,” and subject material described as “bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse-Five,” “reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale,” “mixes humor and supernatural like Harry Potter, Buffy, X-Men,” and “Pop your favorite Agatha Christie whodunnit into a blender with a scoop of Dowtown Abbey, a dash of Quantum Leap, and a liberal sprinkling of Groundhog Day.”

I could use some work here as well, but for Dance With Me, I often use words like, “coming of age” and “classic high school experiences” to situate people in my universe.

2. Then, write the full synopsis. A synopsis is a full account of your novel. It includes all the twists and turns and surprise endings. It shows the arcs of all major characters and relationships. It shows the bones of your plot. Shoot for a synopsis of 500 words. But just as in your shitty first draft, don’t feel constrained by the 500 words. Start by moving through every scene in your book and writing down every key moment. This will be well over the 500 word count, so don’t worry. Once you have your first draft done, start paring down the sentences and getting rid of what isn’t “your story” until you have something around 500 words.

I won’t bore you with my version of this, but you can find some very good ones online! If you’re really interested, email me, and I would be happy to supply.

3. Next, write the short synopsis that would accompany your book when publishing, usually placed on the dust jacket or back cover. This is a 100-300 word summary of your story that is used to entice readers to make the purchase. It highlights the juicy parts of your novel; it hooks the reader to keep reading. If your Title and Front Cover are what first catches the reader’s eye, then it’s the short synopsis and first line that seal the deal.

For Dance With Me, this is the short synopsis:
When my dad died, I didn’t know my mom was going to leave me, too. It hurt like hell to lose him, but didn’t she know we could get through this together? I survived by dancing and reading. That is, until the Underground Poet left me a riddle straight from the pages of my favorite book. Suddenly, I was awake and excited. What was he trying to say and how would I reply? I know it seems crazy to fall for someone that I’ve never actually met, but he feels more real to me than the people I spend all my time with. For the first time in my life, it feels like I’m not so alone. Like he has offered me his hand and I’m accepting the next steps of the dance. Would you have done the same?

Now review. Do each of these synopses sound like the story you are trying to tell? What has gotten lost in the weeds? Is a character you thought was important not even mentioned here? Is your protagonist coming through clearly? Is this a story you want to read? What work do you need to do to make sure it is?

As you work through each of these synopses, you will gain a stronger sense of your novel and, hopefully, even feel a little more comfortable responding to people when they ask you what your book is about.