If you can’t write a concise synopsis, your novel’s not ready. Once upon a time I wrote a novel. I tried writing a synopsis to send along with my query letters, but I had a difficult time with it and I never finished. At first, I thought: Who cares? What’s so important about a synopsis anyway? It’s the story that counts. So I queried only agents who didn’t require a synopsis. Know what happened? Nothing. Form rejections. It seems so obvious to me now, but what I didn’t understand back then was that the synopsis is the story. If you are having trouble writing a synopsis, step back and take another look at the story you’re trying to tell. Are there pieces missing? Did you start it in the right place? Is your arc arched enough? Is your ending satisfying? When the story is ready, writing the synopsis should be easy-breezy-lemon-peezy.

—Valerie Geary