The Art of the Synopsis in a Substack Serialization
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There’s a rumor going around that new subscribers to serial novels and memoirs drop off after five “chapters.” (Remember that serializations have installments, not chapters. It’s an important distinction. Read more about chapters versus installments here.)
The assumption is that—despite the presence of a synopsis—readers don’t want to start in the middle because they don’t know what’s happening.
Not so.
The Synopsis According to Boz
People love to reference Charles Dickens’s serialized novels, but few seem to have actually read or studied them or know what they can teach us. No one had a problem keeping up with or joining the serialization of The Old Curiosity Shop or Little Dorrit or Bleak House. And those were long novels (Bleak House clocks in at a stunning 370,000 words) with complicated plots and way too many characters.
Dickens’s novels were also serialized in print. If you missed an issue, too bad. You had to physically seek out a copy of the missed issue, which could be sold out. (All we have to do is go on the Substack app.)
Most importantly, Dickens used no synopses. None.
Yet Victorian readers waited for each installment with bated breath and joined mid-serialization. The Pickwick Papers, one of Dickens’s first serializations, didn’t sell until installment number 4 and then it sold 40,000 copies.
Yes, it was a different time period (people love to say that), but there was a lot going on back then, too.
Dickens managed this because he knew how to write installments that hooked and captivated readers and then left them hanging. Captivated means he didn’t make the reader do the work. Despite Dickens’s convoluted plots and abundance of characters, readers could pick up the serialization at any point and be delighted and gripped by that part of the story. (Note: That doesn’t mean he wrote standalone pieces or short stories. In fact, his installments included several chapters.) He made it so that readers could discern what was happening and who the characters were from the context.
Writing a Synopsis
Three principles should guide you in your approach to the synopsis—if you include one:
You shouldn’t need it.
The synopsis should not summarize your novel or memoir thus far. It’s not about “catching readers up.”
The synopsis should be so enticing that the reader can’t resist subscribing immediately.
1. The Non-Synopsis
The synopsis should be unnecessary. Everything the reader needs to know should be subtly placed in the installment itself, e.g., if you need to clarify that Tom is Daisy’s husband, she need only call him “dear” and “hold his hand in that familiar way.” Each installment should not be a standalone, yet it must contain all the information the reader needs to immerse themselves in this part of your story. You do this by placing characters, settings, and previous plot points in context.
2. The Synopsis Isn’t a Summary
The synopsis should not summarize your entire story. We aren’t “catching up.” We’re joining. You aren’t writing a novel, and we aren’t reading one. We’re reading a serialization, and you’re writing one. Your synopsis should be short and on a need-to-know basis only.
3. The Synopsis Must Entice
People think the synopsis is just a summary. No, no, no. It’s akin to the book jacket cover. It’s a way to bring readers in. Think movie trailer.
The synopsis is the first thing readers see. If your synopsis isn’t as engaging as the installment, no reader will continue reading, let alone subscribe.
In a novel or short story, much emphasis is placed on the opening sentence; in a serialization, it’s the synopsis. It has to have energy and mystery. It, too, should end at the climax.
Note: Please don’t use ellipses. It doesn’t work.
Examples
Below are two examples of how Substack writers are handling synopses.
Salman Rushdie’s The Seventh Wave
Like Dickens, Rushdie doesn’t use them. That shows his mastery as a writer and a serializer. The Seventh Wave is by far the best serialization on Substack to date.
Notice how compelling his opening sentence is, and this is installment 42! We don’t need to know who Paolo is; we just want to keep going. As we read, Rushdie makes sure that at no point are we lost.
Simon K. Jones’s Tales from the Triverse
Of those who include synopses, Jones manages to write ones that feel like a story in and of themselves and make us want to keep reading.
There’s some intrigue here, which is what you want.
Serializers, it’s up to you to either write so well that a synopsis isn’t necessary or reclaim the synopsis as one of the most important elements in each installment and make it dazzling—especially if you want to attract readers and keep them reading.
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Is it like a “previously on...” used in TV (but is actually relevant) when using the movie trailer synopsis?