Distinguish a synopsis from reader-facing copy
Oh Story’s positioning brief organizes protagonist, goal, obstacle and turn; outline methods connect starting state, ending state and key changes. This page applies those methods to synopsis extraction, while the actual submission controls requirements.
Reader-facing copy emphasizes attraction and expectation. A full-story synopsis generally explains resolution. “Can she uncover the truth?” may sell the book but cannot replace the outcome in a requested complete synopsis.
Identify the material: finished manuscript, current outline or both. Mark unwritten developments as planned instead of presenting an imagined climax as completed prose.
Extract direction-changing nodes from an event list
| Part | Record |
|---|---|
| Opening | Explain: Situation, goal and trigger; Remove without harming the spine: Unrelated genealogy or world history |
| Attempt | Explain: Strategy and resistance; Remove without harming the spine: Repeated versions of one obstacle |
| Turn | Explain: New fact invalidating the plan; Remove without harming the spine: Abstract “everything changes” |
| Climax | Explain: Final choice, action and cost; Remove without harming the spine: Decorative detail unrelated to outcome |
| Resolution | Explain: Main result and changed behavior; Remove without harming the spine: A new mystery replacing resolution |
These are coverage functions, not a five-paragraph quota. “Repair clock, find records, argue, flood” still needs reasons for inquiry, consequences of the argument and a deadline defeating the old strategy.
Original synopsis: retain choices and achievable results
This is an original fictional planning synopsis, not an extraction from completed prose. The example establishes that Xu Yao maintains the alarm clock, its mechanism repair has been accepted, a separate sluice input remains faulty, and the current supervisor organizes the example’s existing evacuation plan.
To trace false alerts, clock repairer Xu Yao compares input tests with old sluice records. Her sister acknowledges concealing relevant records for the former supervisor. Xu first hopes to repair the input before explaining, but the repair cannot finish before the flood-season window. She discloses the records alongside the unresolved risk boundary, losing her sister’s support. The current supervisor checks the material and activates the existing plan; residents respond. Xu and two assistants complete assigned notifications and arrival checks, and residents reach the agreed safe destination. Afterward, the assistants receive maintenance-record copies and begin shared upkeep.
The synopsis retains aim, evidence, the failed strategy, the key choice, an organizer’s response, and the enacted result. Disclosure and residents’ safety are connected through verification, organization, replies, and execution. “Secures help” cannot supply a condition missing from the manuscript. Acceptance, the plan, and replies are explicit new design choices in this example; extraction from actual prose uses only supported facts and marks unwritten events as plans.
Keep names necessary for principal action. Relationship labels can identify the sister and former supervisor without turning a short document into a cast list.
Cut secondary material before sentence compression
Remove introductions, secondary processes and repeated setbacks without causal importance, then compress sentences. Preserve reasons for strategy changes instead of “grows through difficulties.”
Map each sentence to manuscript or outline evidence. Check who makes decisive choices, whether enabling conditions exist and whether the ending matches. AI can flag omissions and redundancy, not secretly invent actions for completeness.
Check the actual destination’s format and length, then read as someone unfamiliar with the manuscript: who seeks what, why does it become harder, how is it resolved and at what cost? Repair missing causality rather than adding background.
FAQ
Should I reveal the ending in a submission synopsis?
A requested full-story synopsis generally includes resolution and consequences rather than ending with a teaser. If the actual destination requests selected chapters, an interim synopsis, or a different introduction, follow that scope. Check its requirements first and label unwritten material as planned; this craft method does not determine submission eligibility.
Do it with the skill
Use $story-long-write to extract a synopsis from the provided manuscript and outline: identify start, end and strategy-changing nodes before compression. Cite sentence evidence and mark unwritten events as plans without inventing enabling conditions.
Read the method: Protagonist, goal and obstacle brief · Start, end and key nodes