Tips for A Good Synopsis

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > BUSINESS > SUBMISSION > SYNOPSIS > TIPS >

'In a way, tackling the problem of writing a play about the Holocaust . . . was to not write about it, but to write about what it has done to us. There are no stock SS guards in THE MODEL APARTMENT, no facile sentimental ending. What I wanted to do was dramatize the problems inherent in both remembering and forgetting, and to see what this insoluble problem has done to succeeding generations.'

-- Donald Margulies

• Keep the whole thing to about half a page maximum.
  A full page if you can't find any other way to do it -- single- or 1.5-spaced.

• Start with that one-sentence summary.
  Or two, if that's what it takes.

• Give us a sense of where and when the play's happening.

• Focus on your central character.
  Forget the minor folks: just attach your Character Page.

• Try thinking of this as having the structure of a Monologue:
  You're telling a story. This is very hard to do.

• As Jack Web used to say, "Just the facts."
  Don't include your own wonderful qualitative assessment of the play.

• Pay attention to what else these theatres or Competitions are asking for.
  Along with the Synopsis they'll usually also want . . .
  • A Letter of Inquiry.

  • Your brief Bio.

  • A Dialogue Sample [If they ask for it]
    This thing is anything between 2 and 10 pages from your play. It's probably a good idea to start with Page I-1 for this. Don't send more or less than they ask for.

  • An SASE [letter-size] for them to easily let you know they'd like to see your full script.
    • Or even better: A plain self-addressed postcard
      Use the kind you can buy from your local Post Office. On the back, type the name of the theatre [so you'll know who's returned the card to you] and a "send it" phrase with a box or space for a check mark and the title of your play . . .
      ___ We'd like to read WHITE ALICE

Don't fold all this up and cram it into a standard business-size envelope, even though it will fit. Spend the extra pennies to send the package in a 9" x 12" envelope. Remember: Literary Managers get hundreds of these things. You want yours to be among the easier ones to read . . .