Have you finished a draft of your novel but don’t know where to start editing? Are you uncertain there’s actually a story in there somewhere? In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Kristina Stanley and Lucy Cooke have some ideas to help.
To determine if you have a story in your draft, Stanley and Cooke suggest you conduct a story test by writing a synopsis. “When authors find it tough to write a synopsis, it’s normally because either they don’t have an understanding of what goes into the synopsis or there isn’t a full story yet,” they explains. A simple synopsis can consist of your story blurb, five major story arc scenes, and the resolution. If you can’t put that together, that might be a clue your story’s structure is unsound.
A blurb will identify your protagonist, story goal, and the stakes of success or failure. “If you cannot answer them from the draft, then we can tell you the story promised is not there yet,” they write. “And the draft is not ready to be edited.” A short synopsis describes your story, including the turning points of your story, such as the inciting incident, major confrontations and lessons learned, and the climax.
To create your skeleton synopsis, Stanley and Cooke suggest using the following steps:
- Read through your novel without making changes.
- Name every scene and identify your five major plot points
- Dig into story arc scenes to identify the POV character, goal, conflict, and resolution.
- Create the synopsis.
- Determine whether you have a full story.
“You’ll find that if you can’t write the synopsis at this stage, then most likely the story is not finished,” Stanley and Cook write. “If one of the 5 story arc scenes is missing, is in the wrong place, or doesn’t satisfy the requirements of a story scene, then there isn’t a story in the draft, yet.”
