I’ve spent the last few days working hard on a synopsis for my novel.
It’s not easy to boil down 72,000 words to a few sentences. In fact it’s impossible. But the truth is, that’s not what you’re actually trying to do.
The real heart of a good description is to hook in your audience by getting them hooked on the conflict of your story. It’s about weaving together a compelling description that’s going to leave them asking enough questions that the only way they’re going to get the answers they’re looking for is by actually consuming the media that you’re summarizing. That’s true whether you’re pitching or selling your project.
And that’s why I found this description for the movie Feed, somewhat amusing:
After uncovering a sexually charged Web site that features morbidly obese women being held captive and taunted with fattening food, Australian cop Richard travels to Ohio to investigate. Viewing the Aussie’s appearance as an opportunity for a fun game rather than a reason for him to go offline, the site’s sadistic webmaster lures Richard into a dangerous game that’s unappetizing, to say the least.
Does that really make you hungry for more?
