by Will Dunne
Most importantly, the synopsis frames the central conflict of the storythe fact that the main character cannot check out of the hotel and is "try ing to make the past as distant as the dunes he left behind." All of this is described in the present tense to make it feel immediate and dramatic.
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
The goal of this exercise is to help you simplify and prioritize your story ideas. For best results, complete each exercise round before you begin the next one. As you do this, keep in mind that writing a synopsis is all about working within limits: the stricter the limit, the stronger the need to prioritize, and the greater the opportunity to see what matters most in your story. When the limit is a word count, the story title is not included, but two words hyphenated still counts as two words.
SEVEN WAYS TO SUM UP YOUR STORY
Remember to go one step at a time without looking ahead:
First summary. Your first limitation is a time limit. After you finish reading this paragraph, give yourself up to fifteen minutes to develop a synopsis of your story. Try to write as much as you can during this time so that you can highlight what you've got so far and find some interesting details along the way. The task is to zero in on your story's most important and most interesting details while also suggesting the central conflict. Remember that there is no wrong way to do this, and it is only an exercise. See what you can say about your story in fifteen minutes.
Second summary. In this round, the goal is the same, but the limitation is different. Instead of working within a time frame, you will now be working within a word count which asks you to tighten the focus on your material. The limitation is 5o. As you develop the synopsis, you may use parts of what you wrote during the first round or you may start again from scratch. Write your 5o-word summary now.
Third summary. See what happens when you tighten the restriction further and narrow the word count to 30. You can use 30 of the words you have already written or find another way to describe your story within this new limitation. Sum up your story now.
Fourth summary. Now see what happens with a limitation of only r5 words to sum up your story. You can boil down your previous summary or find a new approach. As before, the word count does not include the title, and two words hyphenated still counts as two. In no more than r5 words, how would you describe your story?
Fifth summary. Narrow your vision further by writing a summary in only seven words. You can select seven of the words you have already written or come up with new words that do the job better. Try to express one complete thought.
Sixth summary. Think about how you have summed up your story so far. What if you had to reduce this description to three words? Would you remove words or find new ones to do the job? Since there are only three of them, these words do not need to express a complete thought in a sentence. If you prefer, they can reflect two or three concepts instead.
Seventh summary. By now, you have probably guessed the inevitable conclusion of this exercise, and that is to sum up your story in one word. This is obviously quite an important word. Will it be one you used before or a new one that does the job better? You are about to identify the subject of your story.
WRAP-UP
This has been a focusing exercise to help you explore what matters most in your story. The different-size synopses-or variations of them-may come in handy when you begin to send your work out and need a description to introduce your story in a cover letter or submission form. Your last three synopses suggest words to stress when describing your story to a potential agent or producer.
THE QUICK VERSION
Define the theme of your story
BEST TIME FOR THIS
Any time you need to clarify what you are really writing about
THEME: THOUGHT WRAPPED IN STORY
A great story is more than a great story. It is an experience that stirs our emotions and provokes us to think-to discover new ideas or reexamine old ones-even long after we have left the theater. A key element of a story's lingering effect is its theme: the main idea that the author attempts to show us through the characters we meet and the events we witness.
Some writers insist that a dramatic story cannot be developed until first its theme has been clearly defined. They begin with a premise they wish to explore, and use it to guide their writing choices from beginning to end. This approach brings a certain degree of efficiency to script developmentit provides an intellectual focus that helps keep everything on track-but runs the risk of producing a story with a heavy-handed author's message that fails to reach the audience at a gut level.
Other writers adopt a more intuitive approach. They start with a particular character, incident, or situation that has aroused their interest and emotions. Then they write with these specifics in mind, and look later for the universal ideas within them. This approach can lead to a script with powerful moments as the story evolves organically from the characters and their ever-changing world, but runs the risk of producing a script that gets lost in its own labyrinth of possibilities.
Whether the primary approach to your story is intellectual or intuitive, you need at some point to decide what theme you are illustrating. A complex story typically embodies a number of different themes but, if all these ideas are equally important, the script may end up being about none of them. Ideally, one theme is more important the rest. It is a core insight that unifies the different steps of the journey and elevates it to a higher level. What is the central theme of your story?
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
Defining your story's theme is usually not a matter of drumming up a big idea that you can bring to your story, but rather uncovering a big idea that is already woven into it. The goal of this exercise is to help you uncover the main theme in the story you are developing now, and to state this theme as simply as possible. By keeping the theme statement short, you can create a guide that focuses on what matters most and is easy to keep in mind as you write or edit.
The approach of the exercise is inductive, moving from the specific to the universal. So you will first need to know whose story you are writing, and have a sense of what happens-or at least what could happen-in the dramatic journey. This exercise may be most useful when you are at a critical decision point in story development and not sure which way to turn next. You also may wish to revisit the exercise at different times to see if your theme has evolved or changed. Such reviews can be especially helpful when you are about to begin a round of revision.
SEARCHING FOR CLUES THAT MAY LEAD TO A THEME
In choosing characters and stories to develop, most writers instinctively also choose themes that matter to them. At first, the writer may not be aware of the themes within a particular story, and it is not unusual for a writer to tackle the same themes over and over-just as Arthur Miller in plays like The Crucible and After the Fall addresses the blurred line between good and evil, and August Wilson in plays like Fences and Joe Turner's Come and Gone explores the African American experience in different decades of the twentieth century.
The terms "subject" and "theme" are often confused. The "subject" of a story is the main topic-for example, "social equality." The "theme" is a point of view about the subject-for example, "Social equality leads to freedom" (A Doll's House). A subject can be expressed in a word or phrase, but a theme requires at least a complete sentence.
There is no correct or incorrect theme. No one else can tell you what it should be, and there is nowhere to find it except in yourself. What's most important is that you believe the theme to be true and have strong feelings about it. Know also that you are probably not the first person to ever think of this theme and that it's all right if it sounds familiar. What will make your piece original is probably not so much the theme itself but rather how you demonstrate it through the details of your story. For example, here are a few old sayings that could also be viewed as themes for dynamic and original work: "Money is the root of all evil" (Glengarry Glen Ross); "The truth shall set you free" (Who's Afraid of V
irginia Woolf?); and, "Lies beget lies" (Betrayal).
Your theme may come to you quickly and easily. Or it may require a lot of time and thought. To find the theme, look for clues embedded in your story choices so far-whether you are in the planning stages, working your way through a first draft, or revising a script that's well on its way. Elements to consider:
I. Main character. Look again at the main character of your story. Identify his or her defining traits-strengths and weaknesses-and see if you can find any clues among these traits that might lead to your story's theme. Why did you choose to write about this particular character? If he or she is overly trusting, for example, you may have unconsciously picked a theme that relates to this trait, such as "Blind faith leads to failure" (King Lear).
2. Quest. Every story is a quest. What is your main character after? This primary goal-and the motivation to achieve it-may uncover a path to your story's theme. If your main character gains power and will do anything not to lose it, for example, you may find a theme such as "Power corrupts" (Macbeth).
3. Main action. Your main character exhibits different types of behavior and performs a number of different deeds during the dramatic journey. What is the most important thing your character does? This defining action, its motivation, and its outcome may suggest part of the story's theme. If the main action is to commit murder to exact revenge, for example, you may uncover a theme such as "Injustice breeds revenge" (Medea).
4. Central conflict. Drama is what happens when strong opposing forces collide. What are the two most important forces in conflict in your story? Which force prevails, and why? Your story's theme may be suggested by either this central conflict or its outcome. If the clash is between a labor union and management, for example, you may find a theme such as "Capitalism thrives at the expense of the working class" (Waiting for Lefty).
5. Dominant emotion. Think about the emotional landscape of your main character's dramatic journey. What feeling dominates this journey? You may discover your theme in the roots of the strongest emotion. What idea is contained there? If the dominant emotion is love, for example, you may uncover a theme such as "Love conquers all" (Romeo and Juliet).
6. Final destination. The theme is embodied ultimately by the whole story. So think again about what happens in yours. See if you can find any clues in the main event that might help you uncover the theme. The strongest clues can often be found in how the story ends. What is the final destination of the dramatic journey? If your character winds up isolated from loved ones, for example, you may find a theme such as "Dishonesty leads to isolation" (A Streetcar Named Desire).
Other ways to uncover your theme
If you have trouble finding a clear theme among your character and story choices so far, try these steps:
i. Personal priorities. The theme reflects a subject important to the writer-for example, love, honesty, or religion. What subjects have you written about in the past or considered writing about in the future? What topics most attract you when you are selecting a play or film to see, or a book to read? What subjects in the news make you stop and pay attention? List a few topics that matter most to you. Then see how your list matches the story you are developing now. In a word or phrase, what subject are you really writing about?
2. Personal beliefs. The theme reflects your view about the subject you have chosen. What point have you been trying to make with this story? Or, if you're still in the initial stages of script development, what point do you want to make? If your subject is jealousy, for example, you may wish to show that "jealousy destroys both the lover and the loved" (Othello). In a sentence that includes the subject you chose, what theme are you writing?
YOUR THEME STATEMENT
Once you know your theme, state it in writing as simply as possible. Do not include character names or other plot specifics. Make the statement universal in scope so that it rises beyond the world of your characters to include the world we all inhabit. A few suggestions:
i. Your theme statement is a guide to story development: a reminder of what you're really writing about. This guide will be most useful and easiest to remember if you can boil it down to one sentence.
2. If a story is to avoid being didactic, its theme will not be explained by the characters but rather implied by what they do and experience. Since the theme will not be stated in dialogue, you can word it any way that makes sense to you, as long as it expresses a complete thought that you believe and want to demonstrate as true.
3. For a more useful point of reference, develop a theme statement that stays contained in a single sentence and highlights two of the story's most important elements: character and conclusion. Suppose your story centers on the idea "Money is the root of all evil." You may create a more workable guide to story development by restating the theme as "Greed breeds poverty."
This rewording highlights "greed" as a defining trait of the main character and shows that he or she will end in "poverty"-either literally or figuratively-like the greedy real estate agents in Glengarry Glen Ross who wind up morally bankrupt. Unlike the static verb of being "is" in the first version, the verb "breeds" adds action to the statement. In effect, the second version becomes a map of the whole story: a reminder to the writer that the main character's greed must be clearly established and that the chain of story events must show how this defining trait causes the character's downfall.
WRAP-UP
As you use your theme statement to guide writing and editing, find a balance between what you say and don't say in the script. Remember that, if you spell out the theme for us, we may feel like we're being hit over the head with it. Great stories often raise more questions than they answer. Instead of providing pat solutions to complex issues, they provoke us to think. However, if your theme is too buried or too ambiguous, we may miss the point.
THE QUICK VERSION
Use the naming process to explore the big picture of your story, figure out what matters most, and maybe even find a title
BEST TIME FOR THIS
After you have completed a draft or are well into the story
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING A TITLE
The title is a powerful symbol of the whole story, and literally or figuratively infers what's most important about it. As a result, the naming process is an excellent way to explore your material, set priorities, and clarify your ideas. How well do you know what you are really writing about?
ABOUT THE EXERCISE
This focusing exercise asks you to consider different categories of titles and come up with new alternatives for your story. These categories have been created solely for the exercise. Some, such as the one-word title, highlight form. Some, such as the main-event title, highlight content. Categories often overlap, so that one title could fit more than one category. The purpose here is not to figure out how to sort titles, but to use the naming process to help you examine your story from different angles-twenty of them-and see what matters most.
THE NAMING PROCESS: A KEY TO WHAT MATTERS MOST
I. What would your title be if it summed up your whole story in only one word? This is the lean muscular approach to titles, for example:
2. What would your title be if it used so many words that we could barely remember them all? This is the chatty approach. It breaks the title barrier by using as many words as it wants to give a detailed account of the subject or create an image. Such titles are still around, but were more popular in the sixties and seventies, for example:
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf
The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex But Were Afraid to Ask
The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck
3. What would your title be if it asked a question? Some titles pose a question that will be addressed by the story, and sometimes this inquiry is di
rected to a specific character. For example:
4. What would your title be if it issued an order, warning, or advice? This is a more demanding title that expects some kind of result, for example:
5. What would your title be if it named your main character? This title implies that a main character is so fascinating that nothing need be said except his or her name. The identifier might be a first name only, last name only, full name, title and name, nickname, or description and name, for example:
6. What would your title be if it described your main character? This title describes an important trait or condition of a principle character without using his or her actual name, for example:
7. What would your title be if it were a personal statement from the main character? This title declares something important from the main character's point of view, for example:
8. What would your title be if it named the two most important characters in the story? This "dynamic duo" title identifies the most important relationship in the story, for example:
9. What would your title be if it described more than one character in the story? This title describes a set of characters, from just a couple to the whole population, without naming anyone, for example:
A Few Good Men
io. What would your title be if it highlighted the setting? This title tells where the action takes place, either literally or figuratively. It implies that the setting has a lot to do with what happens in the story, for example: