Your Essential Synopsis Checklist

Use a 1-inch margin on all sides; justify the left margin only. Put your name and contact information on the top left corner of the first page. Type the novel’s genre, word count and the word “Synopsis” in the top right corner of the first page Don’t number the first page. Put the novel’s title, centered and in all caps, about one-third of the way down the page. Begin the synopsis text four lines below the title. The text throughout the synopsis should be double-spaced (unless you plan to keep it to one or two pages, in which case single-spaced is OK). Use all caps the first time you introduce a character. After the first page, use a header on every page that contains your last name/your novel’s title in all caps/the word “Synopsis”:Name/TITLE/Synopsis. After the first page, number the pages in the top right corner on the same line as the header. The first line of text on each page after the first page should be three lines below the header.

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