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Q&A Synopsis for a memoir: Which tense/perspective to use?

The general rule is that a synopsis should be written in present tense, third person, regardless of the tense/perspective of the manuscript. I sometimes hear that this doesn't apply to a synopsis f...

1 answer  ·  posted 13y ago by Cliff Hangerson Page‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Question memoir synopsis
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:04:07Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/4480
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Cliff Hangerson Page‭ · 2019-12-08T02:04:07Z (about 5 years ago)
The general rule is that a **synopsis** should be written in **present tense** , **third person** , regardless of the tense/perspective of the manuscript. I sometimes hear that this doesn't apply to a **synopsis for a memoir** , which should be written in **past tense** , **first person** , just like the memoir itself.

Which of the following is appropriate, then?

> **A.** The following spring, I enrolled at Frogparts Academy and met Joe Prince.
> 
> **B.** The following spring, Jen enrolls at Frogparts Academy and meets Joe Prince.

My thinking is that it depends on context. I should use **A** if I'm writing a synopsis as part of a pitch to a publisher, while someone writing a plot summary of my book for Wikipedia would choose **B**. Thoughts?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2011-11-20T15:59:13Z (about 13 years ago)
Original score: 0