• Basic Writing questions is not a crit forum. All crits belong in Share Your Work

tips on writing an effective summary

Status
Not open for further replies.

growingupblessings

Drinking lots of coffee
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Messages
130
Reaction score
13
Location
Ohio
I am trying to concisely summarize my story. I don't want to be too simple, but I don't want to reveal major plot elements, either.

Any tips?

I learned to summarize a long time ago using the major types of literary conflict - person vs technology, nature, etc. Is this still a good way to frame a summary? Or is it better to build a summary around genre?
 

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
23,083
Reaction score
10,780
Location
Where faults collide
Website
doggedlywriting.blogspot.com
I don't know what building a summary around genre is. Haven't heard that term.

In general, the process really depends on what the purpose of your summary is and how long it needs to be.

If it's to be a relatively short pitch or teaser summery, like the kind used in a query letter for an agent (generally 1-3 short paragraphs), you'd probably want to focus on the central character, conflict and set up. If it's to be a 1-2 page complete plot synopsis that some agents also want (as separate from the query), I'd focus on the major story arc, trying to show the crisis, conflict and resolution and also to include some world building and so on as needed, but still only focus on the main character and maybe 1-2 other vitally important ones that impact the main plot.

For a longer summery, you could go chapter by chapter or even try to write separate summaries for each major story/character arc, then interweave them. There are some how to write plot synopsis sticky threads in the forums here on AW, but it's early and I can't recall exactly where they are. May try using the search feature and looking for plot synopsis or synopsis.
 

jjdebenedictis

is watching you via her avatar
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
7,063
Reaction score
1,642
What is your summary for? Is it meant to be a synopsis to send an agent, or the summary you post to help advertise a self-published book, or the meat of a query letter?

I'll assume one of the latter two, since you say you don't want to give away the ending. If you want to intrigue someone enough to get them to read the rest of the book, I feel it's most efficient to focus on the story's inciting incident, and then maybe flesh out a few things that raise the stakes or complicate the situation.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
I don't know what you mean by "summary", either. Do you mean synopsis? And why don't you want to reveal major plot elements? Doing so is important in any type of synopsis, or summary, for that matter.
 

growingupblessings

Drinking lots of coffee
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Messages
130
Reaction score
13
Location
Ohio
Not for an agent or anything official. I actually have no intention of publishing this novel. I still want it to be edited and well presented. I just need a blurb I can send to friends or fellow readers I know who might be interested in reading it. I don't want to go into a long explanation about the story. I figure if I can capture the important parts in a summary and not give away anything major, that would be enough for people to know if they want to read it or not. So I guess it would be an advertisement?

I realize that most of you are here to publish and do a lot of things with agents and such. I really just want to become a better writer of fiction. For no other purpose than I believe it is a worthwhile pursuit.
 

Samsonet

Just visiting
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
1,391
Reaction score
184
Location
See my avatar? The next galaxy over.
I suppose it depends how you define major. Like, if you were summarizing Harry Potter, would Voldemort be considered major? Would Harry's parents? etc.

The Three Questions for Queries are usually helpful for summaries, imo:
1. What does your character want?
2. What do they have to do to get it?
3. What happens if they fail?

If your character starts wanting a glass of water but ends up wanting to rescue her friend's (and herself!), you'd probably want to mention the second want rather than the first.

I find the questions pretty helpful, personally.
 

growingupblessings

Drinking lots of coffee
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Messages
130
Reaction score
13
Location
Ohio
I suppose it depends how you define major. Like, if you were summarizing Harry Potter, would Voldemort be considered major? Would Harry's parents? etc.

The Three Questions for Queries are usually helpful for summaries, imo:
1. What does your character want?
2. What do they have to do to get it?
3. What happens if they fail?

If your character starts wanting a glass of water but ends up wanting to rescue her friend's (and herself!), you'd probably want to mention the second want rather than the first.

I find the questions pretty helpful, personally.

Thanks. Those give me some good direction. It seems so hard to crunch so much work down into a little tiny little summary.
 

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
23,083
Reaction score
10,780
Location
Where faults collide
Website
doggedlywriting.blogspot.com
It sounds like you want something akin to what they put on the back or inside flap of published books--a teaser that tells the reader something about the main character and their problem but doesn't contain any major spoilers.

I'd suggest looking at some back cover copy for books that are similar to yours (same genre and general type of story) and see how they're presented.
 

Gringa

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Messages
3,787
Reaction score
1,738
Or come on over to Query Letter Heaven and read through some threads. You might get some good ideas.

Password "vista."

(Share Your Work forum)
 
Last edited:

Samsonet

Just visiting
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
1,391
Reaction score
184
Location
See my avatar? The next galaxy over.
In case anyone noticed: "friend's" was "friend's life" at first, but then I changed it to "friend" yet forgot to take the "'s" out. I know when to use an apostrophe :D
 

BethS

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
11,708
Reaction score
1,763
I am trying to concisely summarize my story. I don't want to be too simple, but I don't want to reveal major plot elements, either.

Any tips?

You have to pull way back and take the bird's eye view. Describe the arc the story takes, not all the individual events that make up the arc.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
Not for an agent or anything official. I actually have no intention of publishing this novel. I still want it to be edited and well presented. I just need a blurb I can send to friends or fellow readers I know who might be interested in reading it. I don't want to go into a long explanation about the story. I figure if I can capture the important parts in a summary and not give away anything major, that would be enough for people to know if they want to read it or not. So I guess it would be an advertisement?

I realize that most of you are here to publish and do a lot of things with agents and such. I really just want to become a better writer of fiction. For no other purpose than I believe it is a worthwhile pursuit.

Well, I don't think it's very likely you can become better without the publishing process. Not one writer in a hundred can write something anyone else really wants to read, even with it. Without it, one in a couple of thousand is a better number.

That said, what you need is the same kind of synopsis published novels use on teh jacket or covers. Not the blurbs, the actual synopsis the publisher writes to interest people in the novel.
 

growingupblessings

Drinking lots of coffee
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Messages
130
Reaction score
13
Location
Ohio
Well, I don't think it's very likely you can become better without the publishing process. Not one writer in a hundred can write something anyone else really wants to read, even with it. Without it, one in a couple of thousand is a better number.

That said, what you need is the same kind of synopsis published novels use on teh jacket or covers. Not the blurbs, the actual synopsis the publisher writes to interest people in the novel.

I'd totally be willing to consider going through that process in the future, but I am not anywhere close to ready. This is the first novel I've ever written! Maybe after I've written a few and it's not so painfully obvious I have no clue what I'm doing, I'll revisit. I do some reading as a beta reader (a term I had never heard until I got on this site) for other writers. They send me chapters as they go, I give input. People I know IRL, mostly friends. It seems like a lot of people want to be published. I will send them my novel too. I would never compel them to read it, especially if it's outside of their interest area. I was hoping the summary would help them decide. They will give me good input, and I know it's not the same as editing, but it's good enough for me at this point in my process.

I read quite a bit, but I don't ever select books based on the blurbs. I'll take a look at some for books I really loved.
 

jae_s1978

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 10, 2012
Messages
75
Reaction score
1
Location
Germany
I think what you're looking for is a blurb / backcover description of your book, right?

One thing I would suggest is to keep it short. Three to five paragraphs should be enough. Readers should be able to grasp what your book is about relatively quickly.

The blurb should name the main characters and at least hint at the conflicts they face in the book. I suggest reading blurbs of good books in your genre to get a better feel for how it's done.
 

jaus tail

Banned
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
7,091
Reaction score
430
My work requires me to read episodic summaries of tv shows n then make a 3 page summary. I paste the episodic summary in a file. It's generally a 25-30 page file. I reduce it to 15 page n then to 7 n eventually to gradually reduce it.

So perhaps you could write summary of each chapter n then eliminate the less effective parts.
 

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Messages
9,907
Reaction score
1,834
Location
Hiding in my writing cave
Website
www.cathyclamp.com
Interestingly, the back cover blurb from the book in my sig might help. I thought it was especially well done by my editor. I'll post it once as is, and then a second time, where I'll go through paragraph by paragraph with the information it gives the reader.

USA Today bestselling author Cathy Clamp reboots the Sazi universe in Forbidden, a tightly-paced, high-tension urban fantasy thriller.

Ten years have passed since the war that destroyed the Sazi Council and inflicted a horrible "cure" on thousands of Sazi, robbing them of their ability to shapeshift.

Luna Lake, isolated in Washington State, started as a refugee camp for Sazi orphans. Now it's a small town and those refugees are young adults, chafing at the limits set by their still-fearful guardians.

There's reason to fear: Sazi children are being kidnapped. Claire, a red wolf shifter, is sent to investigate. Held prisoner by the Snakes during childhood, Claire is distrusted by those who call Luna Lake home.

Before the war, Alek was part of a wolf pack in Chicago. In Luna Lake he was adopted by a parliament of Owls, defying Sazi tradition. The kidnappings are a painful reminder that his little sister disappeared a decade ago.

When Claire and Alek meet, sparks fly--but the desperate race to find the missing children forces them to set aside their mutual attraction and focus on the future of their people.

Now the analysis:

USA Today bestselling author Cathy Clamp reboots the Sazi universe in Forbidden, a tightly-paced, high-tension urban fantasy thriller.Identifying the genre right away helps the reader focus on what they're getting in the book. Those who don't want urban fantasy or thrillers will simply put the book down, or let you know they're not interested in reading it.

Ten years have passed since the war that destroyed the Sazi Council and inflicted a horrible "cure" on thousands of Sazi, robbing them of their ability to shapeshift.The reader now knows this is the aftermath of a war--so dystopian of a sort, and the reader knows that people in the book are emotionally vulnerable.

Luna Lake, isolated in Washington State, started as a refugee camp for Sazi orphans. Now it's a small town and those refugees are young adults, chafing at the limits set by their still-fearful guardians.The reader now knows that this focuses on the children of those involved in the war, so it's both a generational clash, as well as having the potential of old problems resurfacing that the kids are. Unprepared for.

There's reason to fear: Sazi children are being kidnapped. Claire, a red wolf shifter, is sent to investigate. Held prisoner by the Snakes during childhood, Claire is distrusted by those who call Luna Lake home.So, is this part of the past war, or something new?

Before the war, Alek was part of a wolf pack in Chicago. In Luna Lake he was adopted by a parliament of Owls, defying Sazi tradition. The kidnappings are a painful reminder that his little sister disappeared a decade ago.Now the reader understands why these two people are the best to handle this crisis. They both have "skin in the game" because they were both intimately involved with prior kidnappings.

When Claire and Alek meet, sparks fly--but the desperate race to find the missing children forces them to set aside their mutual attraction and focus on the future of their people. Finally, the reader knows there's romance involved, adding sexual tension to the already tense plot.

So, the reader has a good overview of what's going to happen: two people, a man and a woman, children of those in a war, with trauma in their past, are trying to bring kidnapped kids home before they wind up with the same trauma. Oh, and they either fall in love or at least fall into bed. What doesn't it tell the reader? How it happens. You don't know the subplots, or the details of what occurs chapter by chapter. You don't know anything about secondary characters, or who the bad guy/gal is. No spoilers. The reader still has to read it to find out. But they have a clear understanding of what they're getting when they crack open the cover.

Does that help?
 

growingupblessings

Drinking lots of coffee
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Messages
130
Reaction score
13
Location
Ohio
Thanks, Cathy!

Interestingly, the back cover blurb from the book in my sig might help. I thought it was especially well done by my editor. I'll post it once as is, and then a second time, where I'll go through paragraph by paragraph with the information it gives the reader.



Now the analysis:



So, the reader has a good overview of what's going to happen: two people, a man and a woman, children of those in a war, with trauma in their past, are trying to bring kidnapped kids home before they wind up with the same trauma. Oh, and they either fall in love or at least fall into bed. What doesn't it tell the reader? How it happens. You don't know the subplots, or the details of what occurs chapter by chapter. You don't know anything about secondary characters, or who the bad guy/gal is. No spoilers. The reader still has to read it to find out. But they have a clear understanding of what they're getting when they crack open the cover.

Does that help?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.