The Art of Writing a Good Summary
Dear fanfic writers,
Sometimes, the summary is just as important as the fanfic itself.
First, a note. I have taken these actual summaries from fanfiction,net, but have left out the authors and titles because it’s not necessarily the fanfics I’m criticizing, but the summaries themselves. If you want to go ahead and complain to the authors about these, I’ll be happy to provide the fanfic link if you request it. But right now, I’ll just tear apart honestly criticize and point out what’s wrong with these summaries. And remember, I’m judging on outline, not on content.
Let’s begin.
One of the major parts of writing a fanfic is deciding how to put your story in enough words so that it will catch the attention of those cruising through the numerous fanfics on the Kingdom Hearts page. (or any other fandom page, rather.) But how do you stand out? You have to give just enough information so the reader will be piqued with interest. Just like fishing: you have to put just a little bait instead of an entire worm, so that the fish will be interested enough but won’t get that huge “OMG, something really strange here” alarm.
Unfortunately, this one doesn’t follow that rule:
story about Sora being in a famous band and meets Kairi and they fall in love but dont tell eachother Sora has to go to a concert for a for a month on another island Kairi wants to tell him she loves him before they leave KairixSora other pairings
Okay, first. Capitalization is your friend. I don’t care if you’re in a hurry and want to post your fanfic, or that capitalizing is too hard for you: capitalization is essential if you want your fanfic to stick out in the right way. You don’t want to come across as a kindergartener who just happened to write a fanfic on KH. Pushing the Shift key will not kill you, trust me.
Second, it supplies way too much information. It basically tells the entire story; why does a reader need to read something in which they already know what’s going to happen?
Third, punctuation, punctuation, punctuation. Create complete sentences instead of a jumble of words. its kind of hard to read when you write like this and you cant tell the difference between the beginning of a sentence or the end of a sentence don’t you agree
This summary needs a lot more work if it wants to catch the readers right away.
Moving on.
Sora is a 15 year old boy who loves to ride his bike, with this love Sora has become one of Australia's best Downhill Mountain bike riders. Sora Meets Kairi and then it begins. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, I HAVE VERY BAD GRAMMAR SKILLS
A bit better. However, the author is basically crying out for readers to read and review the fanfic. Have you ever experienced a random person coming up to you (or a friend) in a crowd and telling them “Repent, or you shall be in hell?” (or something like that) Remember how confused, scared, and what-the-hell-is-going-on thoughts you felt? Well, that’s how readers sorta feel when an author implores them to read his or her fanfic. The best way is to leave out the “please review” part from the summary and include at the end of your fanfic. That way, the readers will not have to be coerced into reading.
Second, don’t say that you have bad grammar skills. That just turns off people right away.
Moving on.
This is a story about Riku helping a young girl find her memories. Along the way the two learn things: thier love for each other and Mai's deep dark past that she can't remember... Join the two teens for a long sad, happy, angry, and betrayal of a journey
Good. It definitely has it’s intrigue, and catches the reader’s eye. It could probably be a little better worded, perhaps, but its relatively average when it comes to summaries. “betrayal of a journey” seems awkward, and the word ”their” needs to be spelled correctly.
Overall, this summary is good, although it could be better.
Moving on.
A girl who sees the future in dreams loses her best friend at a young age. Follow through a re-telling of her adventure when she finds him again, years later. Though he is far from the person she remembers... Formerly "Fire and Ice".
This is really good. Offering us only a taste of the story, it’s unsure what characters the story features (although the “Fire and Ice” title hints at one of them), but in this way, the reader decides to read the story to find out. The grammar, punctuation, and sentences are written correctly, something which attracts readers. This summary is a really good example of the “hook” that pulls in readers. Bravo, I say. Bravo.
(Not to say that the fanfic was good…I haven’t read it, but the summary offers the right idea.)
So, I hope that you now have been enlightened with the courage to write those summaries correctly. I leave you with a summary which I found, and I do hope that you don’t go the same path:
Sai'x is somewhat willing to answers some of your questions
Someone, create an icon of this now. I want it for the LOLs. :D
Sometimes, the summary is just as important as the fanfic itself.
First, a note. I have taken these actual summaries from fanfiction,net, but have left out the authors and titles because it’s not necessarily the fanfics I’m criticizing, but the summaries themselves. If you want to go ahead and complain to the authors about these, I’ll be happy to provide the fanfic link if you request it. But right now, I’ll just tear apart honestly criticize and point out what’s wrong with these summaries. And remember, I’m judging on outline, not on content.
Let’s begin.
One of the major parts of writing a fanfic is deciding how to put your story in enough words so that it will catch the attention of those cruising through the numerous fanfics on the Kingdom Hearts page. (or any other fandom page, rather.) But how do you stand out? You have to give just enough information so the reader will be piqued with interest. Just like fishing: you have to put just a little bait instead of an entire worm, so that the fish will be interested enough but won’t get that huge “OMG, something really strange here” alarm.
Unfortunately, this one doesn’t follow that rule:
story about Sora being in a famous band and meets Kairi and they fall in love but dont tell eachother Sora has to go to a concert for a for a month on another island Kairi wants to tell him she loves him before they leave KairixSora other pairings
Okay, first. Capitalization is your friend. I don’t care if you’re in a hurry and want to post your fanfic, or that capitalizing is too hard for you: capitalization is essential if you want your fanfic to stick out in the right way. You don’t want to come across as a kindergartener who just happened to write a fanfic on KH. Pushing the Shift key will not kill you, trust me.
Second, it supplies way too much information. It basically tells the entire story; why does a reader need to read something in which they already know what’s going to happen?
Third, punctuation, punctuation, punctuation. Create complete sentences instead of a jumble of words. its kind of hard to read when you write like this and you cant tell the difference between the beginning of a sentence or the end of a sentence don’t you agree
This summary needs a lot more work if it wants to catch the readers right away.
Moving on.
Sora is a 15 year old boy who loves to ride his bike, with this love Sora has become one of Australia's best Downhill Mountain bike riders. Sora Meets Kairi and then it begins. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, I HAVE VERY BAD GRAMMAR SKILLS
A bit better. However, the author is basically crying out for readers to read and review the fanfic. Have you ever experienced a random person coming up to you (or a friend) in a crowd and telling them “Repent, or you shall be in hell?” (or something like that) Remember how confused, scared, and what-the-hell-is-going-on thoughts you felt? Well, that’s how readers sorta feel when an author implores them to read his or her fanfic. The best way is to leave out the “please review” part from the summary and include at the end of your fanfic. That way, the readers will not have to be coerced into reading.
Second, don’t say that you have bad grammar skills. That just turns off people right away.
Moving on.
This is a story about Riku helping a young girl find her memories. Along the way the two learn things: thier love for each other and Mai's deep dark past that she can't remember... Join the two teens for a long sad, happy, angry, and betrayal of a journey
Good. It definitely has it’s intrigue, and catches the reader’s eye. It could probably be a little better worded, perhaps, but its relatively average when it comes to summaries. “betrayal of a journey” seems awkward, and the word ”their” needs to be spelled correctly.
Overall, this summary is good, although it could be better.
Moving on.
A girl who sees the future in dreams loses her best friend at a young age. Follow through a re-telling of her adventure when she finds him again, years later. Though he is far from the person she remembers... Formerly "Fire and Ice".
This is really good. Offering us only a taste of the story, it’s unsure what characters the story features (although the “Fire and Ice” title hints at one of them), but in this way, the reader decides to read the story to find out. The grammar, punctuation, and sentences are written correctly, something which attracts readers. This summary is a really good example of the “hook” that pulls in readers. Bravo, I say. Bravo.
(Not to say that the fanfic was good…I haven’t read it, but the summary offers the right idea.)
So, I hope that you now have been enlightened with the courage to write those summaries correctly. I leave you with a summary which I found, and I do hope that you don’t go the same path:
Sai'x is somewhat willing to answers some of your questions
Someone, create an icon of this now. I want it for the LOLs. :D