we're halfway there

[musesfool]

\o/

My spn_summergen is off to beta! I rule!

After some rough patches, and a couple of false starts, I really like it. Now I just hope that 1. luzdeestrellas likes it, and 2. the recipient likes it. I also have to figure out a decent summary. I generally choose a summary that is more thematic than plot-related, and I often choose something that amuses me or is fitting on a

Comments

[jehnt]

Honestly, I tend to navigate stories more by authors I like and recs from trusted reccers than I do by summaries. But summaries that really get me are the sillier "dangling the carrot" type, where I read something and go "omg, wtf, I MUST READ THIS TO FIND OUT." I also do like the thematic summaries when they're done well. The way you do them, the summary usually evokes the same feeling I'll get after reading the fic (which is pretty great for single-liners), so it gives me a pretty good idea of whether I'll like it or not. But not everyone's are like that. I have some lj friends whose summaries tend to be thematic and are REALLY hit-or-miss for me in terms of how they connect to the fic.

Also, anything that promises it will be a crossover. Because I'm addicted to them.

[musesfool]

Honestly, I tend to navigate stories more by authors I like and recs from trusted reccers than I do by summaries.

I do, too, but when a name I don't know pops up on a comm, as long as the headers aren't full of typos or hard coded with sparkly fonts or whatever, and it's about characters or a pairing I'll read, a summary can be the thing that tips me one way or the other, and most of us are really bad at them. I don't like the "Jan and Marcia are on a three-hour tour, when their boat capsizes. Will they be rescued?!" types of summaries as much as I like something less... on the nose.

The way you do them, the summary usually evokes the same feeling I'll get after reading the fic (which is pretty great for single-liners), so it gives me a pretty good idea of whether I'll like it or not.

Cool. Thanks. That's what I try for. I am not always successful, but that's the kind of summary I like best, where it's more mood/theme than plot-based.

anything that promises it will be a crossover. Because I'm addicted to them.

Crossovers kick

[thelastgoodname]

Dangling carrot is a good way to put it. I look for enticement in other people's summaries.

I went back and looked at my own fics and recs, to see if there's any thing I can pull out of them, and it turns out, I like one-line summaries, or rather, taglines. I really like taglines.

All of my recs include one line that could function as a tagline for the story. The thing about a tagline, though, is that it has to capture some of the plot and a lot of the feel, but mostly it has to be one line (or possibly a few short lines), and it has to entice an audience. Be memorable, and make people want more.

For my own stories, I always use a single line that sort of functions as a tagline. I think I've been getting better at this, making then snappy and enticing and giving some of the feel of the story, but I'm not sure I hit it very well every time.

And now that I've realizing I'm basically using marketing techniques, I'm a little worried about myself. I had no idea I was that conniving. Or something. Clued in.

[musesfool]

All of my recs include one line that could function as a tagline for the story. The thing about a tagline, though, is that it has to capture some of the plot and a lot of the feel, but mostly it has to be one line (or possibly a few short lines), and it has to entice an audience. Be memorable, and make people want more.

Yes. This. I try for this, but am not always successful. Sometimes I see a rec of one of my stories, or someone has it tagged on delicious, and they'll have a GREAT one line summary and I'm like, "Why didn't I think of that?"