Writing Summaries

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

The summary


Note: This is a general observation and is not intended to single out any person, community, group or genre.

Have you ever noticed that some posted chapters or snippets receive more attention than others do? It may be due to presentation or lack thereof.
I've observed in many communities and individual blogs that the posts with no intro or summary or posts with rambling, vague or dull summaries can be less successful in drawing in readers and eliciting reader response than the posts with intros and summaries that shine. So, how do you entice readers with your intro or summary? What makes a good summary?

What is a summary?
n. A usually brief restatement of the main points or facts.

What is the purpose of a summary?
The purpose of a summary is to tell the reader what happens in a brief and concise fashion, condensing and paraphrasing the original text into a short highlight of the main points. It will give the reader the gist of the text but it will not get into the minute details, you will leave the details for the reader to discover as they read your work.

The summary is your first impression so you will want to make it interesting enough so people will want to read your work, a good summary will make people want to read your stuff and a bad one may make them pass you by. Yes, writing a summary can be harder than you think so don't be afraid to spend some time on it.

Note: A summary is not quite the same thing as a synopsis, which is what you present to agents and publishers.


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As a potential reader, what do you want to see in an intro or summary? What will draw you in and make you look behind the cut? What turns you off?

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If anyone would like to work shop his or her summary, synopsis or query letter, go ahead and make your own new post. You could ask, "Would you Keep Reading?" Please state if it is a summary, synopsis or query.

Brainstorm?

[supertacular.livejournal.com]

I has this dream the other night with such awesome imagery and such an interesting premise that it inspired me to write a story based on it. The problem with that, of course, is that dreams generally aren't so reliable when it comes to complete plots and background information, so I'm missing some major information such as... well, the entire ending. 

I have a few ideas, and I have the premise, but I'm floundering a bit with avoiding cliches and I'd like some advice (especially since I want it to be rather darker than most stuff I write).

    The story takes place at sort of boarding school, where children are raised and educated. It differs from a normal school, however, in that nobody can leave. A plague has devastated the outside world and the Academy is an isolated sort of safehouse, where a preventative cure is administered every few weeks.
    Jena (though I may change her name later) is a 15-year-old student at the school, who has just made a startling discovery. Three years ago her older sister Eden was taken away by the doctors and never came back. It was explained that Eden had developed a resistance to the cure, and that there was nothing more the doctors could do for her. But now Jena has discovered Eden's old journals, and her side of the story reads rather differently.
    Apparently Eden's symptoms included a change in thinking that led her to make some accusations against the school. Her journals warn Jena that if she ever starts resisting she should hide it. She says to lie to the doctors, to pay attention to what happens to the other student and, most shockingly of all, she says that there is no plague.
    Now Jena's resistance is starting to develop, and she's experiencing the same revelations. The Academy is definitely far more sinister than anyone suspected, and Jena resolves to escape and to find out what really happened to Eden. When she notices that a boy named Khaleb is also resisting she decides to save him too, but the nurses have noticed his symptoms and time is running out for both of them.

( more plot and some ending ideas )

Also, on a slightly unrelated note, what do you guys think about opening with a dream sequence?

(no subject)

[iloveyouuux3.livejournal.com]

title: none yet
rating: i would say pg13 for drug references and cursing.
comments/warnings: any criticism is welcome EXCEPT for that of spelling grammar puncuation etc. as you can see i dont even type as well as i did for the story but i tried to make it halfway decent but thats not what i write for. it still needs a little work, but im anxious to have people read it.
summary: kate skips school and meets someone during her 'punishment session'...

only a bit for now, im gonna take a break and write some more later if people like it.

( its not as dumb as it sounds i promise. )