Writing a summary, how do you do it?
Summaries can be a bit difficult to write especially when an author is writing a rather complex fanfic. For instance, I had a really hard time coming up with a summary for my second book in the Rogue Officer series: A Sacred Trust Broken. I wasn’t sure whether to include the Cardassian’s in the summary or just the Federation spy/informant for them. To me though, its all about the action and drama that’ll hopefully bring in the audience. Continuing from where Chaos Erupts left off it can be found on the Archive here:
*First two chapters are up.*
And what about the story summaries of others draws you in?
What draws me in to other’s stories summary-wise is what the premise has to offer, is there action, drama, angst, romance, that sort of thing. Or if there are certain favorite characters from a series I really like, and original one’s too. Good and effective summaries that lead into the thicker plot of the story almost always have me hooked within the first chapter. It’s amazing how author’s have a way with words, and there are so many of us who want our works to be read and praised. I know a lot of author’s over on the Archive I’ve yet to dig into their stories. There are just so many amazing stories to be told in the trekverse.
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So comes the close of Cards of Fate
A Christmas Surprise!
Good answer Zeusfluff.
I’ve seen some very good writers who seem to have trouble writing summaries. One thing for folks to keep in mind is that the first sentence or so is prime real estate. Look at the stories on the Archive, and where their summaries are cut off, and also on how they look on Facebook or even Twitter. There is not a lot of room there, so the first bits are pretty crucial.
Writers shouldn’t be taking up their most valuable real estate with statements like “will update often”. That can be inserted a lot further down into the summary (personally, I don’t think it’s needed at all, but I can understand why people would write it).
kes7 writes particularly good summaries, and she uses her prime real estate wisely. She doesn’t waste a word.