Summary

You know that thing on the back of books? That's like a paragraph or two long? Sometimes a tad bit longer, depending on how many "thumbs up" from different places are on the back...
That's the summary, it's something to catch the reader's attention (along with the first sentence of the book), something to make the reader want to continue reading this book and not put it down for a moment.

Keep it short, sweet, and concise. Do not give out any information more than need be, and make it feel like there is much more to be said about the information you have given. That is the key to a well written summary.

When in doubt... Just grab a suspenseful paragraph or two from your story and quote it word for word in your summary (it's what I did for ym shorts). It works wonders, people see how well written it is, and want more... Or, they know it's not their type of thing and move onto the next thing =)

I find that maybe a single lyric {credited of course} and a single line works well for one-shots depending what they are. Generally works with original fictions or songfics, not usually fan fiction.

Chaptered fics need a decent summary. Make it something you'd read if you were to read it on a book.

Summaries are a really hard thing for me. It usually comes for me before the story begins or I have to struggle with it for days on end. Summaries for my drabbles are usually really easy. Summaries for my fics, not so much.

I use quotes from the story as a last resort.

I absolutely fail at summaries. They annoy me to no end! It's like they're plotting against me.... :grr: I always have to edit it and change some things. Heck, sometimes I wish there wasn't a summary at all! My newest story has the most decent summary so far, it's short and kind of stupid, yet I like it. :con:

Thanks for all the people that left those amazing tips!

I don't really get disclaimers in fanfic summaries :think:

I mean, is it really nessecary for you to tell us that you don't own the band members and stuff? :shifty

Lewis Kingston:

I don't really get disclaimers in fanfic summaries :think:

I mean, is it really nessecary for you to tell us that you don't own the band members and stuff? :shifty

There are actually some sites I've been on that insisted on disclaimers. Livejournal I think to be more specific.

I usually have trouble trying to write decent summaries. I sometimes think that it's not worth writing a really long winded one, because I get the feeling that not everyone will read it anyway, even though that's not always the case.

It's giving the entire story away that I have trouble with when writing them. I like to leave as much mystery as possible, but still tell people what they're going to be reading about. I think right now, most of my stories have a couple of sentences and maybe a lyric as the summary.

Disclaimers are your way of protecting yourself... Since posting something, is essentially an unwritten copywright... You can honestly get after someone for publishing your story under their name, or stealing your work from the web and calling it their own.

As is using someone's name (if they are famous they can use that), or personality and traits... It's usually just safer to say "The characters in this story are in no way resembling anyone. Any similarities in character to real people are merely coincedence"

Or, for fanfics a "I do not own <said character>. His/Her likeness is portrayed for the humor/drama/etc of the story."
It's just something nice to do... I mean you'd want that wouldn't you?

Masterpiece:

I absolutely fail at summaries. They annoy me to no end! It's like they're plotting against me.... :grr: I always have to edit it and change some things. Heck, sometimes I wish there wasn't a summary at all! My newest story has the most decent summary so far, it's short and kind of stupid, yet I like it. :con:

Thanks for all the people that left those amazing tips!

My feelings exactly :lmfao

Short and sweet. That's the way I like them
:cute:

Kerplunk Girl:

Give a short summary of the plot (not the stuff Dru pointed out about offering skittles and stuff). Give something that makes the reader go 'o mi, i wonder wot it's going to happn. :omfg:'

It's all a case of Who, What, Where and How.

Who: will be the characters?
What: will be happening?
Where: will it be taking place?
How: will it turn out?

Don't be too obvious. Explain, but not too much. Leave the twists to be totally unexpected. It's all about suspense and making the reader want to read it. Sell the story.

I also think that characters should remain a mystery until you begin writing the chapters. You can say their names and where they are, but giving useless information about their height and eye colour no one really cares about. (The reader won't be thinking about how short or tall they are to the exact centimeter or how many colours their eyes have.)

Stuff like pictures of the characters aren't that appealing. Having an image of what you want the character to look like does nothing for the reader. Readers like to create the character in the minds with the descriptions you give in the story. Besides, some readers might not like images of the characters and be turned off reading the story because they are always picturing the character to be that way. But, if you want to use an image for the character, it's fine as long as you don't give away every aspect of them. (Leave a bit for the reader's imagination.)

Here's what I think is a bad summary that makes me hit the exit button (Its an example, not from anyone's story):

lol, just read please. (luv, emo, skittles etc etc just read)

http://bree.blogzoom.fr/images/mn/1182419925.jpg
Name: Sarah Jessica Anne Pitsberg
Height: 5ft 48cm 95mm
Eye color: Bright blue with a hint of green when it sparkles in the sun
Skin color: Tanned and pale, because she loves to sun bake under trees
Favorite food: ice cream with choc sprinkles and skittles, mountain dew as well

http://foto.rambler.ru/public/h/e/helena1666/3/22912338_21007785__emo2/22912338_21007785__emo2-web.jpg
Name: Jack Jake Harry Lovet
Height: 6ft 1cm 2mm
Eye color: dark brown and with a hint of sexy white that looks like ice cream
Favorite food: chocolate
Likes: skating, partying, dancing and listening to heavy metal. He also loves to go on the internet and speak to his best friend who doesn't appear in this story.

They bump into each other and fall madly in love.

READ AND COMMENT PLEASE!

And here's a better version (I made it up):

Sarah is just a simple girl just old enough to live alone. Unfortunately, living alone in her new home in New York can bring some troubling times. Walking to work on a cold winter's day, she unexpectedly hits a bump in the road.

Jake was more than a simple boy. He has lived in New York his entire life. He lives with out a care in the world as long as he has his friends to support him through rough times. But, sometimes only having friends isn't enough. Walking home on a cold winter's day, he unexpectedly hits a bump in the road.

Could they both accidentally fall in love?

I suggest reading the blurbs on the back of novels, those are great examples.
Here's a good one from the novel Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery.

With her old friend Prissy Grant waiting in the bustling city of Kingsports and her frivolous new friend Philippa Gordon at her side, Anne tucks away her memories of Rural Avonlea and discovers life on her own terms, filled with surprises...including a marriage proposal from the worst fellow imaginable, the sale of her very first story, and a tragedy that teaches her a painful lesson. But tears turn to laughter when Anne and her friends move into an old cottage and an ornery black cat steals her heart. Little does Anne know that handsome Gilbert Blythe wants to win her heart, too. Suddenly Anna must decide whether she's ready for love.

It all depends on your writing style, but remember that the summary is just as important as the story itself and it's the thing that makes someone read the story.

*stops rambling*

I really like where she's going. It was very informative. Thank you so much!
:D

For This Has Your Name Written All Over It, I listed the pairings. Then I skipped a few lines and posted a poem Ryan wrote that I thought fit rather well. Skipped a few more lines and mentioned it was set in the future. Skipped some more and include a three line excerpt.

It was a very hard story to summarize because it's not really about any concrete plot. Everything that happens is really... difficult to explain. Thus, the story.

Hello! My name is Amber, or Bamber :)
I am writing a Rydon/Ryden fanfic back am having troubles writing the summary. I would love it if someone would be able to help me right one. I will tell you part of the plot to the story in order to help write the summary. Thank you! And please comment back if you read this and can help in any way!

Amberzoo:

Hello! My name is Amber, or Bamber :)
I am writing a Rydon/Ryden fanfic back am having troubles writing the summary. I would love it if someone would be able to help me right one. I will tell you part of the plot to the story in order to help write the summary. Thank you! And please comment back if you read this and can help in any way!

I'll try to help. PM me.

I like summaries that make me go 'hmm well that seems intresting' I kinda suck at summaries but I'm pretty proud of the short of mine for On The Edge Of Eternity.

"Tragedy has always followed level headed Amber Waters. Then one night she meets a one Lestat de Lioncourt, a vampire whom before that night she knew only to be fictional."

Long ones however I sincealry suck with.

Okay , the basic Premise of this is that the vampire Lestat finds a mortal girl and falls in love with her. (Yes same old same old), during his time as a rock star, so basically, rewriting, the end of The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned, through the eyes of this girl. But I will stick closely to the events of the Queen of the Damned, just adding another character Lestat’s mortal lover. (This was formerly La Mortelle et le Vampire)

see shit. lol

Reading the blurbs of books in bookstores always seems to help me when I'm trying to organize my thoughts and condense them into a story summary.

I'll normally put a few lines relevant to the story, but still vague and such.

Sometimes I'll just put a few words that draw the person in, not something stupid like, "Frerard. Skittles. Funny. Read." But a few simplistic lines.

I don't like long summaries, really. If it's just a oneshot, which most of mine are, I'll just copy the short description for it.

But for something like Star of David, I actually have a long enough summary that I think people have mistaken it for a chapter before. I've also been told it's like a blurb on the back of a movie or cd.

For drabbles, I usually like to find a quote that goes with the story.

^ For drabbles, I usually don't even give a summary. Because when I write summary's for usual fics, they're about the same length as a drabble.
I just put the pairing and word count.

For a story that is going to eventually be posted, the summary is a poem describing the story. I think it's a cool way to show what your story is about.