Summaries - Impossible?

[kanshu]

-- How can you sum up the contents of your fic in just two sentences?
-- How do you write a summary that attracts readers?
-- What warnings should be included in the summary?

-- What is annoying in summaries?
-- What in a summary makes you skip a story (key words, phrases, etc)?

[Me-Nuriko]

As for the first two questions: I have no clue! Please tell me!^^;;

Warnings: We talked about it in another thread, but, Boy's Love, character death, extreme violence are what comes in mind right now.

What is annoying in summaries: Bad spelling or short forms, like 'u' instead of 'you', 'cuz' instead of 'because' and such. It gives an unserious impression.

Makes me skip a story: 'What would happen if four girls...'. Sorry, but I do have read a few of those and I haven't found any I liked.

[therhoda]

I can't stand ones like this in the Inuyasha fandom such as-

Kikyo is a evil find out why....
Kagome finding Inuyasha with Kikyo runs to the arms of ------------ and finds true love. (gag!!!)
Slave anywhere in the summery or S/K I am so not into that one.

For other sections I am more open. But wading through Inuyasha can give a person a headache.

AS to others I like a gist of the story. but it depends on what type of story. Humor, you can give me a so and so falls for a trick. Serious or Angst I need more. AS I normally won't go near angst with out a reason. But i do read them if it is given a good summery. I also in sections that have them like to know if there are any pairings. Also when there is a challenge I like to know that in a summery.

One that caught me lately in Saiyuki was -
"A year ago, Gojyo made a promise to Hakkai, that after they defeated Gyumaoh and got home, they would adopt children. But, Gojyo thought Hakkai would forget all about it. He didn't. [58, some 39] " By KawaiiLilMarron

This caught me just because the idea of papa Goyjo gets me every time, but it also give me a story basis. So I am reading it.

[kanshu]

Well, a good summary should be like a commercial: highlight the good things and make the reader curious. It also should sum up what the story is about.

Maybe we could try to create various summaries for a short one chapter story... Does anyone have a story to suggest for that?

[D-chan]

Well, the thing I try to think about is the overall theme. What message am I trying to get across? What's the point of my story? Then I want to take what I come up with and shorten it. After that I try to make things just vague enough for the reader to be curious about the contents.

Or, if all else fails, use a short quote or description from the story. (Obvious quotes from the story are one exception I make when it involves the "no questions" bit.) So long as it doesn't give away the ending, it's hard to go wrong from there, I think.

I agree with Me-Nuriko on the warnings bit.

I don't like summaries with typos, misspelled names, or ones that give me the idea that the story is going to be cliche or poorly written. (Poorly written would include typos and such.) I usually skip summaries that signify original characters playing a major role (those are rarely done well, so I'll risk missing the good ones), pairings I'm not interested in, cliche plot devices, or even ones that look nice but have things such as, "This is my first fic, so R&R."

[Terra Fire]

What makes me skip over a summery?

I'd have to say the whole "Four girls fine themselves..." I don't even read anything else after that. Another thing would be the grammar. I don't mind typos that much, but only if the story was just posted, mainly because I'm a bit guilty for that, but after I realize it I'll go back to fix it. I like a detailed summery, but not too much detail to give away the ending. However, I like vague summaries that catch my interest.

I also agree with the Inuyasha summaries. With all the fics in that category, you have to have a catchy summery.

;}

[kellen]

Summaries are incredibly difficult for me sometimes. With one-shots and vignettes, I don't have such a hard time, but my longer stories... oi... I end up writing a couple paragraphs of summary and eventually narrowing it down to a couple sentences. I try to think of very action oriented, hard-driving words. I don't always succeed, but I try. LoL.

What I like to see in a summary is if the fic is a one-shot, WIP or completed. And I do think certain things need warnings: slash, rape-fics, etc...

On my latest little piece my summary was: "The death of a young ranger brings an onset of grief and guilt that is nearly too heavy to bear. Rated for themes of suicide. Vignette." Another simply says: "A vignette in three parts. The gun is in his hand." That sentence wasn't in the story; it merely revolved around the gun in Will Turner's hand.

I like short summaries.

What I don't like to see, though, is bad grammar and misspelling in a summary. I'll usually skip over a story if the names in the summary aren't capitalized. If I see webspeak, I'm through, and if I see "ooc but I don't care" I'm outta there.

I've also found this to be rather annoying (and I think someone mentioned it): Kags sees Inu kissing Kik and runs away. But she runs into some1 unexpected...

First of all -- it's nearly always Sesshomaru and the story goes something like this: "I don't care how many times you tried to kill me. I love you for some reason." Then Sess says "Forgive me, I was blind. I've always been intrigued by you." Then they have badly written sex.

*rolls eyes*

What was I saying? Oh, yeah... "Pleez r&r" and "It's my first fanfic so be nice" Those are great for the author's notes inside, at the header of the fic (which brings me to a whole 'nother pet peeve about putting notes in the text of the story in parenthesis.) Oh, and using the characters full, correctly spelled name is a plus. I get tired of seeing Leggy, Glorfy, Kags, Sesshy (and/or Fluffy...oi...)

*rereads posts, winces* I sound like a full fledged fic nazi, don't I? Ah, well. I'm putting the soapbox away now.

cheers,Kellen

[kitsuneoni]

For summaries... I just try to write something catchy/dramatic/funny depending on the feeling I get from my fic. I think I sometimes go a bit too much on the drama side, but I do write a lot of angst so I can't do much about it.

I'd be curious if you guys looked over my summaries and told me what you think of them--no one ever really offers an author help on that.

I always put the warnings at the end, along the lines of "PG13 for x, y, z." I include everything I think someone might find offensive.

I have to agree with what everyone has said about annoying summaries--that is, when an author can't even write properly. It just gives me the feeling that if they can't be bothered to write 2 sentences in correct English, I doubt they'll be able to write a whole story.

Also the "girl bumps into the main charas" scenario... I fell into that pitfall as well with one of my fics, Revival (and its sequels) and I've been thinking of taking them down for a long time now... I just haven't done it yet.

[iapetus]

For summaries, I have found that my best bet is to take either a quote from the story or a quote in general that seems to capture the feel of the story. I hate trying to come up with summaries more than I do coming up with titles, and that is saying a lot for me.

The summary needs to be catchy, or at least intriguing. I often look at the summary of a story before I do a title, so it's going to be the summary that will most likely draw me in.

Warning should be anything that a reader might immediately find offensive. Here I mostly think of things like yaoi or yuri, or character death. More specific warning should be at the top of your first chapter. I also believe the reader should be warned when the story is an alternate universe.

I absolutely hate it when summaries are not spellchecked and people substitute letters or numbers for words. I also hate it when you can blatantly tell there is going to be a Mary Sue, or when someone someone begs for reviews. It is also a bad idea to tell someone that a story is your first story (in the summary, if it is your first wait until the AN at the END of your story) - that is a major turn off for most people.

As a rule of thumb, I run my story summaries by someone first to make sure they are ok. If they are, then cool, I'll use it. If it is bad, then I'll rethink it and try to come up with another one.

-Iapetus

[KarotsaMused]

I couldn't say anything about my own summaries that hasn't already been said, so I won't waste space.

...But the interesting thing is when you run into stories whose summaries have NOTHING AT ALL TO DO with the fiction itself. (I doubt this is like the artful manipulation of elite Discworld chefs in dealing with Curious Squid.) At times I find such oddness annoying, but there are a few special cases where, once one has -read- the story, the symbolism in the summary becomes startlingly apparent. But I still doubt that as a good 'grabber' in the first place.

[Salmastryon]

Here's an idea for an exercise. Falling back on OptiMooses earlier idea. How about, if the authors don't mind, we try doing different types of summaries for the contest entries? The entries for that will all be short and I assume we'll all be reading them at least to vote on.

[therhoda]

You guys can play with my summary for sure. As the only thing I can think of will melt into the sea of other Saiyuki summaries.

But then again I still have to get this baby between the lines and semi polished up. Today is a research day, shucks I have to watch all the Hakkai episodes again. I am so put upon by my brain. ;D

[Salmastryon]

Some how that doesn't sound like chore

[kanshu]

Doing summaries on the submissions sounds like a great idea!

therhoda, you're doing a Hakkai fic for the contest? Cool! I'm really curious as to how you'll interpret the character.

Who knows, maybe I'll submit that Sanzo-birthday fic I planned ages ago and never wrote. *sigh* I need a vacation. I need more time.

[therhoda]

Me, Hakkai?? No I am writing a group piece. I am watching all My Hakkai episodes to try and make his voice come out right in the group dynamic. I can do the others I think, but he come out flat!! Frustrating as I adore him.

Summary so far- Four guys in a jeep headed west

Catchy don't You think?