MetaFic

Ignoring this fine example of . . . er . . . I'm trying to be politically correct, but I'm not sure it's possible. I have serious trouble writing summaries for my own stories. I spend ridiculous amounts of time looking at those three or four sentences, and no matter what I do, they never seem right. Usually, I end up bugging Dave to do something with them. Anything.

I have yet to write a summary (without external input) that will make me feel good.

At least I know they aren't supposed to look like author's notes written by a nine-year-old.

I am also adept at spotting a woeful summary without yet being able to form a coherent one of my own.

I think part of the problem is that people get confused as to whether they're writing a one-sentence tag-line, like for a film, or a several-paragraph blurb, as would be suitable for the back of a book (or inner-flap on a dust-cover if you want to be pedantic ;-)

An cleverly obscure tag-line, on the one hand, can make you scratch your head and decide to watch the film if only to figure out what it meant.

A decent blurb, on the other hand, needs to be clear without giving too much away...a certain amount of teasing might be suitable depending upon the type of book. It does have the huge advantage of describing a work which has been completed, so which details to include or omit can easily be determined.

A summary of a work-in-progress, on the gripping hand, needs to be somewhere in between. Clear enough to give the poor unsuspecting reader some idea of what they're about to subject themselves to, yet obscure enough to give as little away as possible. No wonder most people stumble and fall at this hurdle...maybe there's a niche market to be farmed there.

I note (presumably because you assume it to be far too obvious to need mentioning ;-) that you omit reference to the kiss-of-death "Plz R&R" notice, and its variant forms, which can be stripped out immediately to make almost any summary infinitely better...

I myself hate writing my own summaries, and I've had pretty significant help with several of them. Maybe there's a pattern there? It might be easier for a knowledgeable second-party (i.e. not the author) to summarize the content. The author can be tempted to oversimplify (based on the thought that there's no way a tiny summary can convey the real point, so why try?) or get too detailed (the reverse reaction). The author is too submerged in the trees to be able to effectively summarize the forest. Just a thought.

Harry came. Then he kicked ass. But he got in an angst-fest over a bimbo. And Draco kicked Harry's ass before kissing it. And then the readers killed the author. So this will be abandoned right about when I realize I can't make the plot work anymore. Or without a few more shovels of angst. Won't you please read? I won't post more if you don't review. Kisses and Hugs from the author to you.

Josh that was freaking hysterical! And the funny thing about it is that it is SO VERY RIGHT ON THE MARK. I laughed myself silly over your comment!

Hahahaha!

Pooky

Here are some other "classic" summary lines:

"Chapter 1 is bad, but get's better!"

"Summary sucks, but story is better!"

"Much better than it sounds!"

Makes me want to read! Doesn't it make you want to read also?

Chris (Pooky)

I seem to have the opposite problem to just about everyone else who posted on this thread. I am great (imho) at writing summaries. I write up story summaries all the time (I have lots of ideas for fics floating around.) What I suck at is the STORY to go with the summaries! Maybe I should become the official "movie trailer" maker for fanfic stories and let others make the fic itself! Oh man, if only the stories would write themselves!

Chris (Pooky)

I think a succinct summary is very difficult to write. Especially if it is supposed to be the hook without a hint of bait or line. My summary for The Lost Tower is lame upon lame, but I couldn't come up with anything better. I really like the one for my first attempt at a story: "Romance and Weaselys." The summary is probably better than the story!

How often do the summaries factor in to a reader's decision to to start a story? For me it is sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Knowing summaries are hard to write well, I'll often read the first chapter and then determine if the story will hold my interest. If there is a story by an author I already enjoy I will read the summary with the thought "Oooh, what's this one about?"

Almost always these days... I've become a lot more selective in what I read, and unless the summary says something that indicates that the story might be of interest to me I usually won't bother. The exceptions are if I am familiar with and have enjoyed reading an authors writing, in which case I'll usually give the fic a go, unless something in the summary particularly turns me off; or if the fic has been recommended to me, in which case I may be more inclined to give it a go.

- SC

Joining the slew of authors admitting to such, I suck at them, too. It's somewhat easier (but sucks no less) for shorter stories, but every time I try to write a better one for Echoes, I just give up.

You can further break down the problems by those that fail even the basics of grammar or logic. Random example off of the FesteringFetishes main page:

"Title: Trouble with love. Summary: Harry/Ginny realise their love for one and other one summer and try to be together but find difficulties. First story be nice. Rated T for future chapters just in case"

It starts off depicting a MOO-like union in one two-bodied entity, Harry/Ginny.

Not only does HG love their MOO-like self, they also love "other one", which given the way FFnet stories run, is probably Draco/Snape as the other MOO-ness entity. Trying to be together as HG with DS is of course going to be difficult.

But at least the author is candid -- the ability to write would be nice.

And a random rating was thrown at the story as the author has no clue what they are writing, why, or how things will happen. So just to be safe, it will be documented that Trolls only need apply. And it's the reader's guess as to whether remotely accurate physics, economics, or sane dialog will exist.

But they get bonus points -- at least all the words in their title are correct. That's not as much of a given as you might expect it to be.

Another good indicator is if the the summary reads something like a horoscope.

"With the full moon approaching Harry encounters an old flame. Is love on the cards?"

I've had crappy luck finding stories based upon their summaries and/or titles, so I've mostly given it up. Basically, I found my first story ever when it garnered some mainstream media attention for being erroneously posted as a 'leaked' copy of book 7. That story was The Seventh Horcrux, and when I googled for it, I landed on SIYE. Since then, my meandering path through the HPFF world has been led by various recommendation threads and - mostly - by browsing the 'Favorite stories' list of the various authors who I DO like. I figure if I like an author's work, I'll like what they like, and it's generally worked out.