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Description
Fanfiction Writing
Your guide to writing a good summary
that will not make my eyes bleed

Your summary will be the first thing that your readers see and how they feel about it will not only influence whether or not they will read your story, but will also give them an idea about what the story itself will be like.

When writing a summary for your fanfic, remember that it has to be short.  You are NOT providing an in-depth analysis of your story.  Your summary should be quick and to the point.  If you can't sum up everything that you have written in only a few words, perhaps you should provide a teaser.  Take a short quote from your fic that you feel is particularly interesting even out of context, and let readers have it in place of a description.

When writing a summary, I feel that it is important to mention what setting your story will be taking place in.  Remember that just because you like AU doesn't mean that everyone does, so you want to include 'AU' in your summary if it will fit.

NEVER tell readers that you suck at writing summaries.  Nothing will turn an experienced fan fiction writer/reader away from a story faster than the phrase 'I suck at summaries' does.  It is also not in good taste to beg your readers for reviews in the summary.  'R&R' is better left for the end of your fanfic.

Let's practice!

Example:

SURPRISE!  Kagome's Cuz Jeff has come to visit her! BUT GUESS WHAT!! He falls down the well and gets turned into a HANYOU! Readto find out the rest!!! Don't 4get to R&R

Okay, now can anyone point out any problems with this summary?

The first thing that we are going to do is take out all of the Caps Lock.  If you want to make an impact, use your words.  Virtually shouting at your readers is bad netiquette.

Surprise!  Kagome's Cuz Jeff has come to visit her! But guess what!! He falls down the well and gets turned into a hanyou! Readto find out the rest!!! Don't 4get to R&R

You can see that though it still does not sound perfect, it looks much better.

Next we will take out the text talk.  If that means that you have less room for words, see if there are any that you can remove.  In this case, we can remove 'Surprise.'

Kagome's cousin Jeff has come to visit her!  But guess what!! He falls down the well!  And he gets turned into a hanyou! Read to find out the rest!  Don't forget to R&R

Now, there are still some things for you to fix.  Do you see how even though it looks a little better, your summary still doesn't flow smoothly? That's easy enough to fix!  Simply remove any excess phrases such as 'guess what!' and maybe replace some of your exclamation marks.  By this stage we have removed enough from your summary that you can add a few words to join phrases more smoothly.

Kagome's cousin Jeff has come to visit her, but when he follows Kagome into the well he too is transported into the past where he is transformed into a hanyou.  Don't forget to R&R!

Okay, so that's a little better.  It still looks awkward though. We have now gone from having many short sentences to one long sentence, which is also not ideal.

Kagome's cousin Jeff has come to visit her.  When he follows Kagome into the well house he is shocked to learn that he can time travel as well, and on the other side he is transformed into a hanyou! Don't forget to R&R!

Again, better but still not perfect. I am going to let you in on a little secret: begging for reviews in your summary is annoying. You will be given not more but fewer reviews if you include this little statement.
I know this may be painful.  I can see you pulling your fingers from the keys in shock.  Your heart may just stop beating.  But the thing is, I know that you will be Okay once that little phrase is gone and that even though right now you probably just want to give up writing altogether and fill that blank space on your profile with 'I suck at summaries', you and your readers will be happier when it is gone.

Asking for reviews is something to do at the end of your story, if you are going to ask for them at all.  If you write 'A/N: Reviews make me very happy.' at the end of your fic, you will be guaranteed to have much more positive feedback.

Kagome's cousin Jeff has come to visit her.  When he follows Kagome into the well house he is shocked to learn that he can time travel as well, and on the other side he is transformed into a hanyou!

Even though it is not perfect, it is much better than when we started out.  This summary is an improvement over your first attempt, and the bad writer cliches have been removed.  Want to go that extra mile?

For those who are as nit-picky as I happen to be, seeing that Kagome, who is Japanese, has a cousin named Jeff feels wrong.  Oh, maybe he moved to America three years ago and has been studying abroad, but chances are that he also has a Japanese name to be addressed by while he is in Tokyo.  Don't know any Japanese names?  Never fear!  Just type 'Japanese name generator' into Google search and you will be able to find one. There! I just translated the name 'Jeff' into 'Fujiwara Ryouji.'  If you still don't like it, just go back and try again.  You're 'real' Japanese name changes each time you click the button.

Great!  We have gone from this:

SURPRISE!  Kagome's Cuz Jeff has come to visit her! BUT GUESS WHAT!! He falls down the well and gets turned into a HANYOU! Readto find out the rest!!! Don't 4get to R&R

To this:

AR: Kagome's cousin Ryouji has come to visit her.  When he follows Kagome into the well house he is shocked to learn that he can time travel as well, and on the other side he is transformed into a hanyou!

Congratulations,  You have now written a good summary that won't scare away readers and potential reviewers!

Let's go over the 'rules' one more time:

1) Remove all Caps Lock
2) Take out the 'text speak''
3) Take out unnecessary words and phrases clogging up your summary.
4) Make sure that your writing flows smoothly.  Attempt to use proper punctuation.
5) If you haven't done so yet, remove popular phrases such as 'I suck at summaries', 'read to find out more' and 'Please read and review!'
6) Read it over a few times, once in your head and once out loud.  If it still sounds funny, have someone else look at it.  If you don't have a beta reader yet, find one.  There are many fan fiction authors out there who will be happy to spare a few moments to read over your story. There is actually a whole section on FF.net that is dedicated to them.
7) Please for the love of God use spell check!

More examples:

Draco is a HAWT surfer in Hawaii.  Harry needs someone to teech him to win a bett.  Could Draco be the one to save him? READ TO FIND OUT! R&R!!!!

Draco is the best surfer along the coast.  Harry needs a teacher.  Neither expected to be more to each other than a way to make a quick buck, but fate had other plans for them.

Edward and Bella have their first fight.  Can Edward win Bella back?  Or are they over 4good?

When Edward and Bella have their first fight, Edward is at a loss for what to do.  Can he salvage what is left of their relationship, or has he gone too far?

See, with a little practice it's easy!

Happy Writing,
Joy

Description
Fanfiction Writing
Your guide to writing a good summary
that will not make my eyes bleed

Your summary will be the first thing that your readers see and how they feel about it will not only influence whether or not they will read your story, but will also give them an idea about what the story itself will be like.

When writing a summary for your fanfic, remember that it has to be short.  You are NOT providing an in-depth analysis of your story.  Your summary should be quick and to the point.  If you can't sum up everything that you have written in only a few words, perhaps you should provide a teaser.  Take a short quote from your fic that you feel is particularly interesting even out of context, and let readers have it in place of a description.

When writing a summary, I feel that it is important to mention what setting your story will be taking place in.  Remember that just because you like AU doesn't mean that everyone does, so you want to include 'AU' in your summary if it will fit.

NEVER tell readers that you suck at writing summaries.  Nothing will turn an experienced fan fiction writer/reader away from a story faster than the phrase 'I suck at summaries' does.  It is also not in good taste to beg your readers for reviews in the summary.  'R&R' is better left for the end of your fanfic.

Let's practice!

Example:

SURPRISE!  Kagome's Cuz Jeff has come to visit her! BUT GUESS WHAT!! He falls down the well and gets turned into a HANYOU! Readto find out the rest!!! Don't 4get to R&R

Okay, now can anyone point out any problems with this summary?

The first thing that we are going to do is take out all of the Caps Lock.  If you want to make an impact, use your words.  Virtually shouting at your readers is bad netiquette.

Surprise!  Kagome's Cuz Jeff has come to visit her! But guess what!! He falls down the well and gets turned into a hanyou! Readto find out the rest!!! Don't 4get to R&R

You can see that though it still does not sound perfect, it looks much better.

Next we will take out the text talk.  If that means that you have less room for words, see if there are any that you can remove.  In this case, we can remove 'Surprise.'

Kagome's cousin Jeff has come to visit her!  But guess what!! He falls down the well!  And he gets turned into a hanyou! Read to find out the rest!  Don't forget to R&R

Now, there are still some things for you to fix.  Do you see how even though it looks a little better, your summary still doesn't flow smoothly? That's easy enough to fix!  Simply remove any excess phrases such as 'guess what!' and maybe replace some of your exclamation marks.  By this stage we have removed enough from your summary that you can add a few words to join phrases more smoothly.

Kagome's cousin Jeff has come to visit her, but when he follows Kagome into the well he too is transported into the past where he is transformed into a hanyou.  Don't forget to R&R!

Okay, so that's a little better.  It still looks awkward though. We have now gone from having many short sentences to one long sentence, which is also not ideal.

Kagome's cousin Jeff has come to visit her.  When he follows Kagome into the well house he is shocked to learn that he can time travel as well, and on the other side he is transformed into a hanyou! Don't forget to R&R!

Again, better but still not perfect. I am going to let you in on a little secret: begging for reviews in your summary is annoying. You will be given not more but fewer reviews if you include this little statement.
I know this may be painful.  I can see you pulling your fingers from the keys in shock.  Your heart may just stop beating.  But the thing is, I know that you will be Okay once that little phrase is gone and that even though right now you probably just want to give up writing altogether and fill that blank space on your profile with 'I suck at summaries', you and your readers will be happier when it is gone.

Asking for reviews is something to do at the end of your story, if you are going to ask for them at all.  If you write 'A/N: Reviews make me very happy.' at the end of your fic, you will be guaranteed to have much more positive feedback.

Kagome's cousin Jeff has come to visit her.  When he follows Kagome into the well house he is shocked to learn that he can time travel as well, and on the other side he is transformed into a hanyou!

Even though it is not perfect, it is much better than when we started out.  This summary is an improvement over your first attempt, and the bad writer cliches have been removed.  Want to go that extra mile?

For those who are as nit-picky as I happen to be, seeing that Kagome, who is Japanese, has a cousin named Jeff feels wrong.  Oh, maybe he moved to America three years ago and has been studying abroad, but chances are that he also has a Japanese name to be addressed by while he is in Tokyo.  Don't know any Japanese names?  Never fear!  Just type 'Japanese name generator' into Google search and you will be able to find one. There! I just translated the name 'Jeff' into 'Fujiwara Ryouji.'  If you still don't like it, just go back and try again.  You're 'real' Japanese name changes each time you click the button.

Great!  We have gone from this:

SURPRISE!  Kagome's Cuz Jeff has come to visit her! BUT GUESS WHAT!! He falls down the well and gets turned into a HANYOU! Readto find out the rest!!! Don't 4get to R&R

To this:

AR: Kagome's cousin Ryouji has come to visit her.  When he follows Kagome into the well house he is shocked to learn that he can time travel as well, and on the other side he is transformed into a hanyou!

Congratulations,  You have now written a good summary that won't scare away readers and potential reviewers!

Let's go over the 'rules' one more time:

1) Remove all Caps Lock
2) Take out the 'text speak''
3) Take out unnecessary words and phrases clogging up your summary.
4) Make sure that your writing flows smoothly.  Attempt to use proper punctuation.
5) If you haven't done so yet, remove popular phrases such as 'I suck at summaries', 'read to find out more' and 'Please read and review!'
6) Read it over a few times, once in your head and once out loud.  If it still sounds funny, have someone else look at it.  If you don't have a beta reader yet, find one.  There are many fan fiction authors out there who will be happy to spare a few moments to read over your story. There is actually a whole section on FF.net that is dedicated to them.
7) Please for the love of God use spell check!

More examples:

Draco is a HAWT surfer in Hawaii.  Harry needs someone to teech him to win a bett.  Could Draco be the one to save him? READ TO FIND OUT! R&R!!!!

Draco is the best surfer along the coast.  Harry needs a teacher.  Neither expected to be more to each other than a way to make a quick buck, but fate had other plans for them.

Edward and Bella have their first fight.  Can Edward win Bella back?  Or are they over 4good?

When Edward and Bella have their first fight, Edward is at a loss for what to do.  Can he salvage what is left of their relationship, or has he gone too far?

See, with a little practice it's easy!

Happy Writing,
Joy