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Read Me!: A Tutorial For Writing the Perfect Summary
An Article by Zelia Theb
March 2005
This is a step-by-step guide to writing the most eye-catching summary (Also known as ADVERTISEMENT) for your story. This guide should be used for fiction archive websites, where summaries need to be concise and have a character limit. However, with a few tweaks here and there, it can also be used to write full page summaries.
On archive sites, the key to hooking a reader lays nearly ninety-five percent upon the summary of the work. Garbage will attract garbage. A summary lacking quality and generally littered with errors will gather readers and reviewers who can't say much more than "plz update soon". If you want to get the readers who give a care; readers who understand big words and can catch on to your subtle underlying themes and unique characterization, you need this tutorial!
First off, if you think that you suck at summaries, absolutely do not put anything along the lines of "I suck at summaries, better one inside" into your summary! Remember, summaries on these sites are like advertisements. Not only does this immediately deter the type of respected reader that you want supporting you, but it also shows that you lack confidence in your own abilities. Plus, if you've already stated that you "suck" at summaries, why would anyone believe that there is a better one contained on the story page?
Second, think about the genre of your story. You want your summary to reflect your work's main genre. This gives people a taste of your writing style without having to see an excerpt of the story.
Next, decide how much of the story you want to give away. Putting too much in a summary lets readers know exactly what to expect; ensuring that they will read for that specific thing, and making them more likely to ignore or read over your other themes and carefully thought out details.
However, this does not mean that you should make your description too mysterious either. It has its disadvantages. Let's say that your story actually is bad; you're setting up your readers for a major disappointment! You may find yourself plagued negative feedback, in addition to outcasting a smarter audience which chooses to avoid such a set-up altogether and will skip by. Finding the perfect balance is entirely up to you!
Finally, decide whether or not you want to place commonly used acronyms and words as a heads-up. For instance, fans of shounen-ai will jump on a story that says so in the story, and people that dislike shounen-ai will not read it (also narrowing down your chances of receiving a negative review). If writing a fan-fiction that is centered around certain characters or a pairing, their names or initials are helpful to place there as well.
Keep in mind, though, that certain people need warnings in summaries, especially for stories containing homosexual content. Also, depending on the characters (for fan-fiction), you may either pique an interest in a reader that wasn't there before, or completely drive that person away. These acronyms and words are still entirely optional, and really the most helpful when writing fan-fiction.
The cherry on the top is adding in a story's status. Here are three of the most commonly used status descriptions you should use:
- Work in Progress (Incomplete): This is not a necessary warning, as many archive sites are specifically designed for authors to make continuous updates. Personally, I never use this in my own summaries due to character limits.
- Complete: Just as it says. Complete works will continue to receive feedback because the reader knows that they will not have to continue to update themselves on the progress of the work. Remember though, not to upload your whole work at once if you want to rack in chapter-by-chapter reviews!
- One-Shot: A chapter-less work that has the same appeal as "Complete" works, and even a little more due to their size being relatively smaller than multi-chaptered works.
Now, you should be fully equipped and well on your way to writing great summaries for all of your works! Good luck, and may readers flock to you!
The Top Five Fan-Fiction Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
An Article by Zelia Theb
March 2005
Fan-Fiction; it's everywhere, and chances are, you're reading this article because you're a fan and/or writer. Unfortunately, as many of us fan-fiction adherents know, it's really hard to find a good read. The art of writing fan-fiction has fallen to those who really just want to write a story and the attention it will get, not the ones who write quality, or actually want to improve their own style.
That's why I've taken it upon myself to list the Top Five Fan-Fiction Mistakes, and show writers how to avoid them. The list consists of:
1) Characterization
2) Plot Holes and Inconsistencies
3) The Editing Process
4) Summary
5) Author's Notes
Let's start at the bottom, and work our way up.
Author's notes. They're rampant. The worst thing to do in an Author's Note is to hold fake "conversations" with muses or characters. You're writing a mini-letter to yours fans and readers, not speaking to an imaginary being that really has no bearing on anything. Not only does an experienced and respected reader not want to read such drivel, but depending on the "conversation", your Characterization of the whole story can be affected with how you depict the characters out of the story! Remember; a flaw in characterization is the number one mistake!
Your story's summary. I've written a tutorial entitled Read Me!: A Tutorial For Writing the Perfect Summary for just this purpose! Summaries are the key to hooking readers; giving them a preview of your style and your story. As stated in my tutorial, if you allow your summary to contain spelling errors or something along the lines of "I suck at summaries", no one is going to believe that the inner content of the story will not "suck" as well.
The editing process, otherwise known as proofreading your work. Reading an error-riddled work is literally painful. Now, some word processors do not come with a spelling and/or grammar checking program, however, if your program has it; use it! Then, once that runs through, make absolutely certain that you carefully read your own work, checking for misplaced words that are spelled right, but not the correct word for the surrounding context. Check for redundancies with pronouns, verbs, and adjectives, and change them if your writing style allows for it. Now it will be up to the readers to further your proofreading, and finding "beta" readers always helps!
Plot holes and inconsistencies. How many of these have you seen ruin your favorite story? To avoid plot holes and general inconsistencies between information in your work, pretend that you are a brand new reader. Ask yourself all of the questions that a reader would ask, and then answer them. Now, I'm not saying that you should just lay the story's ending flat out on the table; not at all! However, wrap everything up that you feel needs to be wrapped up by the story's conclusion.
Basically, if you have an idea in your mind about how your story is going to work, fill in the blanks. If you're writing as it comes to you, make sure that you read earlier chapters or related works in order to remind yourself of the minor details. It is very important to not place an event into your story just to "put it there" because you felt like it. Be prepared to explain it, and try to avoid the old "It was a dream" or "It's fantasy, they can do that" excuses (Unless of course, this plot is eluded to or introduced earlier in the work, and not just dumped all into one paragraph or chapter).
And now for our number one mistake in fan-fiction, characterization! Gosh, there is nothing worse than reading something about your favorite character, only to find that their brains have been completely rearranged and personalities wiped. In essence, avoid just using a character for the way that they look. This happens a lot when people try to pair up their favorite characters and throw them into odd situations; the characters only end up looking the same, and sometimes can only make reference to their one defining attribute that doesn't necessarily reflect their entire personality (A perfect example would be Yu Yu Hakusho's Kurama growing roses).
Going "AU" (Alternate Universe, ie; another storyline or environment not existing in the original story) is fine; it is when characters go out-of-character (OOC) that things go for a loop. If you're intention is to write about a feminine character loving a tough hot-headed punk, then use the characters associated with the qualities, and do not change your favorite characters to your liking! This not only angers and generally deters readers from your work, but it almost says that you like a character merely for their appearance, not their inner being, and that is rather shallow now, isn't it? Otherwise, you're better off writing your own original fiction instead of delving into fandom.
That concludes our journey into the terrifying depths of horrible fan-fiction! But fear not, armed with this list and the information accompanying it, you should be well prepared for your personal escapades with your favorite characters! Bon voyage!