Spot on!

Fanfic summary do's and don'ts? by Halcyon on 2014-01-31 07:18:00 UTC Reply

You know how people like to say that "you can't judge a book by it's cover" right? I call partial bullshit on that. In fact in my years of sifting through fanfics, there's nothing that'll turn me off to a story quicker than a really sucky summary. Better yet, I think I'm starting to recognize some warning signs in the summaries of badfic or badslash fanfics.

Here's some of the more obvious and general faux pas that I've found in fanfic summaries:

Emoticons, particularly of this variety: X33333 XD :3 ;)
Mentionings of really OOC characters (Seriously why would you put that in a summary?)
"OMG I SUCK AT SUMMARIES!!" (Admittedly this one is more of a personal pet peeve)
Really REALLY bad typos or grammatical errors.

Any of these things or a combination of them are liable to send me running for the hills. They just don't give me a good impression of a story's potential or quality. Moreover prior experiences of ignoring these little "nit-picks" and clicking on the fic anyway have taught me that most of the time, my initial iffy impression was right on the mark.

What do you guys think? Am I just being really anal-retentive about this whole summaries thing? Got any of your own dont's that you want to add to this list? Better yet, what are some good things you look for in a fanfic summary?

Hm, sounds about right. by Antimapler on 2014-02-05 06:42:00 UTC Reply

Sometimes you do have to "sell" your fic in less than 100 words, particularly on Fanfiction.net. Not sure about DeviantART, though.
So true! by FloatingMyon on 2014-02-01 19:45:00 UTC Reply

I really agree with you there, even though I'm usually against stereotypes, but this one has done a particularly well job of proving itself to be true.
Also, if I see tags (on Ao3) which are mini-summaries in their own right and span an entire line or are simply composed of shameless self-praise, I usually stay away.
*chiming in to agree with everything that's been said* (nm) by Ailavyn Siniyash on 2014-01-31 20:16:00 UTC Reply
Spot on! by Sevenswans on 2014-01-31 18:42:00 UTC Reply

I have a few things to add:

Barfing up keywords (especially when like seven of them are synonyms.) It does not, in fact, tell me what the story is about. It might get you a couple extra clicks, but it's extremely annoying and I've found it has a really high correlation with low-quality stories.

Begging for reviews in the summary: everyone wants their fanfic to be read. Most want it reviewed. Throwing in a cutesy "plz r&r!" just tells me that you're an inexperienced author who isn't going to take my constructive criticism if I do take the pains to go through the story.
Yup, I agree with these don'ts. by Neshomeh on 2014-01-31 16:14:00 UTC Reply

Hedgehog's, too. If the summary asks a question like "Will X achieve Y?", you can bet that nine times out of ten the answer is yes, thus making it unnecessary to read the story to find out.

I'm not sure if there are any 100% reliable tricks to writing a good summary, though making sure everything is SPaG'd correctly is always a good start, of course. A general outline of the premise can work, but if you describe it too generally, it'll sound like all other stories with a similar plot. Quoting an interesting line or two from the story can be really effective—but if the story sucks, then your quotes will probably suck, too.

... Man, this gets me thinking, we haven't played Fill the Plothole in forever. Somebody should start a round. I'd do it, but unfortunately I don't have the time to devote to it right now. {= (

~Neshomeh
Yeah, all of this. by 99Hedgehog on 2014-01-31 07:52:00 UTC Reply

Also I must add the excessive use of questions in the summary irritates me. Like "Will Mary Sue find love? Or will she die a horrible death at the hands of the PPC?"

More of a pet peeve as well.

The Emperor Protects!