Wattys 2022 Boot Camp

Workshop 2 - The Summary

A summary, also called a synopsis, is a snapshot of the book that tells your story from beginning to end, including spoilers. It is one of the most important and the most hated parts of the querying process when looking for representation for your story. But, when done well, your summary can make an agent sit up and take notice, so we thought it would be a good exercise to make summaries part of our Wattys Bootcamp submission package. More than that, it's also part of the Wattys submission package. So win-win.

What should be included in your summary?

The summary must convey a book's entire story arc, beginning to end. It shows what happens and who changes, and it has to reveal spoilers. Summary length can vary between 500 - 1000 words depending on what it's being used for. For the Bootcamp submission package (and the summary workshop), it should not exceed 500 words.

Generally, you will write the summary with your protagonist as the focus, describing what is at stake for them. Motivation is critical here—we need to understand what drives this character to act.

Second, we need a clear idea of the core conflict for the protagonist. What is driving that conflict? Is it family obligations? Their unemployed status? An old flame returns to town? 

Then we need to know how the protagonist succeeds or fails in dealing with that conflict. What are the main events, opportunities, and obstacles that cause the protagonist to act.

Finally, we need to understand how that conflict is resolved, and how the protagonist's situation and attitudes have changed.

What are the steps to writing a good summary?

There is no single "right" way to write a summary, but it's always nice to have a template. Here are six steps you can follow:

1) Skim through the manuscript, noting the important events of each chapter.

Try to boil every chapter down to just one or two sentences. What is the point of this chapter? What is the most important thing that happens?

There will be chapters that end up being longer than a sentence or two, particularly the opening chapters that introduce information about the world and the main characters. Likewise, the climax and resolution often revolve around complicated reveals and what the MC's future looks like, which may require more detail.

2) Lay a foundation.

The first paragraph of the summary should give the same basic information you convey through the book's first chapter. Where and when does this story take place? Who is the protagonist? And what problem are they facing right off the bat?

3) Use standard summary formatting.

Just like a blurb, summaries should be written in third person, present tense, even if your novel is written in first person or past tense.

4) Read through, with a focus on plot and sequence.

Distilling each chapter down to a sentence or two can lead to plot holes and lost information. Read through what you've written and check that every event in the story naturally leads into the next.

5) Read through, with a focus on character arc.

Now that the plot makes sense from beginning to end, check that your protagonist evolves as a result of the events in the story. Do readers get a sense of who they are at the beginning and how they've changed by the end? Make sure you've included those Big Moments that change your protagonist's attitudes and goals.

6) Read through, with a focus on trimming and editing.

With all the necessary information in place, read through a few more times and trim it up as much as you can. Remove excess words and phrases that don't help tell the story. Every word should serve a purpose.

Oof, that sounds hard. Do I really need to do this?

Summaries are just as useful to you as they are to the folks you submit them to. They can flush out unrealistic actions and unconvincing motivations by characters. A summary can also reveal weak endings and plot flaws. If there's nothing surprising to capture a reader's interest, your manuscript may not get read.

Now that you know why you need a summary and how to write one, you can take a stab at it with your Wattys work in progress. But first, go ahead and check out the following Sample Summary chapter. Examples often help to get the process going. Remember, keep your word count at or under 500. We'll see you in the summary workshop channel on discord.