Hey Guys! Welcome to Effortless English with Rithy [writing]

       A summary is a shorter description of a longer work, covering all of the highlights but not many of the details. It’s used for an overview so that people can get an idea of what the longer work entails without reading or watching it first.

You see summaries everywhere, from book covers to product descriptions to online review sites. However, no matter how many summaries you’ve read, it can still be difficult to write your own when you need to.

Follow us to today’s writing!

Source: Dam Jonh

Let’s go!

Really, a summary is a general term used to describe any writing that briefly explains, or “summarizes,” a larger work like a novel, academic paper, movie, or TV show. Summaries are usually short, from one or two sentences to a paragraph, but if you’re summarizing an enormous work, like all seven Harry Potter books, they can stretch out over pages.

Summary writing uses the same best tips for all good writing. If you want to know how to write a summary yourself, we break the process down into 4 basic steps.

1. Read or watch the source material
The first step is fairly obvious: Read or watch whatever it is you’re writing a summary about. If you’re doing a book report or similar paper, there’s always a temptation to skip this step and just rely on other people’s summaries. We don’t recommend it, though. For starters, how can you trust the writer of that summary? What if they just wrote their summary based on another person’s summary, too? Moreover, you may miss some key points or events that the other summary overlooked.

The only risk-free way to write a summary is to read or watch the source material yourself. Otherwise you’re liable to miss something essential.

2. Make a list of the key points
Next comes the outlining phase, where you list out what points to include in your summary. How many items go on your list depends on the length of both the summary and the source material. If you’re running long, start cutting items that are less of a priority.

It always helps to use your memory at first. The most significant events will have left an impact on you, so using what you remember is a good filter for what’s vital. However, learn to separate what’s truly necessary and what’s just personal preference. Just because you fell in love with a secondary character doesn’t mean they’re worth mentioning in the summary.

To fill in the gaps of what you’ve missed, you may need to reread or rewatch your source material. Feel free to skim it to save time; you just need to map out the significant points, not reread every word.

3. Write the summary in your own words
Next, write the first draft of your summary following the lists you made in the previous outlining stage. If you’re summarizing a book, film, or other media, it’s best to use chronological order (even if the story is told out of order).

The key here is using your own words. While you’re free to copy the occasional direct quote in your summary writing, it’s best to use original language to make it your own. Also, keep in mind the perspective of someone who’s never read or seen the source material. Do you have all the relevant points they need to understand what’s going on?

To make your summary writing easier to comprehend, use plenty of transitional words and phrases, such as however, as a result, and meanwhile.

4. Edit and cut what’s unnecessary
Last comes the proofreading phase, where you reread your summary and correct any mistakes or awkward wording. For summary writing, watch out for unnecessary information, too; every word is crucial, so removing unnecessary information gives you more room to elaborate on the main points. Prepared by Rithy