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Nov 23, 2020 · Revised on May 31, 2023. Summarizing, or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text. There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary: Read the text. Break it down into sections.
Below, we’ll go through five easy steps to write a good summary, complete with examples and tips. Let’s begin! Knowing how to write a summary can help you in various areas of your life.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
Jun 7, 2021 · How to Write a Summary: 4 Tips for Writing a Good Summary. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Jun 7, 2021 • 3 min read. With a great summary, you can condense a range of information, giving readers an aggregation of the most important parts of what they’re about to read (or in some cases, see).
Nov 11, 2021 · Summarizing Summaries. What Is a Summary? A summary is a shorter version of a larger work. Summaries are used at some level in almost every writing task, from formal documents to personal messages. When you write a summary, you have an audience that doesn’t know every single thing you know.
A good summary should be easy to comprehend, presenting the reader with a simple but all-encompassing understanding of the work at hand. With complex texts, summaries can be particularly useful because they distill big, complicated ideas into a bite-sized package.
Mar 27, 2024 · Writing a summary requires a deep understanding of the original text and the ability to concisely restate its main ideas in your own words, highlighting the essence of the content.
