Check in: day 16

[lilly_c]

How is today going for you?

Poll #14720

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8

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Today I have

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written
6 (75.0%)

edited
1 (12.5%)

posted
1 (12.5%)

sent to beta
2 (25.0%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

had a break
2 (25.0%)

dealt with life
1 (12.5%)

My progress is

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Mean: 6.25 Median: 7.5 Std. Dev 2.38

Terrible 1		1 (12.5%)
2		0 (0.0%)
3		0 (0.0%)
4		1 (12.5%)
5		0 (0.0%)
6		1 (12.5%)
7		1 (12.5%)
8		4 (50.0%)
9		0 (0.0%)
Fantastic 10		0 (0.0%)

Discussion: I suck at summaries, then the rest of your fic must suck too (fanfic flamingo)


When you’re looking for a fic to read, do you ignore the ones that have the words “I suck at summaries”? Or do you try to read it? Do you use that phrase or similar in your own fic?

I tend to skip the fics with I suck at…. in the header/summary info because I’ve usually decided that the fic won't be worth reading.

When I haven’t been able to write a summary for my own fic, usually drabble length pieces, I tend to use not summarised due to length or a variation of that.

Comments

[sharpiefan]

I skip those fics, also those with bad grammar in the summaries - and definitely those ones with either or both of those that also mention some OC/canon pairing.

I think I've come across an OC/canon pairing that didn't suck incredibly a grand total of about once.

I would never use the phrase 'I suck at summaries' anywhere - I wouldn't use anything negative about my fic anywhere I'm posting a link to said fic unless it was to specifically ask for con-crit or similar while polishing it. After all, the point of a summary is try to persuade people to read a fic, isn't it? Why say something that's likely to put them off reading it

[krait]

So much this! Anything with grammatical errors or self-insults in the summary goes immediately to the Do Not Read list; like it or not, a summary is the "cover" of your story, and if the cover isn't interesting or highlights an enormous flaw, people will move on.

I would never use the phrase 'I suck at summaries' anywhere - I wouldn't use anything negative about my fic anywhere I'm poinst a link to said fic unless it was to specifically ask for con-crit

Amen! :D I'm currently going through my first post-a-story-as-a-WIP experience, and I'm kind of painfully aware that it's rough and choppy and my adverbs are probably out of control... none of which I mention in the summary. Instead, I posted a brief author's note (which shows up only when you click on the fic, unlike a summary) and appears below the summary, noting that this is a rough draft and criticism is welcome. I feel like it was the best compromise between "I want people to be aware that this is not me at my most polished" and "I don't want people to see things only because I've pointed them out, skewing their feedback"... and, most importantly, only people who are interested enough by the premise to read it will be subjected to my opinions on it.

[hamimi_fk]

I personally give fics with these kinds of summaries a chance because sometimes the fics are actually good, but not always. I found one that I love but the person makes a lot of typos which is disappointing because their story is SO GOOD. =/ (I still read it as its an ongoing story, lol.)

It's still worth at least opening up a fic with a summary like this and scanning through the first paragraph because usually that's enough to tell you whether or not the story is worth your time or not. Though I don't believe there's any excuse for 'i suck at summaries' especially when you can use a small snippet from the story to give readers a feel for it.

[sharpiefan]

Something I try and do is find a sentence, usually at the beginning but occasionally towards the end, that either sums up the story or has a 'hook' to get a person interested.

Oh - one other thing that puts me off wanting to read a story is when the author asks a direct question in the summary. Like, oh, I don't know, 'Person finds herself in Fictional World X... How will she cope?' Though, a lot of those have the OC thing going on that puts me off, so I don't know.

I do occasionally open a fic with a summary like that and take a look, though nine times out of ten, my instincts were correct and it's not worth struggling with.

[krait]

one other thing that puts me off wanting to read a story is when the author asks a direct question in the summary.

Hahaha, I was thinking just last month about posting a snarky rant about something related to this! I'm getting irked by the overuse of the word "certain" in summaries; it shows up all the time, and it just comes across as so overly coy and pretentious. It's eerie how often it shows up in conjunction with the question-type summmaries, too.

"Harry has a task to accomplish, but what will he do when a certain blond Slytherin gets involved?"

First, I already know the answer; you put "Harry/Draco" in the pairings field! Therefore the answer is "bang him." Second, why are we avoiding his name? It's right there in the pairings field! And it's not as though there were hordes of blond Slytherins running around making Harry's life difficult; why must we titter behind our hands and make knowing gestures to single out the only reasonable candidate? This tells me that the author doesn't understand how plot twists or narrative tension work, which is not an incentive to read their fic.

I do occasionally open a fic with a summary like that and take a look, though nime times out of ten, my instincts were correct

Yep. I've opened some question-summary fics only to back out again, but sometimes I find a gem, and I've assembled two basic rules for them out of my experiences.

The first rule is "DO NOT ASK A YES-OR-NO QUESTION." 'Will Castiel eventually give in to the temptations of Dean's eager flesh?' I don't even watch Supernatural and I can already tell from your summary that the answer is "yes"; why do I need to read the fic?

The second rule is "Ask an open-ended question!" 'Will Twilight Sparkle give in to despair, or summon the power of friendship to defeat an unbeatable evil?' This isn't a yes/no question, but it's almost as simple. You've given me the basic outline of the entire fic and ruined any surprise that you might have built. Don't do that! Ask a question that makes me think about the answer, because then I'm more likely to want to discover the author's answer.

'Trapped on an alien planet with minimal supplies, how will the injured Kirk and Spock make it through a hostile tribe's territory to reach the rendezvous point in just three days... in the middle of the worst storm Planet X has ever seen?' I can think of a bunch of ways they can do that, but I need to know more about those hostile natives and their tech; and what kind of supplies they have, and exactly how bad those injuries are, and-- Yeah. That is a question summary that actually makes me want to read your story, because it actually contains what a summary ought to have: namely, a general idea of what the story is about. I know WHO I'm reading about, I know WHERE the story takes place, and I know WHAT they're up against in enough detail to decide whether it interests me, WITHOUT so much detail that there's nothing left to discover.

[ladygriddlebone]

As someone who does suck at writing summaries, but typically writes decent fic, I find the judgmental tone of that flamingo irritating. That said, I'd never go so far as to say "I suck at summaries" in the actual summary for one of my stories... but the suck remains nonetheless.

[sharpiefan]

Try picking a sentence in the fic that gives something of the tone or direction of the fic, or will leave the reader with a question. A summary doesn't have to be fantastically long and tell the reader every little nuanced detail, after all.

Have a look on the AO3 at some fics in your fandom and see how your favourite ficcers do it.

[ladygriddlebone]

I'm aware of the tricks for creating a passable summary, but thanks.

[sharpiefan]

Was worth the suggestion, anyway.

Hope you find something that works for you. :D

[dirty_diana]

For me, I'm not actually bugged by bad summaries (I'm terrible at them) but I do get a bit bugged by any kind of negative prefacing. I guess because an early English teacher drilled it out of me. People won't be looking for your flaws if you don't point them out! So idk if the flamingo is being judgey about bad summaries, so much as it's being judgey about introducing your fic with excuses. Not that that's necessarily better, hee.

[merryghoul]

I ignore those fics as well. If you need help with a summary, you should get it.

I also think that drabbles don't always need a summary. It's what caused me to stop using an archive, actually, because I submitted a drabble using only the prompts for the community I was writing it for, and one of the people using the archive tried to correct the prompt into a sentence I didn't agree with.

[krait]

Nothing, but nothing, will kill my interest in a fic faster than those words.

As someone much more concise than me once pointed out: this nonsummary reeks of emotional manipulation. Either you don't really think it's bad, you're just waiting for me to pat you on the back and insist that no, it's good, really... or you think it's good but you're claiming otherwise because that way if anyone disagrees you have a nice, safe 'I told you so' all lined up. There's no way to read that sort of summary that doesn't boil down to "I don't want a reader, I want emotional validation from strangers at any cost".

If it was so bad that you really hated it, you'd take it down. Leaving it up with a deprecatory comment attached is just trolling for pity; and that's not a service I've volunteered to provide.

[ceares]

I both hate summaries and I'm bad at them. Most of the time my fic is so short that a summary(even a line from the story) feels like one of those trailers that gives everything away, so what's the point of watching/reading? Or it just feels clinical and uninspired.

I pic my fic mostly by tag and pairing now, or I go with authors I trust so an 'I suck at summaries' wouldn't keep me from reading, though a snazzy line from the fic has captured my attention for something I'd automatically pass over.