Listen to AsCast!
A summary is just that: a summary of what the story contains.
A good summary balances the need to inform the reader as to what the fic is about with how much you want to give away about the story. It’s hard to give precise advice about how to do this, because it’s all to the taste of the individual authors and composition of the stories. The best thing you can do is ask yourself “How do I describe this story in one sentence?”
For example, say you were to write a story about how Rilian goes on a journey through Narnia in order to show himself to the kingdom after having disappeared for ten years, but he gets waylaid by a band of fauns who refuse to believe he’s the king, and who are also angry that, as Prince, Rilian seemed to have abandoned Narnia. While they’re arguing they are attacked by a pair of cave trolls. Rilian saves the band, who then informs him that there is some sort of snake monster in the mountains. He is reluctant to go after it because of his experience with the Lady of the Green Kirtle, but the snake has been attacking his people so he goes and defeats it in battle.
The story in one sentence? “Rilian journeys through Narnia, meeting disgruntled fauns and getting attacked by cave trolls before going after a snake monster”. The summary? “A year into his reign, King Rilian journeys through his kingdom, where he must move past his failures as a leader to save his people from the shadows of the past”. It does not talk about the fauns, or why they are angry at him, or the cave trolls, or even the snake monster. Those things are only hinted at, making the reader interested to know what exactly Rilian’s failures are and what the shadow of the past might be. While vague, the summary gives key pieces of information: the main character is Rilian, it takes place after the Silver Chair, and takes place in Narnia, not Underworld or the Lone Islands. The summary is also more poetic and interesting than the ‘story in one sentence’. Again, the amount of poetry versus bald statement of fact depends on the story – a fic about an adventure probably deserves more statement, while an exploration of a character’s thoughts might be more poetic.
On a different note, there are always some things that should be mentioned in summaries, at least depending on where you are posting the fic. In a community where all kinds of fics are accepted, such as fanfiction.net, it is considered polite to mention any kinds of romance in the summary, either in the summary itself or in the form of a simple pairing note at the end of the summary, e.g. Susan/Caspian (or Suspian), Peter/OC, or Cor/Aravis. This is only polite, as many people (my self included) tend to enjoy gen fics, or very specific pairings, and don’t like having a pairing sprung upon them without warning. Again, you have to weigh this if you want the pairing to be a surprise (such as in my “Soul Mates”), but on the whole I highly recommend warning for shipping except in specific communities (I doubt you need to warn for Suspian shipping in a Suspian-based community).
There are other warnings that many people like to have in the summary: Darkfic, movieverse versus bookverse, non-con (non-consensual), AUs, major character death, torture, and other things that people have aversions to. I am definitely sympathetic to wanting to be warned about some of these things, particularly things like non-con and graphic torture. However, as some of you may know, I do not warn for things like major character death. Mostly this is for shock value. Still, even for this, I tend to leave an author’s note in the first chapter that warns that something will happen, or even a hint in the title and summary. (Rating is usually a good hint as well. If the summary is pleasant and fluffy, but it’s rated K+ or T, you know something’s up.) So it is up to the author’s discretion if and where to put warnings, whether in the summary itself or in an author’s note. When in doubt, put a warning in.
Now, how much of the storyline you give away depends greatly on the type of story you are writing. Some fics are written in response to a question one might have. For example, in “Reclaiming Winter” I wondered whether Edmund would truly despair at the coming of snow after his experience with the White Witch. My story examined this through the eyes of Peter and Susan, who were asking the question, “How will Edmund react to the first snowfall after the defeat of the White Witch?” Therefore, I rephrased this question in my summary to make it a statement: “As the first winter after the defeat of the White Witch approaches, Peter and Susan worry about the effect it will have on their younger brother.” That summarizes the story without giving away the end.
Humor stories have fewer rules, but I would suggest making your summary humorous if your story is as well. Stories that are mostly character examinations tend to be vaguer since “I examine Edmund’s feelings during his captivity in the White Witch’s castle” is a boring summary. “Your mistakes stand out more clearly when you are chained in the icy bowels of a witch’s castle” is vague, but at least tells you that someone is captured in the witch’s castle, who, through deduction, you can assume is Edmund. And it just sounds more interesting.
Sometimes a writer wants to actively deceive their readers, lure them into a false sense of security before revealing a shocking twist at the end of the story. This is when less is better. You never want to lie in your summary, but you don’t have to tell the whole truth. Those of you who have read “Nor Cease in Singing Twilight” know that its summary (“The Four Pevensies spend a pleasant afternoon and evening riding through their beloved Narnia.”) certainly does not tell the entire story. Be careful of doing this too often, though, because then your readers won’t trust you and will take no notice of your summaries at all.
There is probably more to say about summaries than what I have done here. It’s like writing itself: the more you practice, the better you get. I still wince at some of my earlier summaries, just like I wince at my earlier stories. The best advice I can give is to take a look at summaries you like and try to practice writing your own summaries in the same fashion. Practice makes perfect (or near enough)!
To end, I’ll leave with a few things about summaries that tend to turn me off a story:
Lirenel has been writing fan fiction for several years, but moved into the Narnia fandom after Walden's LWW came out. She won Best Short Story for "Terror Gold" in the 2008 Revolution Awards. Lirenel is presently working with her beta to edit her multi-chapter fic "Letting Go," a “Prince Caspian” movie AU.