TL;DR: The value of a summary

Summarizing summaries

A summary is a distillation of a piece of content to its main points or most essential parts. You can summarize any kind of text—written works like books and magazines, visual media like movies and TV shows and plays, and myriad other forms of narrative. Summaries are similar to, but distinct from, paraphrasing—repeating something in your own words.

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When and where to use summaries

In instances that require concision or a broad overview of key points, a summary is the most powerful thing in your rhetorical toolbox. Contexts in which you’ll find summaries especially effective include:

• Digital communication. There usually isn’t a reason to send a long email, and even fewer reasons for tapping out a novella-length text message. Short and sweet is a good approach when using typed and quick-response comms.
• Educational contexts. Research papers are full of summaries—starting with a summary of the paper itself. Note taking is also an exercise in summarizing, no matter which note-taking method you use.
• Personal contexts. If you leave notes for yourself, you probably do a fair amount of summarizing (maybe in the form of a bulleted list). Keepers of a classic journal also find themselves summarizing the events of their day-to-day lives when they write.
• Professional contexts. Summaries show up all over the office—and on the journey into it. Resumes often include summaries of experience. Presentations typically have several summaries—a summary of what’s being presented; summaries of topics covered, or points made, or research conducted. Meetings yield follow-up summaries. Sales often include summaries, too, leaving the details to the fine print.

How to write a summary

Different kinds of summaries (and different contexts) require different writing approaches, but there are some key elements that every summary includes. Here’s a step-by-step guide for how to capture them in your next summary:

1. Familiarize yourself with the text. Read it, watch it, listen to it—however you’re meant to consume the text, do it. Do it well. Do it more than once.
2. Once you know the text inside and out, outline it. Go chronologically, if you’d like, or go by order of importance of details or facts. Just make sure you get all the key facts and the main takeaway of the text.
3. 3Write a summary, in your own words, based on your outline. At this point, writing details in chronological order is likely most appropriate, but use your best judgement.
4. Read and revise. And read and revise again. Make sure every word of your summary is necessary.

Your approach to summary writing may also change depending on the length of the summarized text or the length required of the summary.

• Keep it simple. It’s a summary, not a deep dive! Follow typical grammar and spelling conventions,but avoid purple prose or needlessly complicated sentences.
• Stay focused. Resist the urge to add more than you need to—stick to the main points of the text.
• Don’t editorialize. Your opinion isn’t necessary here. In fact, your opinion doesn’t belong anywhere near a summary.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to see the forest for the trees, making summary writing a chore. If this happens to you while summarizing your own work, don’t forget to keep it simple and revise what you’ve written. Up next, learn how to say what you mean to write more clearly.