HOW TO WRITE A GOOD BOOK SUMMARY

A book summary, sometimes called a synopsis, is the “cliff notes” version of a book. It recaps all the main ideas and does not include outside commentary.

To write a good summary, read the book carefully while taking notes on important ideas, plot twists, and main characters. You can then use your notes to draft and then proofread your awesome summary.

Writing a summary helps solidify what you’ve learned. Summarizing a book in your own words makes you reflect on the information that just entered your brain. If there were lessons or ideas in the book that you want to remember, this reflection time helps “encode” it in your memory.

Step 1 - Start Reading

Step 2 - Highlight and Take Notes

Highlight the book and take notes in the margins
Use stickies to mark pages and take notes
Take notes in a separate notebook

Step 3 - Write Mini-Summaries for Each Chapter

Who - What - When - Where - Why - How

Step 4 - Organize Your Mini-Summaries

For fiction books, group them by where they fall into the story structure:

Beginning (Intro to characters, setting, problem)
Rising Action (Tension around problem builds)
Climax (Highest point in tension)
Falling Action (Resolving loose ends after tension is resolved)
Resolution (Closure)

Step 5 - Condense Main Points Into a Bullet List

Now, with everything laid out in front of you, scan through each summary and pick out the most important ideas and plot points. Jot these down in bullet list form on a separate sheet of paper. (May be short phrases, single sentences, or of paragraph length)

When deciding which fictional plot points to include, ask yourself, “Is this information vital for understanding the ‘big picture’ of the story?” If the answer is No, cut it.

Step 6 - Write Your Summary

At this point, all you have to do is convert your bullet list to paragraph form.

The key here is to avoid rambling. Remember, this is a summary. You’re not re-writing the entire book.

Here’s a trick: Imagine you’re in high school and your BFF is about to take an exam on a book she didn’t read. You have two minutes to explain it to her before the bell rings and class starts. What do you include? What do you leave out?

How to Write a Book Summary Cheat Sheet

Book Summary Structure:

Book Summary of TITLE, by AUTHOR

Main characters:
CHARACTER 1: DESCRIPTION
CHARACTER 2: DESCRIPTION
CHARACTER 3: DESCRIPTION
Etc…

[INTRO PARAGRAPH – Give a quick overview of the entire story and main points. For fiction, mention anything someone would need to know about how the book is written for your summary to make sense—e.g. the setting jumps backward/forward in time every chapter, point of view changes to a different character each chapter, etc.]

[BODY PARAGRAPHS – In each body paragraph, elaborate on one main idea/plot point from your bullet list. The number of body paragraphs will depend on how many main ideas or plot points there are.]

[CLOSING PARAGRAPH – For fiction, describe how the story ends and the overall theme of the book. For nonfiction, sum up all the main ideas into one overarching takeaway.]