How to Write a Summary? It's both easier and harder than you may think.

By definition, a summary is “a brief statement or account of the main points of something.” Writing a good summary indicates that you clearly understand a text and that you can effectively communicate that understanding to your readers. It’s a technical skill that demonstrates reading comprehension and writing ability. A well-written summary is not an analysis of the text; rather, it's a condensed overview of the original piece.

A summary can be tricky to write at first because it’s tempting to include specific details, but by following our easy 9-step method, you will be able to summarize texts quickly and successfully for any class or subject.

1. Read

The first step to a well-written summary is to read the original piece of work. Focus on reading the original text without taking any notes. The goal is to become familiar with the main idea of the piece while gaining insight into the author’s specific style and voice. While it may be hard to resist the urge to underline when doing a first pass, reading the whole piece before dissecting it will ensure you’re grasping the main idea of the text without expanding on specific details. Overall, this will aid in avoiding an excessive summary.

2. Gather the Main Idea

Once you’ve finished reading the original piece, take time to reflect on what you’ve read. Think about the important points of the text and how the author constructed the sequence of events. Determine the Five Ws (who, what, where, when,why) of the story to help illuminate the essential elements of the text.

3. Reread while Taking Notes

Rereading means active reading. Read the story again, this time marking the important points you’ll want to include in your summary. Underline topic sentences and significant plot points, highlight essential quotes, and number the major events as they occur. Also, note the areas you do not understand. Depending on the difficulty of the text, reread until you feel like you have a solid basis for your summary.

4. Organize your Notes

Once you’ve actively reread the text, take a couple of minutes to organize the information you’ve collected. Depending on your learning style, find a way to organize your notes that will make them a reliable reference when you start writing. Go back and elaborate on the key points you noted and clarify any information that was difficult to understand. 

5. Create a thesis statement

The key to a good summary is a developed thesis statement. A thesis statement is a one-sentence claim, often in the introduction, that demonstrates your understanding of the author’s original work. The purpose of including a thesis statement in a book summary is to correctly identify the author’s argument or main idea of the text. When writing a summary, you want to recast the author’s argument without including a personal opinion.

6. Draft a Short Paragraph

At this point, you’ve virtually outlined the introduction and body of your summary. Your thesis statement can be used as the introductory sentence to your summary, while the other main points will fall into the body paragraph. Be sure to include some transition words (then, however, also, moreover) to help with the overall structure and flow of the summary. 

As you start to write the summary, keep the following in mind:

• Write in the present tense
• Include the author and title of the work
• Be concise—a summary should not be equal in length to the original text
• Cite direct quotes if you use them.
• Don’t...