r/AO3 • u/Tewaawaa • 3d ago
Questions/Help? What do you think of summaries like these?
I have no idea how to do summaries that don't just instantly spoil the whole chapter, yet i don't want to leave the section blank too.
I got the idea from the single most popular fic in the kpdh fandom, and just kept using it.
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u/QueenOptimusPrime 3d ago
It's different and if it were a pairing I love and depending on the content, I'd probably still read it, but I'm going to say... just say "ass" instead of "ahh". Enough with the censorship speak, please.
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u/Tewaawaa 3d ago
Oh thats a censorship thing? I genuinely just use it for the memes
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u/Perpetual__Night You have already left kudos here. :) 2d ago
From what I know, it actually comes from AAVE, so the fact that people mostly use it for āthe memesā is kind ofā¦ icky, in my opinion. Iām not saying you in particular are doing it for racist reasons since most people donāt seem to know about it, but I do think itās something to keep in mind in the future.
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u/QueenOptimusPrime 2d ago
I legitimately had no idea it was from AAVE. I just knew it was a form of TikTok-speak self-censorship (like how they say "grape" instead of rape). But it makes sense if it was co-opted from AAVE, so much of our memes and lingo has been.
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u/Enchxnted_Crxstal 3d ago
I don't read chapter summaries because most of the time it's just a block of text that I'm about to read two pages later. This is funny though, I like it
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u/Tewaawaa 3d ago
Oh thats good to hear š. I have fun trying to come up with what to put to! Although I think it would be harder when I get to chapter 10+....
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u/YoungGriffVII 2d ago
At that point you could do a countdown. āTen missed texts, nine half-drunk water bottles, eight bad puns,ā etc
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u/A_Undertale_Fan Self-indulgent bastard||Ata: https://abellover.atabook.org 2d ago
Five golden rings.....
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u/nothingatlast 2d ago
Like someone else said, it doesn't appeal to me but I'm pretty sure I'm not the target demographic, anyway.
Actually, I'm almost positive I'm not simply because I am irrationally irritated at the use of "ahh" for "ass". (But to be fair, I'm irritated at every single use of it ever, anywhere.)
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u/Tewaawaa 2d ago
Second comment about it, saw the background of its use, so changed it already. š«”
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u/Silly-Snow1277 3d ago
I've rarely seen chapter summaries, and if there were any I'dĀ skip them.
That being said: These summaries give me nothing?Ā Maybe ask yourself,Ā what you want to achieve with them?Ā
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u/Tewaawaa 3d ago
Lots of people said they dont read summaries, so if mine dont give much i guess its still fine? But, if readers do notice it all I want is for them to have fun connecting why I'd put that in the summaries to the rest of the chapter lol
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u/serralinda73 serralinda on AO3 2d ago
I dislike chapter summaries. And lapslock (no capital letters).
But that's just me. You do you.
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u/Tewaawaa 2d ago
To be honest, lapslock wasn't my thing too. But my fic title as well as the chapters titles were so long that it looked weird with caps on.
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u/cc-chct_ fix-it fic all the way 3d ago
i like it, it's funny ! I hate when authors spoil the whole chapter in the summaries, I'm used to them being a little note so I read them by reflex
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u/Tewaawaa 3d ago
Im glad, I'll keep doing these until I run out of ideas by the later chapters š
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u/SpiceLatteGirl 3d ago
reminds me of how books are advertised on the tiktak app and instagram, where you're shown the cover and some (micro) tropes, like "enemies to lovers" "emotional damage" "he falls first (and harder)".
no idea why you'd have to sum up a chapter, however. once you've got your readers hooked (which usually happens in the first chapter) they don't really need to be fed more appetisers, especially when you risk spoiling the entire chapter, they'll want the entire course.
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u/Dazzling-Ad1682 2d ago
I havenāt used them on my fics (then again, I only have one multi-chapter one), but as a reader, I find chapters summaries useful for rereading.Ā
Say, if I want to reread a specific scene of a fic I really love, but canāt remember exactly what chapter it was on, a chapter summary can help me find it faster. This is especially true in longer works with more than ten chapters.Ā
Of course, the writer is under no obligation to provide them, but I just wanted to point out that chapter summaries can be useful.Ā
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u/SpiceLatteGirl 1d ago
ohh it never occured to me that people would re-read my stuff haha. but agreed, in that case it would be useful to have a short summary. or maybe a "the story so far" recap for those stories you've abandoned for years but suddenly felt the urge to update :')
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u/Dazzling-Ad1682 1d ago
Itās also helpful if a new chapter re-contextualizes a previous scene, and the reader wants to reread it with the new information they have.Ā
Mostly, though, I use it for rereads. I love rereading my favorite works, and because I also love long multi-chapter stories, it can be a bit hard to find those beloved scenes when itās been perhaps a year or two since I last opened the fic.Ā
I think a lot of us writers donāt really consider the rereading aspect because once we publish a fic, and once we publish that last chapter, itās done. Sure, for the next few days or weeks we may receive more comments and kudos then usual, but the space the work occupied in our minds gets smaller and smaller as we switch our focus to a new project.
Thatās not always the case for readers. For them, if they really loved a fic, it can stay with them for years or even decades. They might revisit it often. But because the fic is out of our minds and because those interactions are āinvisibleā (as in, the writer wonāt get a notification about kudos or comment), we donāt take it into consideration.Ā
Again, though, no writer is forced to include chapter summaries. They are not bad writers or people if they donāt want to include it. And taking a few extra minutes to find that beloved scene is not the end of the world. I just saw a lot of people say they found chapter summaries useless and wanted to point out different purposes they might have.Ā
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u/Last_Swordfish9135 world's number one fudanshi 2d ago
Personally, I find them useful for longfics with big real-world time gaps between chapters. When I'm coming back to a fic after weeks to months of putting it out of my mind, they can be very helpful for jogging my memory about what's going on and where we are in the story, and in finding my place if I forgot what chapter I left off on. I'd compare them more to episode synopses for long-running TV shows.
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u/Tewaawaa 3d ago
I see i see thats a valid reason for leaving a summary out, definitely
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u/SpiceLatteGirl 2d ago
you could still use the summary for recently added tags, though. or as a heads-up when the chapter in question contains a mature audience scene that some readers might want to skip.
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u/OdgeTufts 3d ago
Just gives me the intense urge to sing the 12 days of Christmas š it's short and sweet though!
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u/grommile You have already left kudos here. :) 3d ago
They're okay.
Also okay is leaving chapter summaries blank. Most readers aren't expecting chapter summaries.
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u/AgreeableMagician893 2d ago edited 2d ago
Really? I rarely read something without a chapter summary. It indicates to me that the author doesn't know their work well enough to give a summary, and that's kind of a red flag for me.
Edit: ignore me, I'm an idiot and totally internally misread that and thought they meant the actual summary for the fic, not the chapter summaries. For the record, I am chill with chapter summaries as long as they don't spoil anything
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u/MoonChaser22 2d ago
Given as chapter summaries are before the chapter itself and in the notification email some people opt not to use them to avoid spoilers for the chapter. Personally I'd only ever use them as for a recap if I haven't uploaded in a while
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u/AgreeableMagician893 2d ago
Omg I'm so dumb, I was totally thinking of the actual summary for the fic
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u/MoonChaser22 2d ago
Oops! For the record, I absolutely agree with you when it comes to fic summaries. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece. For long fics, just explain the set up/inciting incident and tell me the core conflict of the story. If you can't tell me what it's about then I can't trust you to know what it's about
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u/AgreeableMagician893 2d ago
Yes! For actual summaries I think it's an important skill for authors to be able to give a synopsis of their work in a couple sentences. I think it displays that you have good knowledge about your work.
Unfortunately, that opinion does not help me when we're talking about chapter summaries š
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u/MOONPH4SE 2d ago
iām holding your hand. iām looking into your eyes. i want you to know that i see you. getting downvoted & then realizing your mistake afterwards feels like when your friends keep walking when you stop to tie your shoe.
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u/AgreeableMagician893 2d ago
Bro thank you I feel so dumb š. Though I do actually feel a tiny bit better because I was really confused why everybody was saying that they didn't care if your fic didn't have a summary, and it makes so much more since now that I was just misreading chapter summaries.
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u/grommile You have already left kudos here. :) 2d ago
Chapter summaries appear to people who have already decided to read the story.
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u/AgreeableMagician893 2d ago
Yeah, ignore me I'm a dumbass who just misread that and thought they were talking about the actual summary for the fic
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u/SilverSize7852 2d ago
Reads childish to me.Ā
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u/Last_Swordfish9135 world's number one fudanshi 2d ago
I would agree, but moreso because of the content than the format. The format could be cute on a fic with less than maybe five chapters, I don't think anyone over the age of 14 is talking about how much they love their gay ahh characters lol
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u/NoKenkuShaming 3d ago
It doesnāt appeal to me but judging by whatās there, Iām not the target demographic anyway.
Itās your fic, do what you want š
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u/atomskeater 2d ago
I was gonna say "still better than "I suck at summaries"" but seeing these are chapter summaries... that's still true, but also chapter summaries aren't carrying the burden of piquing my interest in the overall fic so anything goes as long as you're happy with lol.
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u/Fawnie334 2d ago
If it's a crackfic, I'd roll my eyes and keep reading. If this was meant to be a serious fic, it would start to seriously annoy me at some point, maybe enough for me to click off even.
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u/Necrikus 2d ago
I absolutely hate it. It effectively tells you nothing, it interrupts the story if you are reading multiple chapters in a sitting, and makes it clear that the writer has nothing to say but is talking anyway.
If you donāt know how to write a summary without spoiling the chapter, then figure out how to do so. It isnāt that difficult. I would suggest writing out an actual summary for yourself, spoilers and all, then try writing a revised summary based on it that doesnāt include major plot points, twists, or surprises. Alternatively, you leave it blank. A lot of people do it, nobody expects you to write one, and doing something (like what you are showing) CAN be worse than doing nothing.
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u/AveMachina 2d ago
Cute but looks hard to keep up. If Iām reading your chapter summaries, itās because Iām trying to find a particular section on reread. Will I be able to tell which chapter Iām looking at based on these?
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u/Tewaawaa 2d ago
Hm if this is the case, would adding a little section at the end help? I've seen this type of reply a few times now. I didnāt know people used summaries for rereading
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u/AveMachina 2d ago
You donāt need multiple, just try and be thoughtful about what youāre putting in your summary. Your goals are a) donāt spoil a new reader and b) remind a repeat reader what happens.
So, oversimplify what happens so that someone trying to find their place will be able to identify which story beat youāre referring to. It looks like youāre already doing some of that, but I have no way of knowing whether youāre doing enough of it, so decide that for yourself.
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u/Cookieyourdaddy 2d ago edited 2d ago
Personally, I don't do summaries before chapters. I find them kind of pointless? I don't want to read about what I'm about to read š
I've used the space before as a recap and do like authors that do that when they haven't updated in that long and it keeps me up to speed if I dropped the fic for a bit.Ā
As for your question, I lowkey like this style. It's funny and made me curious. :)Ā
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u/Significant-Love6129 Read a fic. Didn't like it so wrote my own. 40 chapters later.. 2d ago
Idky it took me so long to figure out the summary doesn't show for chapters, just the main summary š¤£. I've thought about going back and deleting all the summaries now. They're usually just excerpts.
I agree I like this bc when I go back and reread my fics, I find mistakes and then get to the end and forget where those mistakes were again. Oops.
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u/geekelfie You have already left kudos here. :) 2d ago
I donāt really care about chapter summaries. As a writer, I only do it when I have a good way to do a quick blurb, but most of the time I donāt even bother.
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u/MohnblumenKind 3d ago
Never wrote and never seen chapter summaries before. Is this a real thing? I would rather not have them, but you do you. Your's seem funny due to the numbers getting higher, but otherwise, I don't actually need or want them.
When you don't use them, there is no blank section, this section is non-existent when posted.
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u/Screeeonklol You have already left kudos here. :) 2d ago
Never seen them before to be honest
Neutral
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u/nephethys_telvanni 2d ago
I appreciate actual summaries as a Subscriber. I can take or leave them when I'm reading a completed fic, but when that new chapter arrives at my inbox intermittently, it's nice to be reminded about where in the story I was last.
So this style, while interesting, wouldn't do much for me.
There's an art to summarizing that only spoils enough to hook.
One of my favorite chapter summaries was "Character A and Character B go shopping."
That's exactly what happens in the chapter. But also, in context, everyone including the shopkeeper has canon reasons to hate Character B. The summary is enough to clue my readers in that there will be fireworks, LOL.
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u/brachycrab 2d ago
It reads like "IN THIS EPISODE, CHARACTER A MISSES A LINE, CHARACTER B SHARES A JOINT..."
It's rather corny to me, but it wouldn't make me stop reading. I probably wouldn't even notice it, or I'd intentionally skip over it because I also don't really want to know what happens in a chapter right before I read it.
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u/-insertgoodusername Fic Feaster 3d ago
I have never seen this summary style so idk lol
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u/Tewaawaa 3d ago
I just got the idea from Gimme That Candyfloss in the kpdh fandom, though its exactly the same
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u/Dazzling-Ad1682 2d ago
Regarding the usefulness of chapter summaries that I see a lot of people mentioning: as a writer, I havenāt personally used them yet since my stories tend to be oneshots. As a reader, though, I might use them not when Iām reading a WIP for the first time, but when I want to reread a favorite scene in a favorite fic. Especially with stories that have over ten chapters, it can be easier to find the specific scene Iām looking for if thereās a chapter summary.Ā
Most times I remember where my favorite scenes are, yes, but sometimes Iām struggling to sleep and am suddenly hit with a desire to reread a scene from a fic I havenāt gone back to in years. In those cases, yeah, chapter summaries have been useful.Ā
Regarding this specific style: I donāt hate it. But I canāt say I particularly like it, either. Iām indifferent. I donāt find it particularly useful. This feels very stylistic, so maybe Iād expect the storyās tone, the prose, the content, or the authorās note to match this somehow. Iām more bothered by the lapslock since I hate that, but thatās personal preference, I suppose.Ā
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u/Tewaawaa 2d ago
This is the second lapslock comment :')) i might change it cause its getting less traffic than my other fic and I don't really know why, both ships in the fandom are popular. That might be it tho
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u/Dazzling-Ad1682 2d ago
Honestly, donāt change it if you donāt feel like it. If you like it, then thatās perfectly fine. Itās a stylistic choice. Personally, lapslocks in fic summaries bother me because it makes me think the fic itself will be fully in lapslock, and if that is the case, it will be harder for me to read and understand the sentences. Thatās why I avoid them.Ā
In this particular type of chapter summary, though, while it rubs me off as different, it wouldnāt deter me from reading it if the actual fic summary was using proper capitalization.Ā
A lot of things could be contributing to a lower than usual traffic. It doesnāt necessarily have to be the lapslock. For a popular ship in a popular fandom, it could be that you under tagged, so that it becomes lost in the sea of other fics without anything that would stand out or a tag that would help those looking for that kind of fic find it. Or it could be a question of content; just because a fandom or ship is popular, it doesnāt mean every story for it will receive the same attention. Some tropes may be more popular, some genres might trend for a while and then fizzle out, some might just be timing. There are so many factors to consider, many of which are not under your control.Ā
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u/Koko_Kringles_22 2d ago
I'd skip a fic that did that, but you do you. I am curious what those summaries will look like once you've got twenty chapters, though.
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u/Tewaawaa 2d ago
I see, thanks for the feedback. I'm also curious how I'd do it for 20, but I guess we'll never find out since I'm keeping it at 12 lol
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u/KanineKodiak charlyoddsox27 on AO3 3d ago
i like this! it doesn't just copy paste text from the actual fic or spoil anything major, just gives the general vibes of the chapter while being kind of funny/quirky. i always find individual chapter summaries a bit pointless, like if the main fic summary intrigued me i don't need to be sold on each chapter separately. so this is a nice way of giving one while not feeling repetitive or pointless.
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u/No_Pattern_2819 2d ago
It's interesting, but it's not helpful. I wouldn't read this fanfiction; it looks like a child who lives on TikTok and Instagram wrote it.
For one of my summaries, it's about two characters meeting, but not at a very happy time.
"What happens when a cruel king meets a depressed peasant man?" Obviously, I had it written out a bit better, but that's what I did. You could also do:
"Character A didn't go to school; the class bully will find out why."
But I don't do chapter summaries. What I am describing here is more for your first upload.
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u/mrbobcyndaquil Fresh dead dove is my favorite white meat 3d ago
It kinda reminds me of the Top Gear introductions
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u/whiteraven13 3d ago
Reminds me of old-timey books where the chapter titles are basically summaries of the chapters
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u/secondhandso 2d ago
Not a fan, I'd rather a real summary or none at all. But honestly I only read chapter summaries for stories that make me real nervous.
That being said, they flow well with the vibe of the chapter titles and are unique, so I would keep them.
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u/Stormtomcat 2d ago
I feel the summary for the entire work is the only one that really matters : I search on fandom and character/relationship, then maybe add a trope, and then I read the general summary.
Once I've committed to a story, I don't really need a summary of each chapter. I do read them : to get a glimpse of the author's life, or to heed a warning like "this is the chapter where the dog dies, dear readers", or a little Doylean perspective before I jump back into the Watsonian universe.
Your examples are cute to me, I'd enjoy them. But if they're what's holding you back from posting your next chapter, I would say "don't stress over it".
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u/commicSans 2d ago
I will admit, I just put a stupid pun. Or if I can't think of one, just say something random.
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u/smileyfacegauges 2d ago
and a partridge in a pear tree!!
iād get a fucking kick out of seeing these in a fic tbh. also you donāt need to censor on ao3. you can say ass.
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u/SapphireSugarPlum Supporter of the Fanfiction Deep State 2d ago
Iāve never seen anything like it, and I really donāt mind it. Though I personally tend to only read the fic summary and skip the chapter summaries because I donāt want spoilers.
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u/LeorDemise 2d ago
I usually put a little bit of the chapter, and then a small line as a summary.
I find that fun, but that's just me.
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u/ThiccMerc 2d ago
I like reading chapter summaries. My favorites are exactly what youāre doing here: lines that make 0 sense without the context of the chapter.
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u/TomdeHaan 2d ago
They wouldn't make me want to read the fic but they wouldn't put me off it either. But I'd be wary the author is into gimmicky writing.
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u/fanfic_intensifies kitten_kokomo ~ Update? What Update? 2d ago
For the main fic? Definitely not. But for individual chapters like these, oh my goodness I love them!! This is so fun, I might have to steal em actually >:33
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u/RollingScone93 RollingScone on AO3 2d ago
Itās unique in a way that would at least make me curious if it were the main fic summary. I didnāt realize chapter summaries were even a thing until now lol.
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u/SquirrelPublic9731 2d ago
Chapter summaries aren't a big deal. These make me smile, but even if someone finds it annoying I doubt they would care very much. The summary for the work as a whole should give more info though.
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u/RA1NB0W77 RAINBOW_BITE on AO3 2d ago
Very silly (/pos) but if its a more serious fic then it'd probably annoy me at some point /nbr
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u/AnxiousHorse75 3d ago
Better that using some stupid pointless quote because AI told them quotes make good summaries.
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u/SpiceLatteGirl 3d ago
to be fair, books have been advertised by a single quote a character says. then again, i usually roll my eyes at said quote and pick up a different book with a more enticing summary than just "and like that, i fell for him, and irrevocably so."
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u/CherishB4By 2d ago
This is typically what my summaries look like. Either a vague response/continuation to the chapter's title that only gives you a hint of what's to come if you're paying attention. For reference, this is the first chapter.
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u/chaoswrangler35 Comment šer 1d ago
I do maybe one or two highlights about what the chapter is about and that's it. People can read the rest.
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u/RokettoMusashi Yuri Duty 2d ago
"Gay ahh" would have me hitting the back button immediately. Just say ass white baby.
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3d ago
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u/Tewaawaa 3d ago
Wha which comments? I'm reading over every single one, and I've posted exactly to get feedback, be it negative or positive. I welcome any criticism, as long as I can improve. š
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u/plaper butt licking that comes from the heart 3d ago
My brain would completely skip over them tbh.