HOW TO WRITE NARRATIVE SUMMARY (that’s actually interesting) | theory, tips, & examples

RELATED VIDEOS

0:00 - intro
0:26 - scene vs summary
1:52 - when to use summary
3:50 - psychic distance/how to write thoughts
7:33 - use voice tone and emotion
8:06 - keep the psychic distance close
9:22 - be specific
10:09 - be generous with information
10:49 - access emotions and opinions
11:43 - conflict, goals, tension
12:24 - understand the relationship to time
13:38 - use showing and telling
14:37 - use dialogue
15:07 - unpack ideas set up in scene
16:00 - use sentence structure as pacing
16:30 - example #1
20:37 - example #2
22:11 - example #3

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→How old are you? - 26
→How long have you been writing? - Since I was 8
→Where do you live? - I keep that private for safety reasons, but I grew up in Vancouver.
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→What are your pronouns? - They/them or she/her
→Where can I read your books? - None of my books are published yet, but you can read my published short fiction in my linktree (linked above!)
→So when will your book be published? - I don’t know! I’m in the revision process right now, but I can’t predict exactly when I’ll have a book published. But I’m working on it!
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SOCIAL

[olivianoelani]

i’m a huge underwriter, and i struggle the most with writing narrative. i feel like my first drafts always lack a lot of substance because my narrative is so thin and boring. i appreciate it so much anytime you talk about narrative!

[elizabethcoylewrites]

Why are your videos always so good??! Every time im struggling in my novel, i think "wow i hope shaelin posts about this soon" and then you do?? Thank you for always reading my stressed out writer's mind

[Lolz]

This came at the perfect time in my story. Tysm!!

[cstark]

I need this video so much!! I tend to avoid time skipping and summary because it feels like cheating or I’m not showing everything or like it’s lazy writing not to make everything a scene with dialogue. I took the show vs tell advice way too far. I think I remember you saying you used to do this as an amateur too. I can’t wait to use this advice and improve. 🖤🖤

[nocturnus]

I’m reminded of that oblique strategy card, “Convert a melodic element into a rhythmic element.” Also last night I was reading about 3 tracks in dialogue (Melodic, Harmonic & Keywords) in The Anatomy of Story. All of this plays so well in the point Betty Edwards asks her followers, to look for the intertextual connections & crossover clues.

[ChBrahm]

A good book -in my opinion- to get a feel for what narrative summarys should be is One Hundred Years of Solitude by GG Márquez
A good chunk of the book is told in narrative summary with only charcter building scenes being actually active scenes
You´d think action segments would get to be whole scenes but no.
There´s a moment when the narrator tells us that Colonel Aureliano Buendia fought and lost 35 wars and its just that. A single line that doesn´t get much more detail than that.
But then you get another scene in which a pool of blood gets an entire scene for itself describing how it flowed from the home of the guy who just died to his mother´s house. Describing every turn and twist it took to get there

[KrisMF]

I loveeee narrative summary so much, omg this video was MADE for me. my current project has a retrospective narration which I think lends itself more easily into into summarizing events/ passages of time vs. making everything into a scene. I used to struggle with summary but after practicing it for the last year, I’ve come around to it and really enjoy it! thank you for these tips!!! somehow you always articulate the craft thoughts rolling around in my head and make it so easy to understand!

[Lara_Ameen]

Wow! Your excerpts of HONEY VINEGAR are amazing! This video is super useful! Thank you so much! I just finished the third draft of my PhD dissertation novel (Adult contemporary/urban fantasy) and now I’m waiting for beta reader/CP feedback. I have some narrative summary in Chapter 1. I can see how it’s effective and not too infodumpy. I’ll probably re-watch this video. Thank you again! Love this! 💜

[GuineaPigEveryday]

Thank you! I was thinking exactly about this just a few hours before you made this. I’ve been very insecure about the chunks of narration i have inbetween actual scenes becuz im unsure if i’m actually carrying the story forward or just kind of rambling about character, plot, that doesn’t actually move the story but instead conveys information. Narrative summary is exactly the sort of thing that usually goes there, inbetween scenes, and thats hard to master

[ioanam.]

I am always so grateful to you for these resources!

[lexuschambe]

This video was so helpful!! I'm actually struggling right now with incorporating summary into a short story I'm writing, and your point about keeping conflict and tension in summary really helped!

[goonwithoutme]

I've watched (and benefited from) many of your videos, but found this one particularly excellent, hence me dropping my first comment!

Thanks for all you do and share in this space.

[woodenspoon]

This video couldn't have come at a better time, thanks so much :)

[mariliis]

Thanks for this :) lined up exactly with what I’m currently working on.

[SamanthaRoberts]

THIS IS SO GOOD AND NECESSARY AND INCREDIBLE

[VideoGameRoom]

These are very helpful tips. It's always good to improve your writing. As years go by, you should always get better at something.

[Mana_Ski]

I write in free indirect narration and I am only just now learning it has a name! Thank you 😁

[Exayevie]

I love it when you talk about psychic distance! That was the video that originally got me hooked on your channel!

I’m a bit of an odd duck because I writing with a very distant, objective psychic take. So unsurprisingly, a well-written narrative summary passage can actually be more intriguing to me that the middle of a scene.

Naturally, I had to try rewriting the Penelope passage a third time, as distantly as possible:

“Penelope stood at the open fridge, considering. After a while she shut it abruptly and leafed through the stack of takeout and delivery flyers on the nearby counter. Once. Twice. Half way through a third time she stopped and looked up abruptly. She felt her pockets for her cell phone and they were empty. She retraced her steps to the front door and tested the lock.”

[nootanwait]

Thank you for your videos. I've learned a lot

[lindseywritesstuff]

I'm obsessed with the first example