Wattpad India Awards 2021

Learn: Loglines and Summary

There are two type of summarizations:

Loglines jog anyone's memory.

Summaries sell to the evaluators and editors.

Let's take them one-by-one.

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Loglines

These will most likely go in the Story Description box. These are the smallest units for your story. A logline is something that you are pitching to someone's memory. It is the one sentence that is always going to stick in someone's brain.

After being bitten by a radioactive spider, a young boy acquires great power that also brings great responsibility.

Oh right, that's Spider-Man.

It's a very powerful tool to simplify your story down to just a couple of elements:

- Who is the protagonist?

- What do they have/want?

- What is blocking them?

You'll also notice that a lot of loglines make a lot of stories sound really similar, or will make you want to say "but it's about so much more than that!" That's okay. It's meant to help jog someone's memory or pique their interest enough to find out about those other details. It's not meant to explain the entire plot.

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Summary

That's what the summary is supposed to do!

Keep in mind that this is not the same as Story Description, which we'll get to later.

Summary is something for you to have in order for you to review your story's entire plot. They are also meant to market your story to someone who is evaluating it; they may be an editor, an assistant, or a judge. 

They are not meant for your readers because spoilers!

Summary is when you put your entire plot, from beginning to end, into one small chunk. You've got about 500 words at maximum so you have to think about every word you're using. When you're summarizing your entire plot, keep some tips in mind:

Everything in your summary is the most important information needed to understand the plot. Don't put in stuff that's distracting, like world-details or character backstory. Don't talk about the side plots.

Don't use flowery language. Summaries are not intended to show off your strength as a creative writer. They're meant to market your story to someone who is evaluating it.

Cut down on context wherever possible. You want to make sure your summary follows a very simple logical flow (A causes B which results in C). You don't have space to go into detail. You only need enough for it to logically make sense.

Make sure your summary has one consistent narrative throughout it. No matter how complex or broad your story is, focus on the biggest element and tell its story from beginning to end. If the story is about redemption, then every part of the summary is about the redemption storyline.

Summary is about conflict and resolution. Just focus on that, which will also help you with tip 4.

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Here is an example that showcases how few words you really need to explain an entire novel:

16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12, volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games in place of her younger sister Primrose. Also selected from District 12 is Peeta Mellark. They are mentored by their district's only living victor, Haymitch, who won 24 years earlier and has since led a solitary life of alcoholism.

Peeta confesses his longtime secret love for Katniss in a televised interview prior to the Games. This revelation stuns Katniss, who harbors feelings for Gale Hawthorne, her friend and hunting partner. Haymitch advises her to feign feelings for Peeta in order to gain wealthy sponsors who can provide crucial supplies to the "star-crossed lovers" during the Games.

In the arena, Katniss allies with Rue, a young tribute from District 11 who reminds Katniss of her kid sister. When Rue is killed, Katniss places flowers around her body as an act of defiance toward the Capitol. Then the remaining tributes are alerted to a rule change that allows tributes from the same district to win as a team. Katniss finds a seriously wounded Peeta and nurses him back to health. When all of the other tributes are dead, the rule change is abruptly revoked. With neither willing to kill the other, Katniss comes up with a solution: a double suicide by eating poisonous berries. This forces the authorities to concede just in time to save their lives. During and after the Games, Katniss develops genuine feelings for Peeta and struggles to reconcile them with what she feels for Gale.

Haymitch warns her that the danger is far from over. The authorities are furious at being made fools of, and the only way to try to allay their anger is to pretend that her actions were because of her love for Peeta. On the journey home, Peeta is dismayed to learn of the deception.

Thanks The Hunger Games wikipedia entry!

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Summaries are a great tool for identifying weaknesses within your story. Once you have it written in such plain language, it can become obvious which points seem off or feel weaker than the others. The problem isn't with the summary, the problem is with the story and you can now go and fix it.

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REMEMBER - Judges of Wattpad India Awards 2021 will look at the summary during the initial phase of judging. It, along with other factors, will determine if your story goes through to the next round of judging or not. You will be asked to submit a 500 word (max) summary in the submission form. So make sure you have it ready before the submissions begin.

  

<< Fun activity >>

Let's give logline a try.

In the comments, write a logline of your story covering only the main elements. In one line, tell us, who is the protagonist, what do they have/want, and what's stopping them.

And, if you want to test yourselves further, try to do this in as fewer words as possible.