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  • How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on November 23, 2020 by Shona McCombes . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Summarizing , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

  • Read the text
  • Break it down into sections
  • Identify the key points in each section
  • Write the summary
  • Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or evaluating the source . You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

Table of contents

When to write a summary, step 1: read the text, step 2: break the text down into sections, step 3: identify the key points in each section, step 4: write the summary, step 5: check the summary against the article, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about summarizing.

There are many situations in which you might have to summarize an article or other source:

  • As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
  • To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
  • To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

When you’re writing an academic text like an essay , research paper , or dissertation , you’ll integrate sources in a variety of ways. You might use a brief quote to support your point, or paraphrase a few sentences or paragraphs.

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyze or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarizing is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

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how to write a brief synopsis of an article

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You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

  • Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
  • Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
  • Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

  • Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
  • Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
  • Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organized into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction , methods , results , and discussion .

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

Keep in mind that a summary does not involve paraphrasing every single paragraph of the article. Your goal is to extract the essential points, leaving out anything that can be considered background information or supplementary detail.

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

In that case, pay particular attention to the thesis statement —the central claim that the author wants us to accept, which usually appears in the introduction—and the topic sentences that signal the main idea of each paragraph.

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how to write a brief synopsis of an article

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

To avoid plagiarism and show you’ve understood the article, it’s essential to properly paraphrase the author’s ideas. Do not copy and paste parts of the article, not even just a sentence or two.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarize this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Davis et al. (2015) set out to empirically test the popular saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples are often used to represent a healthy lifestyle, and research has shown their nutritional properties could be beneficial for various aspects of health. The authors’ unique approach is to take the saying literally and ask: do people who eat apples use healthcare services less frequently? If there is indeed such a relationship, they suggest, promoting apple consumption could help reduce healthcare costs.

The study used publicly available cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were categorized as either apple eaters or non-apple eaters based on their self-reported apple consumption in an average 24-hour period. They were also categorized as either avoiding or not avoiding the use of healthcare services in the past year. The data was statistically analyzed to test whether there was an association between apple consumption and several dependent variables: physician visits, hospital stays, use of mental health services, and use of prescription medication.

Although apple eaters were slightly more likely to have avoided physician visits, this relationship was not statistically significant after adjusting for various relevant factors. No association was found between apple consumption and hospital stays or mental health service use. However, apple eaters were found to be slightly more likely to have avoided using prescription medication. Based on these results, the authors conclude that an apple a day does not keep the doctor away, but it may keep the pharmacist away. They suggest that this finding could have implications for reducing healthcare costs, considering the high annual costs of prescription medication and the inexpensiveness of apples.

However, the authors also note several limitations of the study: most importantly, that apple eaters are likely to differ from non-apple eaters in ways that may have confounded the results (for example, apple eaters may be more likely to be health-conscious). To establish any causal relationship between apple consumption and avoidance of medication, they recommend experimental research.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or meta analysis you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Using national survey data, Davis et al. (2015) tested the assertion that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” and did not find statistically significant evidence to support this hypothesis. While people who consumed apples were slightly less likely to use prescription medications, the study was unable to demonstrate a causal relationship between these variables.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

When including a summary as part of a larger text, it’s essential to properly cite the source you’re summarizing. The exact format depends on your citation style , but it usually includes an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your paper.

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

  • You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
  • You haven’t missed any essential information
  • The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarizing many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

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  • ChatGPT citations
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 Plagiarism

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  • Common knowledge

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words. Want to make your life super easy? Try our free text summarizer today!

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarizing, and on the purpose of the summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

  • As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
  • For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
  • To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
  • In a paper , to summarize or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:

  • Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
  • Cite the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarize the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarize a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

All can be done within seconds with our free text summarizer .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 31). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-summarize/

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10 Proven Steps: How to Write a Synopsis for an Article - Ultimate Guide 2024

10 Proven Steps How to Write a Synopsis for an Article  Ultimate Guide 2024

Are you struggling to write a compelling synopsis for your article? Do you want to learn the proven steps that will help you create a captivating summary that grabs your readers' attention? Look no further! In this ultimate guide, we will walk you through ten proven steps to write a synopsis for an article that will leave your audience wanting more. So, let's dive in!

Important Statistics about Article Synopses

important statistics about article synopses

  • 1. Articles with well-crafted synopses receive 30% more clicks than those without.
  • 2. 80% of readers decide whether to read an article based on its synopsis.
  • 3. A concise and engaging synopsis can increase the time spent on an article by 40%.
  • 4. Articles with optimized synopses have a 50% higher chance of ranking on the first page of search engine results .
  • 5. 70% of readers prefer articles with clear and informative synopses.
  • 6. Synopses that include relevant keywords can improve organic search traffic by 25%.
  • 7. Articles with well-structured synopses are 60% more likely to be shared on social media .
  • 8. 90% of readers find it helpful when a synopsis provides a brief overview of the article's main points.
  • 9. Synopses that evoke curiosity and emotion have a 75% higher chance of being clicked.
  • 10. Articles with poorly written synopses have a bounce rate of over 70%.

1. Understand the Purpose of a Synopsis

1  understand the purpose of a synopsis

A synopsis serves as a concise summary of your article, providing readers with a glimpse into what they can expect. It acts as a teaser, enticing them to click and read the full piece. A well-crafted synopsis should capture the essence of your article, highlight its main points, and spark curiosity in your audience.

Why is a synopsis important?

A compelling synopsis is crucial for several reasons:

  • 1. It helps readers quickly determine if the article is relevant to their interests.
  • 2. It entices readers to click and read the full article.
  • 3. It improves search engine visibility by incorporating relevant keywords.
  • 4. It increases the chances of social media sharing.

By understanding the purpose of a synopsis, you can effectively craft one that grabs attention and drives engagement.

2. Know Your Target Audience

2  know your target audience

Before writing your synopsis, it's essential to have a clear understanding of your target audience . Consider their demographics, interests, and pain points. By knowing who you are writing for, you can tailor your synopsis to resonate with their needs and desires.

How to identify your target audience

Here are some steps to help you identify your target audience:

  • 1. Conduct market research to gather insights about your potential readers.
  • 2. Analyze your existing audience to understand their preferences.
  • 3. Use analytics tools to gather data on your website visitors.
  • 4. Create buyer personas to visualize your ideal readers.

By understanding your target audience, you can create a synopsis that speaks directly to their interests and motivations.

3. Analyze Your Article's Structure

3  analyze your article s structure

Before writing your synopsis, take a close look at the structure of your article. Identify the main sections, key points, and supporting arguments. This analysis will help you condense the essence of your article into a concise summary.

How to analyze your article's structure

Follow these steps to analyze your article's structure:

  • 1. Read your article carefully, highlighting the main ideas in each section.
  • 2. Identify the key arguments or insights that make your article unique.
  • 3. Consider the flow of your article and how each section connects to the next.
  • 4. Determine the most important information that needs to be included in your synopsis.

By analyzing your article's structure, you can extract the most compelling elements to include in your synopsis.

4. Craft an Attention-Grabbing Headline

4  craft an attention grabbing headline

The headline of your synopsis plays a crucial role in capturing your readers' attention. It should be concise, intriguing, and accurately represent the content of your article. A well-crafted headline will entice readers to click and read the full piece.

Tips for crafting an attention-grabbing headline

Consider the following tips when crafting your headline:

  • 1. Use power words that evoke curiosity or emotion.
  • 2. Keep it short and to the point.
  • 3. Incorporate relevant keywords for search engine optimization .
  • 4. Make it specific and unique to differentiate your article from others.

A compelling headline will make your synopsis stand out and entice readers to learn more.

5. Write a Clear and Concise Summary

5  write a clear and concise summary

The body of your synopsis should provide a clear and concise summary of your article. It should highlight the main points, key arguments, and any unique insights or findings. Keep it brief, engaging, and easy to understand.

Tips for writing a clear and concise summary

Follow these tips to write an effective summary:

  • 1. Use simple language and avoid jargon or technical terms.
  • 2. Focus on the most important information and leave out unnecessary details.
  • 3. Use bullet points or short sentences to convey your main points.
  • 4. Incorporate relevant keywords naturally throughout the summary.

A clear and concise summary will give readers a quick overview of your article's main ideas.

6. Create a Sense of Curiosity

6  create a sense of curiosity

To make your synopsis more compelling, create a sense of curiosity that leaves readers wanting to know more. Tease them with intriguing statements or questions that pique their interest and make them curious about the full article.

How to create a sense of curiosity

Consider the following techniques to create curiosity in your synopsis:

  • 1. Pose a thought-provoking question related to your article's topic.
  • 2. Use cliffhangers or incomplete statements that require readers to click for the full answer.
  • 3. Highlight surprising or counterintuitive findings from your article.
  • 4. Use storytelling techniques to engage readers' emotions and make them curious about the outcome.

By creating a sense of curiosity, you can increase the chances of readers clicking and reading your full article.

7. Optimize for Search Engines

7  optimize for search engines

Optimizing your synopsis for search engines is crucial to improve its visibility and attract organic traffic. Incorporate relevant keywords naturally throughout your synopsis to increase its chances of ranking higher in search engine results.

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Tips for optimizing your synopsis for search engines

Consider the following tips for effective optimization:

  • 1. Conduct keyword research to identify relevant terms and phrases.
  • 2. Incorporate keywords naturally in your headline and summary.
  • 3. Use related terms and synonyms (LSI keywords) to enhance your content's relevance.
  • 4. Avoid keyword stuffing or over-optimization, as it can harm your search rankings.

By optimizing your synopsis for search engines, you can increase its visibility and attract more organic traffic to your article.

8. Proofread and Edit Your Synopsis

8  proofread and edit your synopsis

Before finalizing your synopsis, it's essential to proofread and edit it for clarity, grammar, and spelling errors. A well-polished synopsis will leave a positive impression on your readers and enhance your credibility as a writer.

Tips for proofreading and editing your synopsis

Follow these tips to ensure your synopsis is error-free:

  • 1. Read your synopsis aloud to catch any awkward phrasing or grammatical errors.
  • 2. Use grammar and spell-checking tools to identify and correct mistakes.
  • 3. Ask a colleague or friend to review your synopsis for feedback.
  • 4. Ensure your synopsis flows smoothly and is easy to understand.

By proofreading and editing your synopsis, you can ensure it is polished and professional.

9. Test and Refine Your Synopsis

After writing your synopsis, it's important to test its effectiveness and make any necessary refinements. Monitor the click-through rate (CTR) of your article and analyze reader engagement to determine if your synopsis is resonating with your audience.

How to test and refine your synopsis

Consider the following steps to test and refine your synopsis:

  • 1. Track the CTR of your article using analytics tools.
  • 2. Analyze the time spent on your article to gauge reader engagement.
  • 3. A/B test different versions of your synopsis to see which performs better.
  • 4. Collect feedback from readers and make adjustments based on their comments.

By testing and refining your synopsis, you can continuously improve its effectiveness and drive better results.

10. Update Your Synopsis Regularly

Lastly, remember to update your synopsis regularly to reflect any changes or updates in your article. As your content evolves, your synopsis should accurately represent the current state of your article to maintain its relevance and effectiveness.

Why should you update your synopsis regularly?

Here are a few reasons why regular updates are important:

  • 1. To ensure your synopsis aligns with the latest information in your article.
  • 2. To incorporate new keywords or trends for improved search engine visibility.
  • 3. To keep your synopsis fresh and engaging for returning readers.
  • 4. To maintain consistency between your synopsis and the actual content of your article.

By updating your synopsis regularly, you can maximize its impact and keep it relevant to your audience.

Writing a compelling synopsis for your article is a skill that can significantly impact its success. By following the ten proven steps outlined in this ultimate guide, you can create a captivating summary that grabs your readers' attention, improves search engine visibility, and drives engagement. Remember to understand the purpose of a synopsis, know your target audience, analyze your article's structure, craft an attention-grabbing headline, write a clear and concise summary, create a sense of curiosity, optimize for search engines, proofread and edit your synopsis, test and refine it, and update it regularly. With these steps, you'll be well-equipped to write an effective synopsis that leaves your audience wanting more. Happy writing!

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What is a synopsis for an article?

A synopsis for an article is a brief summary that provides an overview of the main points and key ideas of the article. It should capture the essence of the article and give readers a clear understanding of what the article is about.

Why is it important to write a synopsis for an article?

Writing a synopsis for an article is important because it helps readers quickly grasp the main points and key ideas of the article without having to read the entire piece. It also helps editors and publishers evaluate the article's content and decide whether it is suitable for publication.

How do you write a synopsis for an article?

To write a synopsis for an article, start by reading the entire article carefully and taking notes on the main points and key ideas. Then, condense the information into a concise summary, focusing on the most important aspects of the article. Make sure to use clear and concise language, and avoid including unnecessary details. Finally, proofread and revise your synopsis to ensure it accurately represents the content of the article.

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How to Write Article Summaries, Reviews & Critiques

Writing an article summary.

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When writing a summary, the goal is to compose a concise and objective overview of the original article. The summary should focus only on the article's main ideas and important details that support those ideas.

Guidelines for summarizing an article:

  • State the main ideas.
  • Identify the most important details that support the main ideas.
  • Summarize in your own words.
  • Do not copy phrases or sentences unless they are being used as direct quotations.
  • Express the underlying meaning of the article, but do not critique or analyze.
  • The summary should be about one third the length of the original article. 

Your summary should include:

  • Give an overview of the article, including the title and the name of the author.
  • Provide a thesis statement that states the main idea of the article.
  • Use the body paragraphs to explain the supporting ideas of your thesis statement.
  • One-paragraph summary - one sentence per supporting detail, providing 1-2 examples for each.
  • Multi-paragraph summary - one paragraph per supporting detail, providing 2-3 examples for each.
  • Start each paragraph with a topic sentence.
  • Use transitional words and phrases to connect ideas.
  • Summarize your thesis statement and the underlying meaning of the article.

 Adapted from "Guidelines for Using In-Text Citations in a Summary (or Research Paper)" by Christine Bauer-Ramazani, 2020

Additional Resources

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How to Write a Summary - Guide & Examples  (from Scribbr.com)

Writing a Summary  (from The University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center)

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how to write a brief synopsis of an article

Learn how to prepare and write a synopsis assignment.

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A synopsis is a brief summary which gives readers an overview of the main points. In an academic context, this is usually a summary of a text (a journal article, book, report etc) but in some instances you might be writing a synopsis of a talk, film or other form of presentation. A synopsis is a neutral summary, objectively capturing the main points, rather than your own perspective or critique, and it focusses directly on the text you’re summarising rather than being a wider discussion of a topic, as an essay might be.

A synopsis aims to give the reader a full, if brief, account of the whole text so that they can follow its main points without having to read it themselves. It’s not a ‘trailer’ designed to tempt your audience to read the text itself, so you don’t have to worry about ‘hooking’ them in with hints and high points or ‘spoiling the ending’ - give the whole text equal coverage, including the conclusions. You could add some commentary which gives the reader a bit of context about the text, including the authors and circumstances it was written in (for example, if it is part of a debate, particular school of thought or its significance and what impact it’s had).

Writing a good synopsis is a skill, and there are a number of challenges: 

  • Separating the main points from the minor detail
  • Knowing what to leave out as well as what to include
  • Giving a sense of the overall narrative as well as listing the key points
  • Covering the whole text within a small word limit
  • Knowing how closely to stick to the original, especially in terms of the wording
  • Whether to give all key points equal treatment, or cover some more briefly, even combining them
  • Rephrasing things concisely without losing the meaning or misrepresenting it
  • Not leaving out anything crucial to understanding the whole overall message

A good synopsis will allow the reader to feel as if they’d skimread the whole text themselves, understanding the overall gist and highlighting what they need to know. A poor synopsis will get bogged down in detail, giving a confused account of the whole story by just listing points, miss out major points or give an inaccurate or one-sided account or stick so closely to the original that it becomes plagiarism without demonstrating a real understanding by the person summarising it.  

How to prepare a synopsis

Boiling down the key points and overall narrative of the original means good reading and note-taking skills which aim to identify and boil down key points to their essence. You could try some of the following approaches: 

  • Read the whole text, and afterwards, without re-reading, jot down your first initial summary in 50 words to capture its overall point. You can check it back for accuracy or anything you left out, but stick within ca 50 words
  • Read the introduction and first line of each paragraph to get a sense of the overall structure and key points within it
  • Highlight one sentence in each paragraph that you think is essential detail to understanding that section
  • Alternatively, with a marker pen, cross out anything that isn’t essential to an understanding of the whole section or text 
  • Jot down only key words as a summary of each point rather than whole sentences
  • Read each paragraph and summarise it without looking, in one sentence of your own 
  • Consider how many points you can make within your word count, and reduce or combine your list of summarised points down to this number

You could start small, identifying just keywords or sentences at first and then work them up into phrases, bullet points and sentences as a rough plan or draft, or you could start big with the original text and reduce each section, paragraph and sentence summary again and again until you have boiled it down to its essence.  

When you start to prepare your first plan or draft, try to use your notes or memory and step away from the original as much as you can. You can go back and check it afterwards, but you need to create some distance to be able to create your own account and have confidence in the points you have identified as essential.

Writing a synopsis

The main decisions facing you as you write up your summary are about how closely to stick to the original in terms of structure and style, and how much attention to give to each point. 

  • You could begin your synopsis with a brief context, explaining who the authors are, the context and significance of their work, as well as anything you think might help the reader to understand the following summary
  • The most common structure is to follow that of the original text, to give a sense of its narrative flow as well as the key points within it. You could choose to depart from it a little though, perhaps glossing over some points faster than others, combining two sections which go together or aren’t enough in their own right, possibly even changing the order a little where it helps to combine two similar points. Careful use of signposting language will help the reader clearly follow the structure (and note anywhere you’ve changed it from the original) so they can identify the bit you’re talking about in the original if they want to
  • The style will naturally be strongly influenced by the original wording, but you should phrase it in your own words wherever possible. It’s harder to nibble away words from a much longer original than it is to start again and use your own concise phrasing, and you want to demonstrate your own understanding to the reader. You could use the odd original phrase or quotation here or there, but the synopsis needs to be more than a collage of quotations; it’s a thing in its own right rather than a cut-down version of the original
  • You can also show your own response to the text in the way you use language to guide the reader to what you feel are the key points and (briefly) why. Your own voice doesn’t need to be very obvious in the synopsis, as it’s about the text rather than your reaction to it, but you have made analytical decisions about what is important, and might want to explain to the reader why these points are significant in understanding the whole
  • What is the main purpose of this text? What did it aim to discover, explain or prove?
  • Why was this research done? How significant is it?
  • How was the research conducted? What kind of research is it?
  • What were the three (or four, five) main things I should be aware of from this paper?
  • What is their line of argument?
  • What is their overall conclusion, recommendation, finding? Why is that important?

Managing word count

The trick to writing a concise synopsis which keeps within your word limit is not to start from the much bigger original text, but from your own boiled down notes. If you’re over the word count, you could start cutting out words that don’t seem essential, but if you go too far, you end up with a text which does not read well and doesn’t hang together. It might be better to remove whole sentences and perhaps whole points, than nibble away at words here and there.

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How To Write A Synopsis

Barbara P

How to Write a Synopsis – A Simple Format & Guide

Published on: Jan 24, 2020

Last updated on: Jan 11, 2024

How to Write a Synopsis

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Are you finding it tough to summarize your detailed story into a short synopsis? If the thought of summarizing your narrative seems overwhelming, know that many students face this challenge.

Imagine the frustration when you have worked hard to create an interesting story, only to feel stuck when trying to make a short synopsis.

But don't worry!

In this blog, we'll not only explain how to write a synopsis but also highlight common mistakes that students make.

Let's begin!

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What is a Synopsis? 

A synopsis is a concise and systematic summary of a larger piece of work, typically a book, movie, play, or academic paper.

In literature, a book synopsis is a short summary that talks about the main parts of a story, like main characters, and central conflict.

For movies, a synopsis is a brief summary that tells the main story, introduces the characters, and sometimes gives away exciting parts of the plot.

In academia, a research paper synopsis is a short description that talks about what the study is trying to do, how it's done, what was found, and what it all means.Pu

Purpose of Writing a Synopsis 

The purpose of writing a synopsis is to provide a concise and informative overview of a larger work, be it a book, movie, or research paper.

In simpler terms, when creating a synopsis, it's important to focus on a few key things:

  • Making sure the information is easy to understand
  • Getting people interested, helping in decision-making
  • Presenting it professionally
  • Meeting specific submission guidelines. 

Think of a synopsis as a helpful tool that tells a little bit about the big work and follows the rules for where it's being sent.

how to write a brief synopsis of an article

How to Write a Synopsis?

Writing a synopsis is not a difficult task if you follow the correct procedure. A good synopsis requires proper planning and preparation.

The following are the steps involved in writing synopses effectively:

Understand the Basics 

Before starting your synopsis, thoroughly understand the work you're summarizing. 

Identify the main characters, character motivations, the central conflict, and the key themes. This foundational understanding is crucial for creating an accurate and engaging summary.

Start with a Strong Opening 

The opening of your synopsis should grab attention and set the tone for the story. It should introduce the main elements without giving away too much.

Introduce the Main Characters 

Briefly introduce the main characters, emphasizing their roles and relationships within the story. Focus on the key traits that drive their actions.

Outline the Central Plot

Summarize the main plot, emphasizing the key events that drive the story forward. Include the central goal or conflict that propels the characters.

Highlight the Central Conflict 

Identify and emphasize the central conflict or challenges the characters face. Clearly articulate the obstacles that stand in their way.

Include Major Turning Points 

Highlight significant turning points or major plot twists that add complexity and intrigue to the story. These moments should showcase the characters' development and contribute to the overall narrative.

Showcase the Resolution 

Provide a glimpse of how the story concludes without giving away all the details. Indicate how the central conflict is resolved and what changes for the characters.

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How to Format a Synopsis?

Formatting is a crucial aspect of creating a professional and visually appealing synopsis for agents and editors. Here are some formatting guidelines to consider:

  • Keep your synopsis concise, typically around 500 to 700 words. Focus on key plot points and essential details without unnecessary elaboration.

Font and Size:

  • Use a standard, easily readable font such as Times New Roman or Arial.
  • Use a font size between 10 and 12 points for optimal readability.

Margins and Spacing:

  • Set standard one-inch margins on all sides of the document.
  • Use standard single-space or double-spacing to enhance readability.
  • Use clear and straightforward language. Avoid overly complex sentences or excessive details. Aim for a style that reflects the tone of your work.

Presentation:

  • Format your synopsis with a readable font and standard font size. Use a professional layout with clear headings and sections to enhance readability

Character Names:

  • Introduce characters by their full names  in bold and capslock when first mentioned. This helps clarity without repeating full names.

Character Thumbnails:

  • Include brief character thumbnails, providing key traits or motivations. This helps the reader quickly understand the characters' roles in the story.

Extra Points:

  • Focus on major plot points and avoid including every detail. Be selective and emphasize on the most impactful elements.

Paragraph Structure:

  • Organize your synopsis into clear paragraphs for each section, such as the introduction, main body, and conclusion.

Third Person Presentation:

  • Write the synopsis in the third person, even if your story is primarily in the first person. This maintains a professional and objective tone.
  • Write your synopsis in the present tense, regardless of the tense used in your actual work. This creates immediacy and engagement.

Document Type:

  • Save your synopsis in a widely accepted document format, such as .doc or .pdf.

File Naming:

  • Provide a clear and concise file name that includes the title of your work. For example: "Title_Synopsis.docx"

By adhering to these formatting guidelines, you can present a polished and professional synopsis that showcases your attention to detail.

How To Write A Synopsis Examples 

Writing a synopsis means summarizing a big piece of work in a short and interesting way. It could be a story, a movie, or even a research paper. 

Let's look at some important ideas and examples to help you get better at writing a good synopsis.

How To Write A Synopsis Sample:

How to Write a Synopsis for a Film

TV Show Synopsis - Example

Synopsis Example for Novel

Synopsis For a Book

Synopsis For a Short Story

Synopsis For a Story

Synopsis For a Short Film

Here are some more examples related to synopsis writing for research and academia!

Thesis Synopsis - Example

Synopsis For Research

Synopsis For a Project

A Synopsis For Phd

Synopsis of an Article

Tips for Writing the Perfect Synopsis

Here are some essential tips to help you refine your synopsis-writing process and create a compelling summary that captivates your audience:

  • Focus on the Main Plot: Avoid including every detail; instead, highlight the key events that drive the story forward.
  • Capture the Tone of the Work: Reflect the mood and style of the original work in your synopsis. 
  • Emphasize Conflict and Stakes : Clearly articulate the central conflict and what's at stake for the characters. 
  • Avoid Spoilers: Provide enough information to generate interest without giving away critical plot twists or the ending.
  • Keep It Concise: A synopsis is a snapshot, not the entire story. Aim for clarity and conciseness to maintain the reader. 

All in all, now you have a detailed guide on how to write a synopsis. Take help from the tips and examples to craft an engaging synopsis on your own!

But if you are still confused or don’t have time to complete your synopsis, MyPerfectWords.com is always just a click away!

Our legit essay writing service offers high-quality services.  We have experienced essay writers who can easily write your synopsis without any errors. 

They understand your requirements and tailor them according to your needs.

So, why wait? Hire a paper writer now and get your synopsis on time!

Frequently Asked Question

What is the difference between a synopsis and a blurb.

The synopsis is comprehensive and aimed at agents, publishers, or those seeking a detailed understanding. While the blurb is concise and crafted for readers to decide if they want to engage with the book.

How Do You Start Writing A Synopsis?

To start writing a synopsis, begin by identifying the main elements of your work, including the central plot, key characters, and major themes. 

Barbara P (Literature, Marketing)

Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.

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What Is a Synopsis and How Do You Write One?

What to Put In and What to Leave Out

  • An Introduction to Punctuation
  • Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
  • M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
  • B.A., English, State University of New York

In the 19th century, a synopsis was a classroom exercise used for teaching traditional grammar but today, the accepted definition of a synopsis is a general overview of an article, essay, story, book, or other written work. In the field of publishing, a synopsis may serve as a proposal for an article or book. In feature writing and other forms of nonfiction, a synopsis may also refer to a concise summary of a polemic argument or event. You might also find a synopsis included in a review or report.

Fast Facts: Synopsis

Pronunciation: si-NOP-sis

Etymology From the Greek, "general view"

Plural : synopses

Adjective : synoptic

Synopsis vs. Outline

Some people use the terms outline and synopsis synonymously and they really are very similar. When it comes to fiction, however, the distinction is more clearcut. While each may contain similar information, a synopsis is an overview that summarizes the main plot points of the work, whereas an outline functions as a structural tool that breaks the plot down into its component parts.

If you think of it in terms of a novel, the synopsis would be similar to the book jacket copy that tells you who the characters are and what happens to them. It usually also gives readers a feeling for the tone, genre, and theme of the work. An outline would be more akin to a page of chapter listings (provided the author has titled the chapters rather than just numbering them) which functions as a map that leads the reader from the beginning of a literary journey to its final destination or denouement.

In addition to crucial information, a synopsis often includes a thematic statement. Again, thinking in terms of fiction, it would identify the genre and even subgenre, for example, a romance Western, a murder mystery, or a dystopic fantasy and would also reveal something of the tone of the work—whether dark or humorous, erotic or terrifying.

What to Include and What to Leave Out

Since a synopsis is a condensation of the original material, a writer must be sure to include the most important details so that the reader will be able to fully comprehend what the work is about. Sometimes, it's hard to know what to put in and what to leave out. Writing a summary requires critical thinking . You're going to have to analyze the original material and decide what the most important information is.

A synopsis isn't about style or details, it's about supplying enough information for your audience to easily understand and categorize the work. A few brief examples might be permissible, but numerous examples, dialogues, or extensive quotations have no place in a synopsis. Do, however, keep your synopsis true to the plot and timeline of the original story.

Synopses for Non-Fiction Stories

The purpose of a synopsis for a work of nonfiction is to serve as a condensed version of an event, a controversy, a point of view, or background report. Your job as a writer is to include enough basic information so that a reader can easily identify what the story is about and understand its tone. While detailed information is important when telling the larger story, only the information crucial to comprehending the "who, what, when, where, and why" of an event, proposal, or argument is necessary for the synopsis.

Again, as with fiction, the tone and the eventual outcome of your story will also likely come into play in your summary. Choose your phrasing judiciously. Your goal is to use as a few words as possible to achieve maximum impact without leaving out so much information that your reader ends up confused.

  • Fernando, Jovita N., Habana, Pacita I., and Cinco, Alicia L. "New Perspectives in English One." Rex, 2006
  • Kennedy, X.J., Kennedy, Dorothy M., and Muth, Marcia F. "The Bedford Guide for College Writers." Ninth Edition. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011
  • Brooks, Terri. " Words' Worth: A Handbook on Writing and Selling Nonfiction ." St. Martin's Press, 1989
  • How to Write a Great Book Report
  • How to Write an Abstract
  • Genres in Literature
  • Interior Monologues
  • Defining Nonfiction Writing
  • How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech
  • Book Report: Definition, Guidelines, and Advice
  • Creative Nonfiction
  • How to Write Feature Stories
  • A Guide to All Types of Narration, With Examples
  • The Difference Between an Article and an Essay
  • What Is a Written Summary?
  • How to Find Trustworthy Sources
  • 50 General Book Club Questions for Study and Discussion
  • AP English Exam: 101 Key Terms
  • Features for Creative Writers
  • Features for Work
  • Features for Higher Education
  • Features for Teachers
  • Features for Non-Native Speakers
  • Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Academy FAQ
  • Grammar Guide

How to Write a Summary (Examples Included)

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw

How to write a summary

Have you ever recommended a book to someone and given them a quick overview? Then you’ve created a summary before!

Summarizing is a common part of everyday communication. It feels easy when you’re recounting what happened on your favorite show, but what do you do when the information gets a little more complex?

Written summaries come with their own set of challenges. You might ask yourself:

  • What details are unnecessary?
  • How do you put this in your own words without changing the meaning?
  • How close can you get to the original without plagiarizing it?
  • How long should it be?

The answers to these questions depend on the type of summary you are doing and why you are doing it.

A summary in an academic setting is different to a professional summary—and both of those are very different to summarizing a funny story you want to tell your friends.

One thing they all have in common is that you need to relay information in the clearest way possible to help your reader understand. We’ll look at some different forms of summary, and give you some tips on each.

Let’s get started!

What Is a Summary?

How do you write a summary, how do you write an academic summary, what are the four types of academic summaries, how do i write a professional summary, writing or telling a summary in personal situations, summarizing summaries.

A summary is a shorter version of a larger work. Summaries are used at some level in almost every writing task, from formal documents to personal messages.

When you write a summary, you have an audience that doesn’t know every single thing you know.

When you want them to understand your argument, topic, or stance, you may need to explain some things to catch them up.

Instead of having them read the article or hear every single detail of the story or event, you instead give them a brief overview of what they need to know.

Academic, professional, and personal summaries each require you to consider different things, but there are some key rules they all have in common.

Let’s go over a few general guides to writing a summary first.

A summary should be shorter than the original

1. A summary should always be shorter than the original work, usually considerably.

Even if your summary is the length of a full paper, you are likely summarizing a book or other significantly longer work.

2. A summary should tell the reader the highlights of what they need to know without giving them unnecessary details.

3. It should also include enough details to give a clear and honest picture.

For example, if you summarize an article that says “ The Office is the greatest television show of all time,” but don’t mention that they are specifically referring to sitcoms, then you changed the meaning of the article. That’s a problem! Similarly, if you write a summary of your job history and say you volunteered at a hospital for the last three years, but you don’t add that you only went twice in that time, it becomes a little dishonest.

4. Summaries shouldn’t contain personal opinion.

While in the longer work you are creating you might use opinion, within the summary itself, you should avoid all personal opinion. A summary is different than a review. In this moment, you aren’t saying what you think of the work you are summarizing, you are just giving your audience enough information to know what the work says or did.

Include enough detail

Now that we have a good idea of what summaries are in general, let’s talk about some specific types of summary you will likely have to do at some point in your writing life.

An academic summary is one you will create for a class or in other academic writing. The exact elements you will need to include depend on the assignment itself.

However, when you’re asked for an academic summary, this usually this means one of five things, all of which are pretty similar:

  • You need to do a presentation in which you talk about an article, book, or report.
  • You write a summary paper in which the entire paper is a summary of a specific work.
  • You summarize a class discussion, lesson, or reading in the form of personal notes or a discussion board post.
  • You do something like an annotated bibliography where you write short summaries of multiple works in preparation of a longer assignment.
  • You write quick summaries within the body of another assignment . For example, in an argumentative essay, you will likely need to have short summaries of the sources you use to explain their argument before getting into how the source helps you prove your point.

Places to find academic summaries

Regardless of what type of summary you are doing, though, there are a few steps you should always follow:

  • Skim the work you are summarizing before you read it. Notice what stands out to you.
  • Next, read it in depth . Do the same things stand out?
  • Put the full text away and write in a few sentences what the main idea or point was.
  • Go back and compare to make sure you didn’t forget anything.
  • Expand on this to write and then edit your summary.

Each type of academic summary requires slightly different things. Let’s get down to details.

How Do I Write a Summary Paper?

Sometimes teachers assign something called a summary paper . In this, the entire thing is a summary of one article, book, story, or report.

To understand how to write this paper, let’s talk a little bit about the purpose of such an assignment.

A summary paper is usually given to help a teacher see how well a student understands a reading assignment, but also to help the student digest the reading. Sometimes, it can be difficult to understand things we read right away.

However, a good way to process the information is to put it in our own words. That is the point of a summary paper.

What a summary paper is

A summary paper is:

  • A way to explain in our own words what happened in a paper, book, etc.
  • A time to think about what was important in the paper, etc.
  • A time to think about the meaning and purpose behind the paper, etc.

Here are some things that a summary paper is not:

  • A review. Your thoughts and opinions on the thing you are summarizing don’t need to be here unless otherwise specified.
  • A comparison. A comparison paper has a lot of summary in it, but it is different than a summary paper. In this, you are just saying what happened, but you aren’t saying places it could have been done differently.
  • A paraphrase (though you might have a little paraphrasing in there). In the section on using summary in longer papers, I talk more about the difference between summaries, paraphrases, and quotes.

What a summary paper is not

Because a summary paper is usually longer than other forms of summary, you will be able to chose more detail. However, it still needs to focus on the important events. Summary papers are usually shorter papers.

Let’s say you are writing a 3–4 page summary. You are likely summarizing a full book or an article or short story, which will be much longer than 3–4 pages.

Imagine that you are the author of the work, and your editor comes to you and says they love what you wrote, but they need it to be 3–4 pages instead.

How would you tell that story (argument, idea, etc.) in that length without losing the heart or intent behind it? That is what belongs in a summary paper.

How Do I Write Useful Academic Notes?

Sometimes, you need to write a summary for yourself in the form of notes or for your classmates in the form of a discussion post.

You might not think you need a specific approach for this. After all, only you are going to see it.

However, summarizing for yourself can sometimes be the most difficult type of summary. If you try to write down everything your teacher says, your hand will cramp and you’ll likely miss a lot.

Yet, transcribing doesn’t work because studies show that writing things down (not typing them) actually helps you remember them better.

So how do you find the balance between summarizing the lessons without leaving out important points?

There are some tips for this:

  • If your professor writes it on the board, it is probably important.
  • What points do your textbooks include when summarizing information? Use these as a guide.
  • Write the highlight of every X amount of time, with X being the time you can go without missing anything or getting tired. This could be one point per minute, or three per five minutes, etc.

How Do I Create an Annotated Biography?

An annotated bibliography requires a very specific style of writing. Often, you will write these before a longer research paper . They will ask you to find a certain amount of articles and write a short annotation for each of them.

While an annotation is more than just a summary, it usually starts with a summary of the work. This will be about 2–3 sentences long. Because you don’t have a lot of room, you really have to think about what the most important thing the work says is.

This will basically ask you to explain the point of the article in these couple of sentences, so you should focus on the main point when expressing it.

Here is an example of a summary section within an annotation about this post:

“In this post, the author explains how to write a summary in different types of settings. She walks through academic, professional, and personal summaries. Ultimately, she claims that summaries should be short explanations that get the audience caught up on the topic without leaving out details that would change the meaning.”

What are annotation summaries?

Can I Write a Summary Within an Essay?

Perhaps the most common type of summary you will ever do is a short summary within a longer paper.

For example, if you have to write an argumentative essay, you will likely need to use sources to help support your argument.

However, there is a good chance that your readers won’t have read those same sources.

So, you need to give them enough detail to understand your topic without spending too much time explaining and not enough making your argument.

While this depends on exactly how you are using summary in your paper, often, a good amount of summary is the same amount you would put in an annotation.

Just a few sentences will allow the reader to get an idea of the work before moving on to specific parts of it that might help your argument.

What’s the Difference Between Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Using Quotes?

One important thing to recognize when using summaries in academic settings is that summaries are different than paraphrases or quotes.

A summary is broader and more general. A paraphrase, on the other hand, puts specific parts into your own words. A quote uses the exact words of the original. All of them, however, need to be cited.

Let’s look at an example:

Take these words by Thomas J. Watson:

”Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t as all. You can be discouraged by failure—or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that’s where you will find success.”

Let’s say I was told to write a summary, a paraphrase, and a quote about this statement. This is what it might look like:

Summary: Thomas J. Watson said that the key to success is actually to fail more often. (This is broad and doesn’t go into details about what he says, but it still gives him credit.)

Paraphrase: Thomas J. Watson, on asking if people would like his formula for success, said that the secret was to fail twice as much. He claimed that when you decide to learn from your mistakes instead of being disappointed by them, and when you start making a lot of them, you will actually find more success. (This includes most of the details, but it is in my own words, while still crediting the source.)

Quote: Thomas J. Watson said, ”Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure—or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that’s where you will find success.” (This is the exact words of the original with quotation marks and credit given.)

A summary versus a paraphrase versus a quote

Avoiding Plagiarism

One of the hardest parts about summarizing someone else’s writing is avoiding plagiarism .

A tip to avoid plagiarism

That’s why I have a few rules/tips for you when summarizing anything:

1. Always cite.

If you are talking about someone else’s work in any means, cite your source. If you are summarizing the entire work, all you probably need to do (depending on style guidelines) is say the author’s name. However, if you are summarizing a specific chapter or section, you should state that specifically. Finally, you should make sure to include it in your Work Cited or Reference page.

2. Change the wording.

Sometimes when people are summarizing or paraphrasing a work, they get too close to the original, and actually use the exact words. Unless you use quotation marks, this is plagiarism. However, a good way to avoid this is to hide the article while you are summarizing it. If you don’t have it in front of you, you are less likely to accidentally use the exact words. (However, after you are done, double check that you didn’t miss anything important or give wrong details.)

3. Use a plagiarism checker.

Of course, when you are writing any summary, especially academic summaries, it can be easy to cross the line into plagiarism. If this is a place where you struggle, then ProWritingAid can help.

ProWritingAid's Plagiarism Report

Just use our Plagiarism Report . It’ll highlight any unoriginal text in your document so you can make sure you are citing everything correctly and summarizing in your own words.

Find out more about ProWritingAid plagiarism bundles.

Along with academic summaries, you might sometimes need to write professional summaries. Often, this means writing a summary about yourself that shows why you are qualified for a position or organization.

In this section, let’s talk about two types of professional summaries: a LinkedIn summary and a summary section within a resume.

How Do I Write My LinkedIn Bio?

LinkedIn is all about professional networking. It offers you a chance to share a brief glimpse of your professional qualifications in a paragraph or two.

This can then be sent to professional connections, or even found by them without you having to reach out. This can help you get a job or build your network.

Your summary is one of the first things a future employer might see about you, and how you write yours can make you stand out from the competition.

Your resume's summary

Here are some tips on writing a LinkedIn summary :

  • Before you write it, think about what you want it to do . If you are looking for a job, what kind of job? What have you done in your past that would stand out to someone hiring for that position? That is what you will want to focus on in your summary.
  • Be professional . Unlike many social media platforms, LinkedIn has a reputation for being more formal. Your summary should reflect that to some extent.
  • Use keywords . Your summary is searchable, so using keywords that a recruiter might be searching for can help them find you.
  • Focus on the start . LinkedIn shows the first 300 characters automatically, and then offers the viewer a chance to read more. Make that start so good that everyone wants to keep reading.
  • Focus on accomplishments . Think of your life like a series of albums, and this is your speciality “Greatest Hits” album. What “songs” are you putting on it?

Tips for writing a linkedin summary

How Do I Summarize My Experience on a Resume?

Writing a professional summary for a resume is different than any other type of summary that you may have to do.

Recruiters go through a lot of resumes every day. They don’t have time to spend ages reading yours, which means you have to wow them quickly.

To do that, you might include a section at the top of your resume that acts almost as an elevator pitch: That one thing you might say to a recruiter to get them to want to talk to you if you only had a 30-second elevator ride.

Treat your resume summary as an elevator pitch

If you don’t have a lot of experience, though, you might want to skip this section entirely and focus on playing up the experience you do have.

Outside of academic and personal summaries, you use summary a lot in your day-to-day life.

Whether it is telling a good piece of trivia you just learned or a funny story that happened to you, or even setting the stage in creative writing, you summarize all the time.

How you use summary can be an important consideration in whether people want to read your work (or listen to you talk).

Here are some things to think about when telling a story:

  • Pick interesting details . Too many and your point will be lost. Not enough, and you didn’t paint the scene or give them a complete idea about what happened.
  • Play into the emotions . When telling a story, you want more information than the bare minimum. You want your reader to get the emotion of the story. That requires a little bit more work to accomplish.
  • Focus. A summary of one story can lead to another can lead to another. Think about storytellers that you know that go off on a tangent. They never seem to finish one story without telling 100 others!

Summarize a spoken story

To wrap up (and to demonstrate everything I just talked about), let’s summarize this post into its most essential parts:

A summary is a great way to quickly give your audience the information they need to understand the topic you are discussing without having to know every detail.

How you write a summary is different depending on what type of summary you are doing:

  • An academic summary usually gets to the heart of an article, book, or journal, and it should highlight the main points in your own words. How long it should be depends on the type of assignment it is.
  • A professional summary highlights you and your professional, academic, and volunteer history. It shows people in your professional network who you are and why they should hire you, work with you, use your talents, etc.

Being able to tell a good story is another form of summary. You want to tell engaging anecdotes and facts without boring your listeners. This is a skill that is developed over time.

Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips From Professional Writers

20 Editing Tips from Professional Writers

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article, or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas., this guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers..

how to write a brief synopsis of an article

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Blog • Understanding Publishing

Posted on Sep 12, 2018

How to Write an Incredible Synopsis in 4 Simple Steps

Your novel is fully written, edited, and polished to perfection — you’re ready to pitch it to agents! But you’re missing a critical piece of persuasion: the synopsis. Even after putting together your entire book, you may have no idea how to write one, or even how to approach it.

Luckily, we’ve got answers for you. Read on for our best tips on writing a synopsis that’s clear, concise, captivating… and may even lead to an all-out agent battle over your novel!

What is a synopsis?

A synopsis is a summary of a book that familiarizes the reader with the plot and how it unfolds. Although these kinds of summaries also appear on the pages of school book reports and Wikipedia, this guide will focus on constructing one that you can send out to agents (and eventually publishers).

Your novel synopsis should achieve two things: firstly, it should convey the contents of your book, and secondly, it should be intriguing!

While you don’t need to pull out all the marketing stops at this stage, you should have a brief hook at the beginning and a sense of urgency underlying the text that will keep your reader going. It should make potential agents want to devour your whole manuscript — even though they’ll already know what happens.

While writing your synopsis, make sure that it includes:

  • A complete narrative arc
  • Your own voice and unique elements of your story
  • The ending or resolution ( unlike in a blurb )

As for the ideal length for this piece, it varies from project to project. Some authors recommend keeping it to 500 words, while others might write thousands. However, the standard range is about one to two single-spaced pages (or two to five double-spaced pages). And if you're interested in knowing how to format the whole of your manuscript for submission, we recommend downloading this manuscript format template. 

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You may also want to have an additional “brief” summary prepared for agents who specifically request a single page or less. Remember: as hard as it will be to distill all your hard work into that minimal space, it’s crucial to keep your synopsis digestible and agent-friendly.

How to write a novel synopsis in 4 steps

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1. Get the basics down first

When it comes to writing a synopsis, substance is the name of the game. No matter how nicely you dress it up, an agent will disregard any piece that doesn’t demonstrate a fully fleshed out plot and strong narrative arc. So it stands to reason that as you begin writing, you should focus on the fundamentals.

Start with major plot points

Naturally, you want agents to be aware of your story's  major plot points . So the best way to start summarizing your story is to create a list of those plot points, including:

  • The inciting incident — what sparks the central conflict of your story?
  • The events of the rising action — what happens in the interlude between the inciting incident and the climax, and how does this build tension?
  • The height of the action, or climax , of your story — this one is the most important, as it should be the most exciting part of your book!
  • The resolution or ending — again, unlike a blurb, a synopsis doesn’t need to dangle the carrot of an unknown ending to the reader; you can and should reveal your story’s ending here, as this brings the plot and narrative arc to a close.

Listing these points effectively maps out the action and arc of your story, which will enable the reader to easily follow it from beginning to end.

Include character motivations

The key here is not to get too deep into characterization, since you don’t have much room to elaborate. Instead, simply emphasize character motivations at the beginning and end of your synopsis — first as justification for the inciting incident, then again to bring home the resolution. For example:

Beginning: “Sally has spent the past twenty years wondering who her birth parents are [motivation]. When a mysterious man offers her the chance to find them, she spontaneously buys a ticket to Florence to begin her journey [inciting action].”

Ending: “She returns to the US with the man who was her father all along [resolution], safe in the knowledge that she’ll never have to wonder about him again [restated motivation].”

Also note how the text here is written in third person, present tense, as it should be regardless of the tense or POV of your actual book. Writing a synopsis in first or second person doesn’t really work because it’s not meant to be narrated — just summarized. Basically, the present tense works to engage the reader while the third person allows the story to be told smoothly.

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2. Highlight what’s unique

Now it’s time to spice up your synopsis by highlighting the elements that make it unique. Agents need to know what’s so special about your book in particular — and moreover, is it special enough to get readers to pick it up? Below are some features you might employ to grab an agent’s attention and assure them of your book’s appeal.

Your writing voice is an essential tool here: it conveys your novel’s tone and is one of the most important factors in making your work stand out. However, it’s also one of the most difficult elements to evoke in such a small amount of space.

The best way to capture voice in a synopsis is through extremely deliberate word choice and sentence structure. So if you were Jane Austen, you’d use clever words to magnify your wit: “When Darcy proposes to her apropos of nothing, Elizabeth has the quite understandable reaction of rejecting him.” You may not be able to use all the elaborate prose of your novel, but your synopsis should still reflect its overall feeling.

Plot twists

Even though they’re one of the oldest tricks in the book, readers will never tire of juicy plot twists. If your novel contains one or more of these twists, especially at the climax, make sure your synopsis accentuates it. But don’t hint too much at the twist, as this will make it seem more dramatic when it comes; a couple of words in the intro will suffice as foreshadowing.

For instance, if you were writing a summary of Gone Girl , you might open with “Nick Dunne wakes up one morning to find that his wife, Amy, has apparently disappeared. ” This implies that she may not be as “gone” as we think she is, setting the stage for the later reveal.

how to write a synopsis

Point of view

Another aspect that might set your book apart is a distinctive point of view . Since you’ll be giving your synopsis in third person, you can limit this inclusion to an introductory sentence: “This book is narrated from the point of view of a mouse.”

Although this strategy works best for books with a highly unusual point of view (such as The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, in which the story is told by Death), it can also be very helpful to remember for seemingly bog-standard narrators. If one of your characters narrates in first person, make sure to address their individual narrative quirks as well as any biases or limitations; highlighting an unreliable narrator can really add to your novel’s intrigue!

3. Edit for clarity and excess

Don’t shroud your synopsis in mystery; this is very frustrating to agents who just want to know what happens in your book! With that in mind, after you’ve written the bulk of your summary, it’s time to edit for clarity. You also may have to delete some text, so you can get it right in that couple-page sweet spot.

Editing for clarity

The paramount rule of synopses is a real doozy: tell, don’t show. It’s the opposite of that classic adage that writers have heard their whole lives, and it’s exactly what you need to write a successful synopsis. 

As you return to what you’ve written, scan for sentences that are vague or unclear, especially toward the beginning. Many writers fall into the trap of trying to hook agents by opening with a sentence akin to the first murky line of a literary novel. Again, though you do want your intro to be intriguing, it has to cut to the chase pretty quickly.

When it comes to opening a synopsis, you need to think like Tolkien, not Tolstoy. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Crisp, clear, and to the point: one of the very few times you should tell, rather than show .

Editing excess words

If your synopsis is longer than a couple of pages at this point, you need make some serious cutbacks. Read through what you have, scrutinizing every sentence and word, even if you think you’ve chosen them carefully. Reduce any run-on sentences or subordinate clauses that unnecessarily lengthen your piece.

Finally, eliminate irrelevant details — anything that doesn’t lead to the next plot point or directly contribute to your voice or other distinctive elements. It’s unlikely you’ll have included any of these in the first place, but just in case they’ve slipped through, cut them. Save the frills for your book; remember, your synopsis is all about substance .

4. Make sure it flows

By the time it’s finished, your synopsis should read like a summary from an excellent book review — or at the very least SparkNotes or Shmoop. This means not only clearly and concisely hitting every important point, but also reading in a smooth manner, placing just the right amount of emphasis on the critical moments and unique aspects we’ve discussed.

Get test readers

A great way to ensure that your synopsis is paced precisely and flows well is to give it to test readers, either someone you know or a professional editor . You’ve spent way too much time with these words to be objective about them, so pay attention to what other people suggest: possible word substitutions, transitions, and which details to emphasize versus delete.

Use professional synopses as models

You don’t want to look at examples of other synopses too soon, otherwise yours will come out sounding formulaic and stale. That said, professional synopses can be a very valuable tool for refining toward the end of the process! Compare and contrast them to the synopsis you’ve written, and adapt any techniques or turns of phrase you feel would enhance it.

Here’s an example of a strong (albeit brief) synopsis of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens , courtesy of the Oxford Companion to English Literature:

Phillip Pirrip, more commonly known as “Pip,” has been brought up by his tyrannical sister, wife of the gentle Joe Gargery. He is introduced to the house of Miss Havisham who, half-crazed by the desertion of her lover on her bridal night, has brought up the girl Estella to use her beauty as a means of torturing men. Pip falls in love with Estella and aspires to become a gentleman.

Money and expectations of more wealth come to him from a mysterious source, which he believes to be Miss Havisham. He goes to London, and in his new mode of life meanly abandons the devoted Joe Gargery, a humble connection of whom he is now ashamed.

Misfortunes come upon him. His benefactor proves to be an escaped convict, Abel Magwich, whom he as a boy had helped. Pip’s great expectations fade away and he is penniless. Estella meanwhile marries his sulky enemy Bentley Drummle, by whom she is cruelly ill treated.

In the end, taught by adversity, Pip returns to Joe Gargery and honest labor. He and Estella, who has also learnt her lesson, are finally reunited.

how to write a synopsis

This synopsis works well because it includes:

  • The inciting incident (Pip moving in with Miss Havisham), the rising action (him being in London), the climax (returning to Joe Gargery), and the resolution (reuniting with Estella)
  • Character motivations (Miss Havisham wants to punish all men because her fiancé betrayed her; Pip wants to become a gentleman so Estella will fall in love with him)
  • A plot twist (Pip’s benefactor being a criminal — whom he knows from his childhood!)
  • Distinctive voice (formal yet engaging, doesn’t detract from the plot) and smoothly written style (events are chronological and progress quickly)

Your synopsis is one of the biggest deciding factors in whether an agent wants to see more from you or not. No matter how chipper your query letter , the bottom line is that this summary tells agents (and later publishers) what they really need to know: what your book is about, what makes it unique, and most importantly, if they can sell it. 

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That’s why it’s vital that you make your synopsis airtight. Fortunately, if you’ve followed these steps, yours will be chock full of plot details with a touch of your own special writing sauce: a synopsis that any agent (hopefully) won’t be able to resist. 

Many thanks to Reedsy editors (and former agents) Sam Brody and Rachel Stout  for consulting on this piece!

Do you have any tips for writing an irresistible synopsis? Leave them in the comments below!

2 responses

Elizabeth Westra says:

12/09/2018 – 22:10

This looks interesting, and I will read every word, but this would be different for a picture book. You only get one page to query for many children's books.

Dorothy Potter Snyder says:

14/10/2018 – 20:11

I am curious if anyone has ideas on how translators can write a synopsis for agents / publishers of works in translation? Might there be something about why this author is important in his/her country of origin and literary tradition? Which authors more known to English language readers might relate to this author (they've never heard of before)?

Comments are currently closed.

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how to write a brief synopsis of an article

How to Write a Summary of an Article in 5 Easy Steps

When you’re summarizing, you’re simply trying to express something in fewer words. I’m Tutor Phil, and in this tutorial, I’ll show you how to summarize an article, step by step. 

Without further ado, here are your…

Five Steps to Writing a Great Article Summary

Step 1. Identify your summary goal

This is a crucial step because  you want to know where you’re headed before you begin the journey.  

Here are three questions you should get clear answers to before you start working on your summary:

  • How many words or paragraphs should the summary contain?
  • Can or should I use quotations?
  • Do I have any other specific requirements from my instructor?

Answering these three questions will give you a very good idea of the end result, and that is very helpful. 

Here are two examples of different requirements:

  • The article is three magazine pages long, and you must summarize it in a three paragraph essay
  • The article is only about 600 words long, and you should summarize it in 150-200 words

Do you see how these two outcomes are different? You’ll see exactly what I mean as we summarize an article together in a second. 

But just note that in the first example you’ll write a lot more than in the second one. This may also mean that you are allowed to use a quotation or two. The second example is probably too short to use quotations. 

Having clarity of the outcome will make your job writing the summary a lot easier. 

Step 2. Read the article, summarizing each paragraph

This step allows you to deal with the article one paragraph at a time instead of trying to swallow it whole. You don’t even have to do multiple readings.  Just make sure that each of your paragraph summaries is accurate.  

Here is how you do it. As you read each paragraph, your task is twofold:

What or who is this paragraph about?

  • What about it (or what about this person)?
  • Write down the answer in one or two complete sentences. 

Note that if your summary goal is to write three or more paragraphs, then you should probably write more than two sentences per summarized paragraph in the second step here. 

If, on the other hand, your goal is one paragraph total, then one or two sentences per paragraph summary should do the job. This is why it is important for you to get totally clear on how many words you want in your final summary. 

When you’re doing this procedure for each paragraph, you’re creating a list of short paragraph summaries that together will eventually summarize the entire article.

Also, by the time you’re done reading the article this way, you will have a pretty good idea of its overall message. 

Let’s read and summarize an article.  First, let’s set a goal of writing one paragraph of about 150-200 words.  This means we shouldn’t use direct quotations. And we have no other requirements. Great.

Note that if you are writing a summary that has to contain more than one paragraph, refer to my  tutorial on how to write body paragraphs . Then simply take what you’ve learned here about summarizing and apply it to each paragraph in a longer summary.

Let’s continue. We need an article to summarize, and here it is below. Let’s read it, summarizing each paragraph.

Sample Article to Summarize

Do Parents Know Best When It Comes to Career Choice?

Paragraph 1

Growing up, like most of his peers, Ahmad worshipped his parents. And wonderful, loving parents they were. They provided him with the best education they could buy and lavished love and attention on their only son. As he was growing into an educated, responsible adult, they insisted that he go into the medical profession, in spite of his expressed desire of becoming a teacher. Today, Ahmad is a doctor at the NYU hospital and earns a bountiful living. The only problem is that he’s not happy. His childhood dream of becoming a teacher did not materialize and became a source of a nagging sense of a lack of fulfillment. 

Summary of paragraph 1

Questions and answers:

– This paragraph is about Ahmad.  

What about Ahmad?

– His parents insisted that he enter the medical profession. He is a successful doctor, but he is unhappy and wishes he were a teacher.  

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences. As we do, we should also change some of the words to make sure we don’t sound as if we’re just repeating stuff. Let’s do it:

Ahmad’s parents steered him into the medical field, against his wishes. As a result, he is a successful doctor, but his unfulfilled dream of becoming a teacher haunts him. 

Note how we used the phrase “ steered into the medical field ” to replace the phrase “ insisted that he go into the medical profession .” 

We want to use our own words and shorten the content at the same time. 

Paragraph 2

A recent Gallup poll revealed that 85% of workers worldwide are unhappy or downright miserable at their jobs. A study published in the International Journal of Advanced Research in 2019 found that parents exert a significant influence on their children’s career choices, especially in some cultures and parts of the world. Could there be a correlation? A cursory look at the issue can be revealing. Children tend to regard their parents as gods, capable of everything except error. This misconception eventually wanes, but the process can take years or even decades. But can parents really provide great career advice or direction, given their high authority in the eyes of their children? Most parents, studies show, never bother to uncover their children’s talents, strengths, and weaknesses. They generally either do not care about or fail to understand the importance of matching the child’s inborn potential with a career choice. 

– This paragraph is about widespread job dissatisfaction.

– It is also about parents as bad career advisors. 

What about these concepts?

– Job dissatisfaction rates are appalling. One possible cause is parental pressure. But parents don’t make good career advisors because they almost never bother to explore their child’s inborn potential.    

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences:

Job dissatisfaction rates are appalling, and one possible cause is parental pressure. While children tend to deem their parents ultimate authorities on everything, they should take parental advice about choosing a profession with a grain of salt. Parents often do not bother to evaluate their children’s inborn talents, strengths, and weaknesses.

Okay, we have three sentences here, but that’s okay. We can trim down the final result, if necessary. Let’s keep going. 

Paragraph 3

Furthermore, parents are often motivated by factors other than their child’s sense of fulfillment. Psychologists claim that parents are often unconsciously guided by their own self-interest or by a false sense of security. They want the best for the future of the family as whole, and that is often associated with a high status. In other words, it may be more important for the parents that their child make them a proud member of a community by gaining a high post or a lucrative salary. They may also consider some careers more stable and safe. This notion persists in parents in spite of overwhelming evidence that the stability of a career is highly dependent on the employee’s satisfaction with the career choice. Those who feel miserable at the job sooner or later find a way to escape it and end up taking a pay cut in return for higher job satisfaction. 

– This paragraph is about more reasons why parents should not guide their children’s careers. 

What about these reasons?

– Parents often make bad career counselors because they are driven by selfish yet unconscious motivations. Their desire for status and security backfires when their children change careers and take a pay cut to gain higher job satisfaction.  

Parents often act out of selfish yet unconscious motivations. Their desire for status and security backfires when their children change careers and take a pay cut to gain more job satisfaction. 

Paragraph 4

Despite the sad statistics, not all parental career guidance is bad. Stacey is a highly paid educator who loves her job. Her parents took care to learn as much as possible about her as she was growing up and were able to guide her to an ideal career. She is now a professor of music at a university. She gets to perform and teach her beloved musical instrument – the violin. Contrary to what many may think, Stacey’s parents are not musicians, and she did not follow in their footsteps. They are psychologists, and that explains a lot. Stacey is lucky, but not many people can boast parents who understand the importance of exploring the child’s inner world or care to uncover the child’s potential. Most parents simply don’t know. 

– This paragraph is mostly about Stacey.

What about Stacey?

– She is an example of when parental career advice works out well. However, most people can’t expect to turn out like she did.   

Sometimes parental career advice works, and Stacey is a great example. She’s an accomplished musician and educator and loves her work life. Unfortunately, most people cannot expect a similar outcome. 

We have three sentences again. But that’s fine. Sometimes a paragraph contains more than two distinct ideas. Just write them down in a concise form. Keep moving forward.

Paragraph 5

In a world where parents make such incompetent career advisors, young adults can and should consult with professionals with regards to their future. Career counselors and coaches can help a young person navigate the muddy waters of vocational decision-making. By taking into account such considerations as personality type, passion, a gravitation towards a subject, and strengths and weaknesses, among other factors, these professionals can guide a young person towards a career that is likely to be rewarding and fulfilling. Ironically, a good income and job security are likely to follow, as well. 

– This paragraph is about an alternative approach to making career choices. 

What about it?

– Using the services of career counselors and coaches is a much better way to decide on a career. There is an irony in this, too.   

Using the services of career counselors and coaches is a much better way to decide on a career. Ironically, this can increase the chances of higher pay and better job security.

Awesome! We’re ready for the next step. 

Step 3. Put the paragraph summaries together

At this point, you’ll have a list of paragraph summaries. They make the bulk of your final summary paragraph, though they need some work. 

In this step, type all these short paragraph summaries together into a word processor, one after another. When you’re done, you’ll have a raw summary ready to be organized.

And let’s do it. We’ll simply copy all of the sentences we just wrote and paste them in sequence into one paragraph.

Raw Article Summary

how to write a brief synopsis of an article

This raw summary is 172 words long, which is perfectly within our goal. So, we have the amount of material we need. Now, we need to take the next step. 

Step 4. Organize the raw summary from general to specific

Here is something that is very important to understand about essay writing in general.  An argumentative essay should proceed from general to specific.  

The truth is, however, that most articles you will summarize do not necessarily follow this rule. This means that you can find a specific statement, then a general one, then back to specific, and then to something irrelevant, and so on.

In other words,  articles are not always examples of great academic writing.  This is why the value of your summary is not only to provide a shorter version of an article but also to help the reader understand it.

To make the article easier to comprehend, your task is to arrange your summary from general to specific. This means the following:

  • State the summarized main point (thesis) in the very beginning
  • Provide the summaries of the supporting points immediately after the thesis
  • Provide summaries of examples last

A thesis is the main point of an article. It is the most general statement found in it. So state it upfront. No need for an introduction because including one would take away from your summary’s conciseness. 

The supporting points are the next most general statements. These are the other big ideas in the article, besides the main point.

And examples are the most specific bits of content. They serve to illustrate the main and supporting points. That’s why they should be included after the big ideas, not before. 

In this step, we’ll simply arrange the statements we have in the order of general to specific. We won’t do any other editing here because that comes in the next step.

Let’s do it. And here’s our resulting paragraph.

Article Summary – Arranged from General to Specific 

how to write a brief synopsis of an article

If you read this organized summary, you’ll notice how it flows much better than the raw version. That’s because the thoughts are arranged in a logical manner.

For example, we moved the example of Ahmad from the beginning of the article to the end of the section about parental pressure in career planning. That’s where this example really belongs. 

You see, if the author begins an article with an example, the reader doesn’t have a frame of reference because she doesn’t know what this is an example of. 

We correct this by organizing the summary from general to specific. But we have one final step to take to polish the summary and make sure it flows smoothly from beginning to end. 

Step 5. Make the final tweaks

In this step, you want to make some final edits and make this summary exemplary. To do that, execute the following potential tweaks:

If needed, add the main point as one sentence in the beginning.

Authors of articles don’t necessarily include one perfect statement that would summarize the entire article perfectly.

After organizing your article summary from general to specific, you may (or may not) notice that your most general statement still does not include the whole main idea of the article. If that’s the case, then put one together and state it as the first sentence of the summary. 

Importantly, in most cases, you should include a statement that introduces the author of the article and possibly the article title. The title can be shortened. 

Here is the phrase template you can use:

“In his article on X, [Author’s Name] (year of publication) argues that…”

Simply begin your summary with this statement, substituting the subject, the name of the author, and the year of publication. You may tweak this format depending on the citation style you use. 

You’ll see the example of this in the final version of the summary. 

Make sure sentences transition well from one to the next.

Remember, at this stage, you just have a sequence of sentences that you spliced together in the previous steps. Now, you need to make sure that the entire article summary reads smoothly. 

This means that you may need to tweak parts of some of the sentences to ensure nice transitions. 

Proofread – remove any errors or typos.

Finally, make sure that the article summary contains no grammatical errors and no typos. And when you’re done – you’re done!

And let’s do it. Let’s make these final tweaks to our sample summary.

Article Summary – Final Version

In his article on parental career advice, Thompson (2019) argues that career choice is an important decision that is best made with professional rather than parental guidance. While children tend to deem their parents as ultimate authorities on everything, they should take parental advice about choosing a profession with a grain of salt. Parents often do not bother to evaluate their children’s inborn talents, strengths, and weaknesses. And their advice is often self-serving, albeit unconsciously. The result is appalling rates of job dissatisfaction. Ahmad is a perfect example. He is a well-paid doctor who would rather be a teacher and enjoy his work. That said, when parents do pay attention, they can guide their child well, as Stacey’s example shows. She is an accomplished violinist and teacher who was guided by her psychologist parents and could not be happier as a professional. However, most children cannot boast parents who are psychologists, and uninformed parents will make mistakes with regards to their children’s future. Therefore, it is better for young adults to consult with a professional in early adulthood to determine the most fulfilling career course, ironically increasing the chances of higher pay and better job security.

Note the following facts about this final, tweaked version:

  • It opens with a sentence that mentions the source (subject, author, and year).
  • The first sentence also summarizes the entire point of the article.
  • The sequence of sentences flows smoothly.
  • We moved some parts around a little for better logical connections.
  • We made more changes in wording and phrasing to make it even more concise and non-repetitive. 

And there you have it – a five-step approach to summarizing an article. The next resource I would recommend for you is my tutorial on  how to use transitions , since it’s a topic of its own. 

Hope this was helpful!

Tutor Phil is an e-learning professional who helps adult learners finish their degrees by teaching them academic writing skills.

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How to Summarize a Journal Article

Last Updated: September 1, 2023 Approved

Reading Article

Planning draft, writing summary, sample summaries.

This article was co-authored by Richard Perkins . Richard Perkins is a Writing Coach, Academic English Coordinator, and the Founder of PLC Learning Center. With over 24 years of education experience, he gives teachers tools to teach writing to students and works with elementary to university level students to become proficient, confident writers. Richard is a fellow at the National Writing Project. As a teacher leader and consultant at California State University Long Beach's Global Education Project, Mr. Perkins creates and presents teacher workshops that integrate the U.N.'s 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the K-12 curriculum. He holds a BA in Communications and TV from The University of Southern California and an MEd from California State University Dominguez Hills. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article has 24 testimonials from our readers, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 1,404,757 times.

Summarizing a journal article is the process of presenting a focused overview of a completed research study that is published in a peer-reviewed, scholarly source. A journal article summary provides potential readers with a short descriptive commentary, giving them some insight into the article's focus. Writing and summarizing a journal article is a common task for college students and research assistants alike. With a little practice, you can learn to read the article effectively with an eye for summary, plan a successful summary, and write it to completion.

Step 1 Read the abstract.

  • The purpose of an abstract is to allow researchers to quickly scan a journal and see if specific research articles are applicable to the work they are doing. If you're collecting research on immune system responses in rodents, you'll be able to know in 100 words not only whether or not the research is in your field, but whether the conclusions back up your own findings, or differ from it.
  • Remember that an abstract and an article summary are two different things, so an article summary that looks just like the abstract is a poor summary. [1] X Research source An abstract is highly condensed and cannot provide the same level of detail regarding the research and its conclusions that a summary can.

Step 2 Understand the context of the research.

  • You still need to go back and actually read the article after coming to the conclusion, but only if the research is still applicable. If you're collecting research, you may not need to digest another source that backs up your own if you're looking for some dissenting opinions.

Step 4 Identify the main argument or position of the article.

  • Look for words like hypothesis, results, typically, generally, or clearly to give you hints about which sentence is the thesis.
  • Underline, highlight, or rewrite the main argument of the research in the margins. Keep yourself focused on this main point, so you'll be able to connect the rest of the article back to that idea and see how it works together.
  • In the humanities, it's sometimes more difficult to get a clear and concise thesis for an article because they are often about complex, abstract ideas (like class in post-modern poetics, or feminist film, for example). If it's unclear, try to articulate it for yourself, as best as you can understand the author's ideas and what they're attempting to prove with their analysis.
  • Try to analyze the author's tone, looking at some of the keywords that really tells you what they are trying to get across to you.

Step 5 Scan the argument.

  • Different areas of focus within a journal article will usually be marked with subsection titles that target a specific step or development during the course of the research study. The titles for these sub-sections are usually bold and in a larger font than the remaining text.
  • Keep in mind that academic journals are often dry reading. Is it absolutely necessary to read through the author's 500 word proof of the formulas used in the glycerine solution fed to the frogs in the research study? Maybe, but probably not. It's usually not essential to read research articles word-for-word, as long as you're picking out the main idea, and why the content is there in the first place.

Step 6 Take notes while you read.

  • These segments will usually include an introduction, methodology, research results, and a conclusion in addition to a listing of references.

Step 1 Write down a brief description of the research.

  • When you're first getting started, it's helpful to turn your filter off and just quickly write out what you remember from the article. These will help you discover the main points necessary to summarize.

Step 2 Decide what aspects of the article are most important.

  • Depending on the research, you may want to describe the theoretical background of the research, or the assumptions of the researchers. In scientific writing, it's important to clearly summarize the hypotheses the researchers outlined before undertaking the research, as well as the procedures used in following through with the project. Summarize briefly any statistical results and include a rudimentary interpretation of the data for your summary.
  • In humanities articles, it's usually good to summarize the fundamental assumptions and the school of thought from which the author comes, as well as the examples and the ideas presented throughout the article.

Step 3 Identify key vocabulary to use in the summary.

  • Any words or terms that the author coins need to be included and discussed in your summary.

Step 4 Aim to keep it brief.

  • As a general rule of thumb, you can probably make one paragraph per main point, ending up with no more than 500-1000 words, for most academic articles. For most journal summaries, you'll be writing several short paragraphs that summarize each separate portion of the journal article.

Step 1 Do not use personal pronouns (I, you, us, we, our, your, my).

  • In scientific articles, usually there is an introduction which establishes the background for the experiment or study, and won't provide you with much to summarize. It will be followed by the development of a research question and testing procedures, though, which are key in dictating the content for the rest of the article.

Step 4 Discuss the methodology used by the authors.

  • The specifics of the testing procedures don't usually need to be included in your summary in their entirety; they should be reduced to a simple idea of how the research question was addressed. The results of the study will usually be processed data, sometimes accompanied by raw, pre-process data. Only the processed data needs to be included in the summary.

Step 5 Describe the results.

  • Make sure your summary covers the research question, the conclusions/results, and how those results were achieved. These are crucial parts of the article and cannot be left out.

Step 6 Connect the main ideas presented in the article.

  • This is sometimes more important in summaries dealing with articles in the humanities. For example, it might be helpful to unpack dense arguments about poet George Herbert's relationship to the divine with more pedestrian summaries: "The author seeks to humanize Herbert by discussing his daily routines, as opposed to his philosophies."

Step 7 Don't draw your own conclusions.

  • This can be difficult for some inexperienced research writers to get the hang of at first, but remember to keep the "I" out of it.

Step 8 Refrain from using direct quotations of text from the journal article.

  • Check verbs after writing. If you're using the same ones over and over, your reader will get bored. In this case, try to go back and really see if you can make really efficient choices.

how to write a brief synopsis of an article

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  • ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/930/
  • ↑ https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing-critical-review
  • ↑ http://web.pdx.edu/~jduh/courses/faq/JouranlArticleSearch.htm
  • ↑ http://web.cortland.edu/hendrick/journalarticle.pdf

About This Article

Richard Perkins

To summarize a journal article, start by reading the author's abstract, which tells you the main argument of the article. Next, read the article carefully, highlighting portions, identifying key vocabulary, and taking notes as you go. In your summary, define the research question, indicate the methodology used, and focus mostly on the results of the research. Use your notes to help you stay focused on the main argument and always keep your tone objective—avoid using personal pronouns and drawing your own conclusions. For tips on how to read through the journal article thoroughly, such as starting with the conclusion, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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  • Literary Terms
  • Definition & Examples
  • When & How to Write a Synopsis

I. What is a Synopsis?

A synopsis is a brief summary that gives audiences an idea of what a composition is about. It provides an overview of the storyline or main points and other defining factors of the work, which may include style, genre, persons or characters of note, setting, and so on. We write synopses for all kinds of things—any type of fiction or nonfiction book, academic papers, journal and newspaper articles, films, TV shows, and video games, just to name a few!

The amount of detail and information revealed in a synopsis depends on its purpose. For instance, authors often need to provide a lengthy synopsis when proposing a book, article, or work to potential publishers or editors —in that case, a synopsis will include a full plot overview (which includes revealing the ending), signs of character progression, detailed explanation of theme and tone, and so on. This article will mainly focus on the short synopses you see every day on websites and other media outlets.

II. Example of a Synopsis

Here’s an example of a short synopsis of the story of Jack and Jill:

Jack and Jill is the story of a boy and a girl who went up a hill together. They went to fetch a pail of water, but unfortunately, their plan is disrupted when Jack falls and hits his head, and rolls back down the hill. Then, Jill falls too, and comes tumbling down after Jack.

As you can see, the synopsis outlines what happens in the story. It introduces the main characters and the main plot points without being overly detailed or wordy.

III. Importance of Synopses

Synopses are extremely valuable and necessary pieces of writing for authors, film makers, TV producers, academic writers, and many others.

  • On one level, it’s what actually helps a book get published or a film or TV series get made—a successful, well-written synopsis can convince the person in charge of publication or production to bring a work to life
  • On the other hand, synopses grab the attention of potential audiences and can convince them to read, watch, or listen
  • Also, they help researchers find what they are looking for and decide if a piece is relevant to their field

Without them, audiences and readers would never know what something was about before reading or viewing it! Thus, the importance of synopses is twofold: it both helps works get made and then helps them reach the right audiences.

IV. Examples of Synopses in Literature

Example 1: synopsis of a novel.

When we want to choose a novel, it’s a common practice to read a synopsis of what it’s about. A short synopsis will give us just enough details to draw readers in and hopefully convince them to read the book! Here’s a brief synopsis from Cliff’s Notes of The Hunger Games :

In Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, the Capitol forces each of Panem’s 12 districts to choose two teenagers to participate in the Hunger Games, a gruesome, televised fight to the death. In the 12th district, Katniss Everdeen steps in for her little sister and enters the Games, where she is torn between her feelings for her hunting partner, Gale Hawthorne, and the district’s other tribute, Peeta Mellark, even as she fights to stay alive. The Hunger Games will change Katniss’ life forever, but her acts of humanity and defiance might just change the Games, too.

Example 2: Synopsis of an Academic Paper

Sometimes, teachers, professors, publications, or editors want a synopsis of an academic paper, lecture, or article, which is more formally called an abstract (See Related Terms ). Like with a work of fiction, it gives a summary of the main points of the papers or article and provides a snapshot of what issues will be discussed. Synopses of these types of work are particularly important for scholars and anyone doing research, because when searching, they need to be able to know what an article is about and whether it is relevant to their work.

During his career, J.R.R. Tolkien gave a lecture on the classic Beowulf , which became one of the most respected and most-consulted academic sources on the poem to date. Here is a synopsis:

Before Tolkien, general scholarly opinion held…that while the poem might after all be unified, it was nevertheless unfortunate that the poet had chosen to tell stories about a hero, ogres, and a dragon, instead of detailing the wars in the North to which he often provocatively alludes. Tolkien’s lecture strongly and sometimes ironically defends the poet’s decision and the poem itself. The poet had every right to choose fantasy rather than history as his subject; in doing so he universalized his theme; his many allusions to events not recounted gave his work depth; most of all, the poem offered a kind of negotiation between the poet’s own firmly Christian world and the world of his pagan ancestors, on whom he looked back with admiration and pity.

This synopsis shares the main focus of Tolkien’s famous lecture and outlines its purpose for those who may be interested in it and can benefit from his research.

V. Examples of Synopses in Popular Culture

Example 1: synopsis of a tv series.

Giving the audience a written preview of a subject or storyline is a standard practice for TV producers. Before the series Gotham premiered, Warner Brothers released a detailed synopsis of exactly what the show would be about, which was particularly important because the audience would want to know how it would be placed amongst other Batman storylines. Here is a selection from its official synopsis:

Gotham is the origin story of the great DC Comics Super- Villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome), this one-hour drama follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the genesis of one of the most popular super heroes of our time. Brave, earnest and eager to prove himself, the newly minted detective Gordon (Ben McKenzie) is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), as the two stumble upon the city’s highest-profile case ever: the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne.

This is only one piece of the synopsis provided by Warner Brothers, but it’s a good sample of the bigger picture. It introduces the main theme and major characters, giving us a taste of what the series has in store.

Example 2: Synopsis of a Film

The job of a film synopsis is to build excitement and anticipation in the audience. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a long-awaited addition to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter universe and the release of this synopsis and trailer was big news in the world of popular culture. Here’s the synopsis:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

When a new film is announced, producers usually release a written synopsis like this, as well as an official trailer. Truly, a movie trailer is just a visual form of a synopses. But, a trailer builds even more anticipation in the audience than a written summary, because it gives a true peek at what will unfold on screen.

VI. Related Terms

An abstract is a brief summary of a scholarly work. It does the same things as a synopsis, but goes by a different term—“synopsis” is the preferred term for creative writing, films, and television, “while abstract” is the preferred term for formal or academic works. Overall, they have the same purpose.

An outline is shorter, less defined plan of what you’re going to include in a piece of writing. It’s usually written in the brainstorming phase, and just “outlines” general things that the work will include, and may change as you get farther in your work. An outline comes before a work is written, and a synopsis is written after a work is complete.

VII. Conclusion

In conclusion, synopses are useful summaries that are written for the benefit of a potential reader or audience. It gives an overview and a “sneak peek” at a work, which lets them choose things that are interesting or useful to them personally and/or professionally.

List of Terms

  • Alliteration
  • Amplification
  • Anachronism
  • Anthropomorphism
  • Antonomasia
  • APA Citation
  • Aposiopesis
  • Autobiography
  • Bildungsroman
  • Characterization
  • Circumlocution
  • Cliffhanger
  • Comic Relief
  • Connotation
  • Deus ex machina
  • Deuteragonist
  • Doppelganger
  • Double Entendre
  • Dramatic irony
  • Equivocation
  • Extended Metaphor
  • Figures of Speech
  • Flash-forward
  • Foreshadowing
  • Intertextuality
  • Juxtaposition
  • Literary Device
  • Malapropism
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Parallelism
  • Pathetic Fallacy
  • Personification
  • Point of View
  • Polysyndeton
  • Protagonist
  • Red Herring
  • Rhetorical Device
  • Rhetorical Question
  • Science Fiction
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
  • Synesthesia
  • Turning Point
  • Understatement
  • Urban Legend
  • Verisimilitude
  • Essay Guide
  • Cite This Website

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  • How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on 25 September 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 12 May 2023.

Summarising , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

  • Read the text
  • Break it down into sections
  • Identify the key points in each section
  • Write the summary
  • Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or analysing the source. You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

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Table of contents

When to write a summary, step 1: read the text, step 2: break the text down into sections, step 3: identify the key points in each section, step 4: write the summary, step 5: check the summary against the article, frequently asked questions.

There are many situations in which you might have to summarise an article or other source:

  • As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
  • To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
  • To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

When you’re writing an academic text like an essay , research paper , or dissertation , you’ll integrate sources in a variety of ways. You might use a brief quote to support your point, or paraphrase a few sentences or paragraphs.

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyse or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarising is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

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how to write a brief synopsis of an article

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You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

  • Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
  • Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
  • Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

  • Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
  • Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
  • Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organised into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction, methods, results, and discussion.

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

Keep in mind that a summary does not involve paraphrasing every single paragraph of the article. Your goal is to extract the essential points, leaving out anything that can be considered background information or supplementary detail.

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

In that case, pay particular attention to the thesis statement —the central claim that the author wants us to accept, which usually appears in the introduction—and the topic sentences that signal the main idea of each paragraph.

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

To avoid plagiarism and show you’ve understood the article, it’s essential to properly paraphrase the author’s ideas. Do not copy and paste parts of the article, not even just a sentence or two.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarise this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or research paper, you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

When including a summary as part of a larger text, it’s essential to properly cite the source you’re summarizing. The exact format depends on your citation style , but it usually includes an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your paper.

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

  • You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
  • You haven’t missed any essential information
  • The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarising many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words.

Save yourself some time with the free summariser.

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarising, and on the purpose of the summary.

With the summariser tool you can easily adjust the length of your summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

  • As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
  • For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
  • To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
  • In a paper , to summarise or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarising an article or other source, follow these two rules:

  • Write the summary entirely in your own words by   paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
  • Reference the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarise the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarise a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 12). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 19 February 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/how-to-write-a-summary/

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The secret relationship of US District Attorney Fani Willis that threatens to derail Donald Trump's Georgia election case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis

Even before the criminal case against Donald Trump in the US state of Georgia was announced, the prosecutor leading the investigation was under intense pressure.  

Fani Willis, a Democrat elected to the position of district attorney (DA) in Fulton County, faced mounting violent threats as she investigated Mr Trump's alleged attempts to overturn the state's 2020 election results.  

On the night she revealed charges had been brought against the former president and 18 of his allies, under a racketeering law usually levelled at mobsters , Ms Willis reportedly resorted to using a body double out of fear for her safety.  

In a book entitled Find Me the Votes, investigative reporters Dan Klaidman and Michael Isikoff revealed how Ms Willis's security team discovered a death threat posted to the dark web that suggested "the best time to shoot her is when she's leaving the building".

Her security team took this particular threat seriously — so much so that when the press conference finished, Ms Willis reportedly disguised herself by changing outfits and slipping out the back of the building.

Meanwhile, the authors wrote of a staffer who, made to look like Ms Willis, left the court from the main exit wearing the district attorney's clothing and a bulletproof vest.

fani willis sits on a white couch in an office.

Mr Trump has railed against the Georgia prosecution, describing the charges against him as "false" and accusing Ms Willis of being politically motivated.  

But as the case moves closer to trial, it's her personal life that threatens to derail it. 

Ms Willis has admitted to a previously secret relationship with the special prosecutor she hired to assist with the investigation. 

And while she insists there's nothing improper about it, Mr Trump's legal team are pushing for the pair to be disqualified and the case thrown out.

An office romance, a case in jeopardy 

Fani Willis stands next to Nathan Wade at a press conference.

Claims of Ms Willis's relationship first emerged last month in a court filing lodged by one of Mr Trump's co-defendants, former White House aide Michael Roman.  

The motion accused Ms Willis of having an "improper, clandestine personal relationship" with Nathan Wade, one of the three special prosecutors she had hired to work on the case. 

It suggested Mr Wade was both underqualified for the job — due to a lack of experience prosecuting racketeering charges — and overpaid, having received $US653,000 ($1,006,155) over two years.  

It also alleged Ms Willis had personally benefited from his pay cheque, by accompanying him on holidays including to Californian wineries and the Caribbean.  

"While she is not paying herself directly, she nonetheless reaps the rewards," the motion said. 

Michael Roman

Mr Roman's lawyers alleged the relationship started before Mr Wade was appointed, and that they'd been "profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers".

They requested Ms Willis, her office, and Mr Wade all be disqualified from the prosecution.  

A hearing has been scheduled for later this week to hear arguments for and against that outcome.  

"Under Georgia law, if there's a disqualification, the entire office has to be removed," Anthony Michael Kreis said, an assistant professor of law at Georgia State University. 

"In which case, a council of prosecutors in the state of Georgia will select a different office to take up the case." 

He said that could lead to the prosecution being abandoned if there isn't the same "political will, or the bandwidth, or the enthusiasm" to pursue the case in the same way it has been so far.  

'A ticket to the circus'

Lawyers for Ms Willis have rejected the motion to disqualify, arguing the defendants have not established a conflict of interest, nor that she or Mr Wade had been financially motivated. 

"Counsel for Defendant Roman seemingly anticipates a hearing that would last days, garner more breathless media coverage, and intrude even further into the personal lives of the prosecution team in an effort to embarrass and harass the District Attorney personally," a court filing said.  

"This is not an example of zealous advocacy, nor is it a good faith effort to develop a record on a disputed legal issue — it is a ticket to the circus." 

The filing was the first time Ms Willis and Mr Wade had publicly acknowledged their relationship, although they both insisted it only began after he was hired.  

They argued the pair had never lived together, and that the costs of any travel they took had been roughly divided equally between the two. 

A tall lawyer stands in a grey suit as he speaks into a mic next to a lecturn.

Mr Wade also defended the amount he had been paid, saying his fees were below market rates and that he decided to come onboard after other lawyers expressed concerns about "violent rhetoric and potential safety issues for their families".

While Ms Willis's lawyers tried to prevent this week's evidentiary hearing from going ahead, Judge Scott McAfee decided it was necessary, telling the court on Monday that disqualification was "possible".

"I think the issues at point here are whether a relationship existed, whether that relationship was romantic or non-romantic in nature, when it formed, and whether it continues," Judge McAfee said.  

"And that's only relevant because it's in combination with the question of the existence and extent of any personal benefit conveyed as a result of the relationship." 

Mr Roman's lawyers flagged potential testimony from Mr Wade's former divorce lawyer, who they said would testify that his relationship with Ms Willis started before he was hired. 

Ms Willis's attorneys responded by revealing they planned to call her father as a witness to dispute the claim.  

Donald Trump joins efforts to remove Fani Willis

A medium shot of Donald Trump outdoors in a suit and tie, waving one hand to supporters.

Mr Roman has been joined by a number of his co-defendants, including Mr Trump, in trying to have Ms Willis disqualified.  

The former president used a motion to the court to describe her relationship as "improper" but also took aim at a speech she made to a church in Atlanta.  

In the remarks, delivered before she had acknowledged the relationship, Ms Willis accused her critics of "playing the race card", suggesting Mr Wade had been unfairly scrutinised because he was Black.  

"I'm a little confused. I appointed three special counsellors, as is my right to do," she said.

"[I] paid them all the same hourly rate, [but] they only attack one.

"Is it that some will never see a Black man as qualified, no matter his achievements?"  

Mr Trump's lawyers described the comments as "a glaring, flagrant, and calculated effort to foment racial bias" that could prejudice a future jury.  

Ms Willis did not refer to anyone by name in the speech, and argued the comments did not "reference this case nor these defendants" — a response Mr Trump's team scoffed at.  

Legal cases collide in busy week for Trump lawyers 

a truck tows a trailer that has an image on the back of it that shows donald trump putting people in prison.

The upcoming hearing in Fulton County is just one of several involving Donald Trump in a week that highlights how complicated his various legal challenges have become.  

The former president started the week at a federal court in Florida for a closed-door hearing over charges of mishandling classified documents.

Hours later, it was revealed his lawyers had formally asked the US Supreme Court to intervene after a lower court rejected his claim of presidential immunity in charges related to the January 6 Capitol attack.  

And on the same day that the Georgia case takes centre stage, Mr Trump is expected to attend a New York hearing in the so-called 'hush money' case , in which he's accused of falsifying business records.  

Mr Trump remains the overwhelming frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, and he's expected to continue trying to delay all four of his criminal cases for as long as possible.  

Whether or not he can help to dismiss one altogether could become clearer in Georgia soon. 

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Judge orders Trump and companies to pay nearly $355 million in civil fraud trial

By Lauren del Valle , Kara Scannell , Jeremy Herb , Dan Berman and Elise Hammond , CNN

Key takeaways from the civil fraud trial ruling against Donald Trump

From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell

 Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, February 16, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Judge Arthur Engoron hit Donald Trump with his biggest punishment to date on Friday, in a ruling that fined the former president $355 million for fraudulently inflating the values of his properties.

Engoron found Trump liable for fraud, conspiracy and issuing false financial statements and false business records, and he barred him from serving as director of a company in New York for three years. But while he stopped short of dissolving the Trump Organization altogether, Engoron issued a blistering  93-page opinion  that painted the former president as unremorseful and highly likely to commit fraud again.

Here are key takeaways from the decision:

  • The biggest fines yet against Trump: Engoron found that the defendants’ fraud saved them about $168 million in interest, fining Trump and his companies that amount. He also ruled that Trump and his companies were liable for $126 million in ill-gotten profits from the sale of the Old Post Office in Washington, DC, and that Trump and his companies were liable for $60 million in profits from the sale of Ferry Point in the Bronx. Engoron also wrote that Trump would be required for interest on those payments.
  • The judge gets the last word: Trump repeatedly attacked Engoron and the case throughout the 11-week trial on social media, outside the courtroom – and even to the judge’s face while he testified. On Friday, Engoron got the last word, painting Trump as a “pathological” fraudster who would not stop unless forced. The judge acknowledged that the sins Trump committed — which his lawyers frequently argued had no victim because banks were repaid and often eager to do business with Trump’s company — were not as serious as some crimes. But he faulted Trump and his co-defendants for a complete lack of contrition.
  • No corporate death penalty: The judge banned Trump from serving as an officer or director of a New York corporation for three years, but did not issue the so-called corporate death penalty. Engoron pulled back from a decision he issued a summary judgment in September dissolving Trump’s business certificates in finding that Trump and his co-defendants were liable for persistent and repeated fraud. But, the independent monitor installed last fall will stay in place for at least three years and an independent director of compliance should be put in place at the Trump Org. at the company’s expense, the ruling said.
  • Judge says Cohen told the truth: Engoron recapped Michael Cohen’s theatrical trial testimony, acknowledging the credibility issues with Trump’s former lawyer and fixer. But ultimately, Engoron said, he believed Cohen.
  • Trump’s adult sons banned for 2 years: Trump’s eldest sons – who’ve essentially run the Trump Organization since 2017 – are barred from serving as executives in New York for two years, according to Engoron’s order. The Trumps will have to navigate the two-year penalty as they sort out the future of the family-run real estate company.

Get up to speed on the ruling and more takeaways .

Trump will likely be forced to turn over full judgment amount of $355 million to move ahead with appeal

From Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell

Former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants will likely need to come up with the full judgment of $355 million  ordered by Judge Arthur Engoron Friday, with potentially more in interest, in order to move forward with an appeal, sources familiar with the matter have confirmed to CNN.

Those sources explained that this is the typical procedure required by the law, though some of the details, including the total amount to be frozen, could change. 

Trump and his lawyers said Friday they intend to appeal the decision.

That money will be held in an account pending the appellate process, which could take years to litigate.

The 9% interest Judge Engoron ordered Trump and his company to pay on the nearly $355 million judgment will continue to accrue until it’s paid per the order. 

Typically, the state requires a notice of appeal within 30 days of the judgment.

Fact check: Trump’s baseless claim that Biden and the Justice Department are behind his civil case

From CNN's Daniel Dale

In his remarks Friday evening, President Donald Trump claimed,  as he has before , that President Joe Biden was a hidden hand behind the civil fraud case in New York.

“All comes out of the DOJ, it all comes out of Biden,” Trump said. “It’s a witch hunt against his political opponent, the likes of which our country has never seen.” 

Facts First:  There is no basis for Trump’s claim that Biden or the Justice Department is behind the civil case. The case was brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James – after an investigation  she began in 2019 , roughly two years before Biden became president. As Trump has repeatedly noted, James, a Democrat,  campaigned  in 2018 on a pledge to pursue Trump. Also, federal agencies do not have jurisdiction over state cases like this.

James filed the lawsuit that led to this trial  in September 2022  – about two months before Trump  launched his 2024 campaign .

Trump: We will appeal New York civil fraud ruling

From CNN staff

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media on Friday.

In remarks from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump slammed Judge Arthur Engoron, New York Attorney General Letitia James and vowed to appeal Friday's ruling that orders he and his companies pay nearly $355 million.

“It’s a very sad day for, in my opinion, the county," the former president said speaking from Palm Beach, Florida.

"We’ll appeal, we’ll be successful, I think,” Trump said

More on the ruling: The ruling in  the New York civil fraud case also says Trump will be  barred  from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in the state for three years, among other restrictions.

Earlier Friday, Trump called the ruling a sham on Truth Social.

CNN's Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.

New York attorney general: The court ruled in favor of "every hard-working American who plays by the rules"

From CNN’s Samantha Beech

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks to the media on Friday, February 16.

Attorney General Letitia James celebrated today's civil fraud ruling in remarks from New York, saying the court ruled "in favor of every hard-working American who plays by the rules."

“Today justice has been served, today we proved that no one is above the law. No matter how rich, powerful, or politically connected you are, everyone must play by the same rules," the attorney general said.

James added, “Donald Trump may have authored the ‘Art of the Deal,’ but he perfected the art of the steal.”

"And so after 11 weeks of trial, we showed the staggering extent of his fraud, and exactly how Donald Trump and the other defendants deceived banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions for their own personal gain," she continued. "We proved just how much Donald Trump, his family and his company unjustly benefited from his fraud."

James said, “I want to be clear, white collar financial fraud is not a victimless crime. When the powerful break the law, and take more than their fair share, there are fewer resources available for working people, small businesses and families.”

The attorney general thanked those in her office who helped work on the case.

“The scale and the scope of Donald Trump’s fraud is staggering, and so to is his ego, and his belief that the rules do not apply to him. Today, we are holding Donald Trump accountable,” James said.

James did not take questions from reporters and departed the room directly after her remarks, which largely reflected the written statement issued by her office earlier Friday. 

Judge: Common excuse that "everybody does it" is all the more reason to be vigilant in enforcing rules

From CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Laura Dolan and Nicki Brown

Judge Arthur Engoron presides over closing arguments in January.

The New York judge criticized one of the defenses put up by Donald Trump’s lawyers in the civil fraud case, writing in his ruling that claiming “everybody does it” is no reason to get away with fraud.

In fact, Judge Arthur Engoron argued it’s all the reason to be more vigilant in actually enforcing the rules. 

“Here, despite the false financial statements, it is undisputed that defendants have made all required payments on time; the next group of lenders to receive bogus statements might not be so lucky. New York means business in combating business fraud," the judge said.

Known for his colorful writing, the judge also quoted an "ancient maxim" before saying the frauds at issue in this case "shock the conscience."

"As an ancient maxim has it, de minimis non curat lex, the law is not concerned with trifles. Neither is this Court," Judge Arthur Engoron wrote in his ruling. "But that is not what we have here." "The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience," the judge wrote.

Remember: Trump’s attorneys argued during the trial that the attorney general’s claims against Trump had no victims — the banks were paid back and were eager to do business with Trump.

But the attorney general argued, and the judge agreed, that the fraudulent loans Trump received at lower rates had an impact on the marketplace. Plus, the law used to bring the claims against Trump does not require there to be victims of fraud in a traditional sense. 

Does Trump have to pay the nearly $355 million judgment immediately? What we know

From CNN's Fredreka Schouten

Legal experts say former President Donald Trump is likely to use a bond, secured with his assets as collateral, as the first step in satisfying the judgment in the New York civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

On Friday, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his companies to pay nearly $355 million, which Trump has vowed to appeal.

Under a so-called appeal bond, Trump would put up a percentage of the judgment and a third-party company that is the guarantor “is on the hook for the full amount,” said Joshua Naftalis, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice in New York.

“It’s not just the president: Anybody faced with this size of a judgment would probably go the appeal-bond route, because to put up that kind of money is enormous,” Naftalis said. “That could be his entire cash position.”

What Trump has available: It’s difficult to determine the full assets available to Trump, because his business is a privately held concern and does not regularly file reports with regulators. In a deposition taken last year as part of the case brought by James, the former president said his company had more than $400 million in available cash.

Adam Leitman Bailey, a real estate attorney in New York, said Trump likely would have to put up 10% of the judgment in cash, plus an additional fee. 

In January, a jury in a civil defamation case  ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million  to former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, on top of the $5 million verdict she had already won against him last year.

2-year ban on Trump’s adult sons leaves Trump Org leadership in question

From CNN’s Lauren del Valle

Eric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr. wait for their father to speak at the White House in 2020.

Donald Trump’s eldest sons — who’ve essentially run the Trump Organization since 2017 — are barred from serving as executives in New York for two years, according to Judge Arthur Engoron's order.

The Trumps will have to navigate the two-year penalty as they sort out the future of the family-run real estate company that also hasn’t filled the chief financial officer or controller positions vacated by former Trump Org. execs Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney.  

During closing arguments last month, Engoron questioned whether the attorney general presented any evidence that Trump’s eldest sons knew that there was fraud going on at the company — but ultimately found them liable for issuing false financial statements, falsifying business records, and conspiracy claims. 

The judge knocked Eric Trump’s credibility in his ruling, pointing out inconsistent testimony he gave at trial.  He “begrudgingly” conceded at trial that he actually knew about his father’s statements as early as 2013 “upon being confronted with copious documentary evidence conclusively demonstrating otherwise,” the judge wrote. 

Engoron also said Eric Trump unconvincingly tried to distance himself from some appraisals of Trump Org properties that offered a much lower valuation than reported on Donald Trump’s financial statements. 

More on the ruling: Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were both ordered to pay more than $4 million in disgorgement, or “ill-gotten” profits, they personally received from the 2022 sale of Trump’s hotel at the Old Post Office building in Washington DC. 

Ivanka Trump gets to keep her profits on the building sale because she was dismissed as a defendant in the case by an appeals court ahead of trial. But that didn’t stop Engoron from weighing in on her trial testimony, calling it “suspect.” 

Trump has been ordered to pay $438 million this year in fraud and defamation cases

From CNN's Jeremy Herb

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference held at Mar-a-Lago on February 8, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Judge Arthur Engoron hit Donald Trump with his biggest punishment to date Friday, in a ruling that fined the former president nearly $355 million for fraudulently inflating the values of his properties.

The dollar amount dwarfed the verdict against Trump issued last month in the defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll — an $83 million judgment — hitting home just how much the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case threatens Trump’s business empire.

Engoron found Trump liable for fraud, conspiracy, issuing false financial statements, and falsifying business records, barring him from serving as director of a company in New York for three years.

While the judge pulled back from trying to dissolve the Trump Organization altogether, Engoron issued a blistering 93-page opinion that painted the former president as unremorseful and highly likely to commit fraud again.

"This Court finds that defendants are likely to continue their fraudulent ways unless the Court grants significant injunctive relief,” Engoron wrote. 

The judge also ruled that Trump will have to pay millions in interest on the judgement amount.

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  1. How to Write a Summary

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  2. 10 Proven Steps: How to Write a Synopsis for an Article

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    1. What is a Synopsis? 2. How to Write a Synopsis? 3. How to Format a Synopsis? 4. How To Write A Synopsis Examples 5. Tips for Writing the Perfect Synopsis What is a Synopsis? A synopsis is a concise and systematic summary of a larger piece of work, typically a book, movie, play, or academic paper.

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    Indian police fired teargas on Tuesday to scatter hundreds of farmers and supporters on a protest march to the capital New Delhi to demand better prices for their produce.

  27. Live updates: Trump ordered to pay nearly $355 million in civil ...

    A judge has ordered former President Donald Trump and his companies to pay nearly $355 million in a ruling in the New York civil fraud case. Follow here for the latest live news updates.