Do you wish to understand the ins and outs of how to write a summary of a book? This guide is then dedicated to you. It will assist you in summarizing books of all types, from fiction to nonfiction, and short and long novels.
In addition to writing a crisp book summary, you will learn different ways of structuring the summaries, goals, and do’s and don’ts, among other aspects. If you have limited time or you are not ready to craft an exceptional summary, you can place an order with us, and we will help you out with it. We can write your summary from scratch, edit and proofread a draft you have written, or do any other task you may need.
We will start by looking at what a book summary is before we jump into our main topic.
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A book summary is a concise description of any book that touches on the main ideas, plot, and characters to give readers a comprehensible understanding. A book summary is also known as a book synopsis.
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Now to the central issue of this guide, what are the steps for how to write a book summary?
If you are going to summarize a book, you need to read it meticulously. You should not read it quickly as you will miss the important points. On the contrary, take your time and ensure you understand every section of the book.
Ensure that you take sufficient notes while reading the book. It may seem like a waste of time, but it is not. It will assist you in writing the summary effectively. You can’t remember everything, so the notes will come in handy.
Although there are many strategies for taking notes, the best is doing it in a dedicated notebook. Some important notes you need to take are those of the important characters and important points in each chapter.
If your book is non-fiction, mention the following details when making notes for each chapter.
If the book is fiction, describe the following details when jogging down notes for each chapter.
Before you can create your summary outline, you need to know the book's main ideas.
You must understand the theme for each chapter of non-fiction books. For fiction, the plot usually follows a similar direction, as you will see below, so the themes in this type of book will not change much. Practically all plots of fiction books consist of the following 5 sections:
Now that you know the book's main ideas and have notes with you, it’s time to create an outline.
There are two general structures for formatting a book summary. These structures are explained in detail below; in the next subsection. Choose one of the structures, then fill in the important points to discuss in each section using the notes you created.
If you want to take outline writing to another level, read this article on how to write an outstanding essay outline.
The other step is to fill up the outline: this includes the introduction, important character traits (and their impact on the storyline), plot, conclusion, and other crucial sections. Use the notes you created to fill these sections.
The final action is to go through the draft and eliminate all the errors. The common errors students make include:
We have already seen how to write a book summary. Now, let’s look at how to structure a book summary. You can use many ways to structure it, which typically depends on your school’s or instructor’s guidelines. Nonetheless, there are two ways that experts recommend more than the other structuring styles. Below are the two popular ways to structure a book summary.
In case you are wondering how to handle a film summary, visit our article on how to write a film synopsis.
We will discuss below what to include in each of these sections.
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Your introduction ought to have background information and an overview of the book.
The body section should have several subsections, depending on the book and, definitely, the instructions provided. Some key subsections that are almost available in all great summaries are:
Other common ones, though not widespread and as important as the three above, are listed below.
You can add these two sections if you see they are significant in the book or your summary or if you want to reach the word count of your summary. Consider checking out this guide, how to make an essay longer, to understand some tactics you can use to make your essay longer.
How you should end a book summary depends on the type of book.: Is it nonfiction or fiction?
For non-fiction, you restate the key ideas in the entire book. If it's fictitious, explain the resolution that happened and the most critical lesson learned.
Are you wondering why your instructor has given you a book summary assignment? Then, read on to see the five reasons.
Some schools may require you to do a book summary or several summaries to complete your degree or course. This is one of the reasons your instructor will assign you a book summary assignment.
Another reason your instructor may give you a book summary assignment is that they want your summarizing skills to improve. Practice makes perfect. They know that when you practice writing several book summaries, your summarizing skills will improve at the end of the day.
Your teacher may tell you to summarize a book so that you can understand it better. Taking notes of what you read leads to more long-term memory retention than just reading without taking notes. Teachers and schools know this, so they give your summary assignments to solidify what you read.
Consistent writing will enhance your writing skills. So, any writing assignment, be it a summary, will assist you in meeting this objective. In addition, reading tons of information from books will expand your knowledge; hence you become better at organizing your thoughts.
The summaries you write will quickly assist you in reviewing content about the book in the future. You will not need to start reading the book afresh.
What is the difference between a book summary, book review, book blurb, and book elevator pitch? Although all these texts describe a book, they differ in many aspects, as shown below.
If you are wondering about the do’s and don’ts of writing a summary of a book, then the list below will place you on the right path. Remember that you can get comprehensive literature homework help from us. We can craft for you an amazing book summary, book review, film review, poem analysis, or any other literature-related assignment you may have.
Go through the list below to learn the key guidelines for writing an excellent book summary.
Do you have any queries regarding how to write a summary of a book? Questions include the steps to follow, how to structure the summary, the guidelines to craft an excellent summary piece, etc. If so, this guide has what you need. Go through it, and you will be a step away from becoming a book summarizing master. If by any chance it's challenging to write the summary, just place an order with us, and we will do it for you at affordable prices and on time.
Melanie is a seasoned writer with more than 8 years of experience. She is passionate about academia and works off the clock to ensure she write the topnotch content for her readers.