A Quick Guide on How to Summarize Better

Have you ever developed the habit of writing a summary of a novel or commentary you have read? Are you able to share important points, ideas, sentences, and paragraphs that mattered to you the most? Well, if you haven’t, you can always learn how to summarize better by practicing your writing skills.

Summarizing a book or an article is one of the best ways to show your appreciation of an author’s work. After reading something, you can summarize the original text and share everything you think you need to write about. That way, you can help your readers also understand the book or text through your own words.

This article will teach you how to summarize better by providing you a comprehensive guide. You will also find tips that you can use on summarizing a sentence, paragraph, or main idea from the text you have read. Afterwards, you can start to work on writing the best summary out there!

What Does Summarizing Mean?

In short, summarizing is condensing a text or an interview into a shorter piece. You should not simply copy-and-paste the information from the text or interview and place it in brief text.

To summarize successfully, you need to understand what the author is trying to say. You also need to consider the author’s voice, tone, and perspective.

Summarizing something is the act of recapitulating an entire discussion or argument. You might summarize a whole research paper or conversation in one paragraph.

You can also do this with bullet points, using your own words and style.

When the original material is long, people often summarize key points or facts. Summaries do not include details or examples that distract the reader from the most important information.

It prevents sharing and simplifying difficult arguments, grammar, and vocabulary.

3 Things to Follow on How to Summarize Better

An important skill in modern writing is summarizing. This is a skill many managers value in their employees.

It is the ability to convey the most important information concisely and accurately, without wasting any time or causing misunderstandings.

Summaries do not concentrate on the deeper, most important points of information. Views that are top-down and bird’s-eye are used in all aspects of someone’s lives.

You can train yourself to recognize important information quickly when you combine things. When skimming articles, papers, or websites for information that is needed to solve a problem, this is particularly useful and time-saving.

Below are the three things to follow on how to summarize better.

Tip #1: Share the Main Idea

First, you may want to answer the question “what?” This will help you better explain the overview of the document you have read.

By doing so, you can share the theme or intention of the content. It is essential to have the ability to do this.

The students who will read your summary can have a glimpse of the reference. That way, you can make it clear to your readers that you have identified the text’s primary idea, and you understand the content clearly.

Tip #2: Discuss the Supporting Details

After talking about the main point of the essay, you can add your thoughts about the different supporting details discussed. You can highlight the important facts you can remember from the document.

You have to do this in the attempt to let the audience know about the overview of the facts given. However, you need to take note that you do not need to re-discuss the book.

Instead, all you need to give are short ideas about the facts given. You can go through it word by word or sentence by sentence.

Tip #3: Create A Summary of the Summary

Lastly, you can create a summary to the summary. Here, you just write everything you have learned from the topic as a student.

Make sure to include examples of the key arguments provided and the summary of the entire text. This will help people who wish to read the work to understand it well.

Once you successfully write the summary, people reading it will have enough knowledge about the fiction or non-fiction work they will read.

Conclusion

Remember, you need to share the main idea, discuss the supporting details, and create a summary of the summary when summarizing texts. These are fundamental but helpful steps you can follow as a writer. Take note of this structure whenever you are trying to study a text or a novel.