Here is nathan bransfords simplified formula for a onesentence pitch. Pitch your book like its a movie the one sentence synopsis. If a virtual private party is more your thing, go here for details. Lets discuss the onesentence summary, also known as a logline, a hook, or a onesentence pitch what. Bible summary every chapter in 140 characters or less. If you need to, please refer to my post on the five plotting moments that matter used in the template. What is a summary of your favorite books in just one sentence. Describes how instructors can assess whether students are getting it by asking them to create a onesentence summary of the. Youll use your one sentence summary when you or your agent pitches the idea to your editor. Youll use your onesentence summary when you or your agent pitches the idea to your editor. Sometimes that insight is the thesis of the book itself, sometimes its a minor detail. Ive written a one sentence overview of every book of the bible.
If you need to write a book summary, keep a notebook beside you while youre reading the book and write down your thoughts, a list of characters, major themes in the book, and plot development. One in a series of videos on classroom assessment techniques cats. To kill a mockingbird sentence summary student survival. Book summary katniss everdeen, the storys 16yearold narrator, sets out to meet her friend gale so they can do some hunting and gathering before the reaping that afternoon. A one sentence summary is a description that is just long enough to be fun. Narrated by death, the book thief is the story of liesel meminger, a nineyearold german girl who given up by her mother to live with hans and rosa hubermann in the small town of molching in 1939, shortly before world war ii. By onesentence novels, i mean something more than a book that comes to a deeply. A good one makes you want to open it immediately to see what is inside.
When opening conflict happens to characters, they must overcome conflict to complete their quest. A synopsis should be no longer than one page two if you absolutely have to. As katniss makes her way from her home to the meadow and, finally, to the woods, where people of the district are forbidden to go, we learn about katniss life in the. Did you know that a lot of newer books have one sentence summaries a. Lets discuss the one sentence summary, also known as a logline, a hook, or a one sentence pitch what. Your editor will use it when she presents your book to the publishing committee if the editor doesnt have the authority to buy a book. Jun 02, 2010 this book explores the meaning of independence, and asks if its really possible. Conclude with a summing up sentence by stating what can be learned. Jan 14, 20 i know what youre thinking, ces is so last week already. Last week i outlined the general necessity of whittling down your plot to one sentence, one paragraph, and two paragraph pitches in order to give yourself a head start on the literally thousands of times you are going to need to summarize your work over the course of a book s lifetime today i want to zero in on the one sentence pitch. Mindfulness helps you realize that striving for success is fine as long as you. Right in the prologue, shakespeare tells us that this is going to be a tragic. Can you guess these book titles from a single sentence.
Long time stalker here and my first try on a one sentence summary. Students require many examples and practices before being expected to use independently. Did you know that a lot of newer books have onesentence summaries a. The start of a query, book proposal, or anytime someone asks you, whats your. The antichrist is accidentally swapped with a ordinary baby in the hospital where he is born. A one sentence summary of shakespeares most famous plays. Mar 16, 2012 the true story of a failed director who tries to make his one big hit with his one big actor a young girl decides to become a con girl with her dad by selling phony bibles an evil matermind gets stuck with three very enthusiastic little girls. It is precisely the same thing slightly longer form, larger topic. Longterm thinking for a shortsighted world summary long walk to.
Its one sentence that defines the story question for your novel. Play sporcle s virtual live trivia to have fun, connect with people, and get your trivia on. Your editor will use your one sentence summary again. Making change tiny is the best way to create lasting change. The one sentence, one paragraph, and two paragraph pitch. One sentence guides to 16 great books huffpost life. Now, most people have probably read a handful of those.
Best one sentence summary advanced fiction writing. How to write a one sentence pitch nathan bransford. One sentence summaries of classic novels its ok to be lazy sometimes, especially when you have to read hundred of pages to get to know a story from a book, but of course youll miss out. A one sentence summary is a description that is just long enough to. Writing a summary of a book is a great way for you to absorb what youre reading. Combine the thesis statement and your onesentence segment summaries into a onetotwoparagraph summary. All 66 books of the bible in easy, onesentence summaries. The more pages you read in between minisummaries, the more likely you are to forget something important. She and her brother, jem, are also introduced to dill, and the children share stories and. One sentence plot summeries of movies quiz by geekyfun. Write a onesentence summary for each segment of thought on a separate sheet of paper. By popular request, a printed book version of the full set of summaries is now available on amazon. There are three basic elements in a good one sentence pitch.
Last week i outlined the general necessity of whittling down your plot to one sentence, one paragraph, and two paragraph pitches in order to give yourself a head start on the literally thousands of times you are going to need to summarize your work over the course of a books lifetime today i want to zero in on the one sentence pitch. Its a one sentence description of the plot, not the theme. The above could be an example of a onesentence summary, because it does summarize the tragic love story element. At the same time, the one sentence pitch is the core of all the summarizing youre going to do in the future. If a particular book sounds interesting to you, click on the full book summary and. You can also combine some of the answers into one longer sentence. Can you pick the novel, short story, or play based on a very brief one sentence plot introduction from sparknotes. Continue throughout the entire chapter, keeping events in logical order. When writing the outline, use letters to denote the most important points and elaborate on them. Im nik, a writer from germany, and in 2016, i wrote over 365 book summaries. Although this strategy may technically follow apas rules, it is not the preferred method because it is not as smooth as the strategies above and can result in repetition. Use our free book summaries to learn the 3 central ideas from over 600 books in 4 minutes or less. Write summaries together before having students write onesentence summaries independently.
While it can take a long time to acquire the knowledge needed to excel. Free online tool to automatically summarize any text in a few clicks. It refers to a script or movie summed up in just one sentence. By making an outline, it allows for easy organization. Can you guess the book from a bad onesentence summary. Its what you build around when crafting longer pitches. The hunger games begins on the day of the reaping in district 12. May, 2010 the best advice i ever got on constructing a one sentence pitch came from author lisa scottoline, who ran a seminar i attended a couple of years ago. In stripping a canonical novel to its component parts, the texts are. Join a live hosted trivia game for your favorite pub trivia experience done virtually. For most summaries, a one to two sentence summary of the plot is usually sufficient. It also gives you a quick reference you can use to remember the main points of the book anytime you need it.
When writing the text, ensure that all information is covered. For fiction, mention anything someone would need to know about how the book is written for your summary to make sensee. Description etc intro paragraph give a quick overview of the entire story and main points. The booklength sentence is a literary genre in itself, though one few writers have had the nerve to tackle. Use transitions for a smooth and logical flow of ideas. The book thief charlottes web charlottes web, first published in 1952, was written by american author e. When you start drafting your summary, introduce the book and the main characters, then describe the major plot points in the order they happened. Dec 18, 2018 this is my sincere effort in the reading space to present the complex book into a simple one sentence summary. Free summarizer, an online automatic tool to summarize any. Onesentence book description writing a first novel, how to. Witty one sentence summaries of novels, movies, video games, etc.
Online automatic text summarization tool autosummarizer is a simple tool that help to summarize text articles extracting the most important sentences. Nowadays, me and my little team are adding one new book summary every single day. Formulate a central theme that weaves the onesentence segmentsummaries together. This is a lot to take in, so if you want to start with baby steps, check out this list of the shortest books of the bible. Popular books summarized in 3 sentences or less this page shares a full list of book summaries i have compiled during my reading and research. Can you guess these book titles from a single sentence summary. Read content specific text, then model selecting one of the summarization sentences and summarizing the information. Summaries of 20 books in just onesentence richifymeclub. But the lessons of ces will follow some would say haunt us all year long so its worth a sober summary of last weeks events. A logline is a one sentence synopsis of your story. Use numbers and subletters for any supporting details. This book explores the meaning of independence, and asks if its really possible. Nov 09, 2016 a novel written in a single sentence has won the 2016 goldsmiths prize, becoming the third irish winner in the fouryear history of an award set up to reward fiction that breaks the mould or. If you read that onesentence summary every day before you write your next scene or.
Pretty basic ehhhhh i learned ehhhhh from the canadians down here in vallarta, thanks. Three important things to remember about a synopsis. Maybe youre one of the special onesyouve read a handful and a half. The start of a query, book proposal, or anytime someone asks you, whats your book about. But, if one sentence stories are as common as snowflakes, one sentence novels are as rare as white ravens.
Heres a few classic novels all summed up in a very long sentence a. The reader is introduced to the narrator, scout, who describes her familys history and her town, maycomb. The best advice i ever got on constructing a onesentence pitch came from author lisa scottoline, who ran a seminar i attended a couple of years ago. But do you know them by their one sentence summary. Its like a sparknote of a sparknote of a sparknote. The novel actually consists of two sentences, the final one a mere five words long. Onesentence book description writing a first novel, how. Theyre listed in the order they show up in the protestant bible. Single sentence novel wins goldsmiths prize for books that. Though one should hope to get a lot from every book they read and if they dont, what exactly was the point of reading it.
The above could be an example of a one sentence summary, because it does summarize the tragic love story element. A summary of the whole book in just a single sentence. Can you name the childrens book from a onesentence plot. The theme and the one sentence story summary sound a bit different when read aloud. In the ultimate revenge fantasy, edmond dantes gets tossed in prison for life on the eve of his wedding after being falsely accused of being a bonapartist dudes were jealous of his success and his babe of a fiance, but he manages to escape by slipping into a sack containing a dead prisoner. I practiced putting my wip into that format and it worked beautifully. White, while garth williams provided the illustration for this childrens classic novel. How to write a book summary, stepbystep w templates.
You know them by their first sentence, by their last sentence, probably by their fourth sentence of the seventh paragraph in the twentyeighth chapter. Lets discuss the onesentence summary, also known as a logline, a hook, or a onesentence pitch. Before you can create a logline, you will need to understand where your book is going. A thousandpage novel made up of mostly one sentence. The problem with shakespeare is that some of his plays are quite good, some of them are terrible, and all of them are written in the. Best summary tool, article summarizer, conclusion generator tool. Every shakespeare play summed up in a single sentence the. The meat of the summary should focus on why someone would want to read the book or not read it.
Depending on the material and word count, writing a chapter summary may require different amounts of material to be cut. But, if onesentence stories are as common as snowflakes, onesentence novels are as rare as white ravens. When opening conflict happens to characters, they must overcome conflict to complete their. If you want more, ive linked to quick, 3minute guides to every book of the bible, too. If youre looking for free book summaries, this is the single best page on the internet. An fbi cadet is celebrated for catching a serial killer, while everyone ignores the fact that she let a much more murderous one escape in the process. A boy who is the last survivor of his village teams up with a shipwrecked girl to survive and start building a new village. Your editor will use your onesentence summary again. Ducks, newburyport, the new novel by lucy ellmann, recently shortlisted for the booker prize, unspools as a 426,100word sentence that. The term comes from broadcasters logs, back in the days before dvds or streaming services, when television stations were the only ones to broadcast movies once theyd left the theater. In this post, i have tried to summarize the books that i have read or reread in 2018. A guy stares at another guys naked back for a really, really long time before getting nervous and running away.
Write a chapter summary by first reading the chapter to determine the most salient and important points. The one sentence story summary is just what it says. I have tried to summarize each book on this page in just three sentences, which i think is a fun way to distill the main ideas of the book. What is an example of a one sentence summary of the. About 25 words that capture your novel, memoir, or nonfiction book.
Katniss everdeen, the storys 16yearold narrator, sets out to meet her friend gale so they can do some hunting and gathering before the reaping that afternoon. To kill a mockingbird sentence summary student survival guide. A beginners guide to the end summary a brief history of everyone who. I dont know how many books ive been living under, but i only made this discovery a few months ago. Its the heart of your book, whittled down to one sentence. A onesentence summary clinic advanced fiction writing. Write summaries together before having students write one sentence summaries independently. This is my sincere effort in the reading space to present the complex book into a simple onesentence summary. A novel written in a single sentence has won the 2016 goldsmiths prize, becoming the third irish winner in the fouryear history of an award set up to reward fiction that breaks the mould or. By one sentence novels, i mean something more than a book that comes to a deeply. She and her brother, jem, are also introduced to dill, and the children share stories and fantasies about the mystery man next door. Shakespeare is that one guy who wrote 37 plays 400 years ago. One last strategy you can use when citing in summaries is to explicitly cite the source in each sentence using a narrative citation.