Writing Book 5 · Lesson 26

Summary that covers the whole page

A summary that misses the end of the page is not a summary.

What it is

A one-sentence summary is easy to write badly: most people summarize the part they found interesting and leave out the rest. A real summary has to cover every section on the page. Check it by looking at each of your A lines and asking whether your sentence accounts for it.

Watch it built

1
Your outline has three supports.
A. little water · A. extreme heat · A. few plants
2
Write a sentence covering only the first. Notice it fails the test.
Deserts have very little water. — leaves out heat and plants
3
Write one that accounts for all three.
Deserts are defined by scarcity — of water, of shade, and of plant life.
Remember
Check your summary against every A. If one is missing, rewrite.
Ask yourself: “Does my sentence cover the bottom of the page too?”

Remember

One sentence, the whole page.

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