Putting together a plot summary

[Adept Invention]

Hello! I'm beginning work on a novel I've always wanted to attempt today and I'm working on putting together a preliminary plot outline.

What I have so far:


One sentence summary
A young Dynamaar warrior goes on the journey of his life to discover the origins of the universe.

Paragraph Summary
Mars is a young Dynamaar warrior, with promising ambitions and a cool head. His life is turned upside down when on his promotion his parents are murdered and the Dynamaar Navy force him to leave his home planet, leaving nothing but empty promises to bring the murderer to justice. Investigating his parent’s death leads him to a variety of worlds and puts him into contact with a civilisation much like his own. Through a series of unforeseen events the leader of the civilisation is assassinated and the homeworld is placed under siege. Mars is rushed to an anomaly at the planet’s pole in an attempt to get him offworld, where he comes across a strange artefact, bestowing on him a strange gift that only seems to bewilder him further. Mars tries to come to terms with what is unfolding ahead of him, and slowly becomes more and more drawn to a small star system near the centre of the galaxy, where his questions will be answered.


I realise the paragraph summary is a bit long winded and I'm trying to think of a way to cut it back in the middle at the moment. (Specifically the bit where he meets the new race and gets put under siege.) I'm trying to convey a theme throughout the book of the fact that there is always more out there. Mars' problems are growing throughout the novel and every time he comes close to solving one another, bigger problem presents itself, until his predicament is galaxy spanning.

Thank you for your patience
a (new) writer,
Ben~

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I think your plot summary isn't long-winded at all. Good luck with it!

 

[Brian G Turner]

Welcome to chronicles, Ben.

As for going for the one liner and paragraph summaries - good start. It's definitely good to be clued up about using such devices.

However, not matter your vision at the moment, you won't have a proper idea of your story until you complete your first draft. There are so many ways the story can change and develop in unexpected ways.

So I wouldn't worry too much about having polished summaries until you have a complete work you need to summarise.

But again, good to be thinking about such things already.

Hope that helps.

 

[Tecdavid]

Hi, Ben. Welcome to the Chrons.

I agree that the paragraph summary is a bit too long. Personally, I'd take out everything that comes after the mentioning of his encounter with another civilisation. After this point, it seems as though you're listing off the story's events one by one, rather than outlining the premise and drawing us in. In place of everything that comes after this point, I'd sum it up with something that merely promises more to come, such as: "Thrown into the woes that trouble this society, and ever downward through mysteries bound to it, Mars comes across answers far more startling than those he once sought before..."
Or something like that.

 

[Adept Invention]

Hi, Ben. Welcome to the Chrons.

I agree that the paragraph summary is a bit too long. Personally, I'd take out everything that comes after the mentioning of his encounter with another civilisation. After this point, it seems as though you're listing off the story's events one by one, rather than outlining the premise and drawing us in. In place of everything that comes after this point, I'd sum it up with something that merely promises more to come, such as: "Thrown into the woes that trouble this society, and ever downward through mysteries bound to it, Mars comes across answers far more startling than those he once sought before..."
Or something like that.

That's pretty good, I might build on that. I agree I started listing events, but that section of the story was kinda complex so it was hard for me to get it down in 1 sentence :O

Thanks for the feedback guys

 

[allmywires]

To me, it doesn't seem long winded but it does seem a bit vague. Do you have a longer point-by-point plan? I'd say leave the summary until you have an actual finished piece of work as has been said. I usually do a chapter-by-chapter plan as I write the thing, and stuff always changes from the original plan. So I wouldn't worry about this too much! Focus on your writing first.

 

[Adept Invention]

To me, it doesn't seem long winded but it does seem a bit vague. Do you have a longer point-by-point plan? I'd say leave the summary until you have an actual finished piece of work as has been said. I usually do a chapter-by-chapter plan as I write the thing, and stuff always changes from the original plan. So I wouldn't worry about this too much! Focus on your writing first.

I don't at the moment, I'm going to work on that in parallel with some character profiles. I've been following this as a loose guide at the moment

 

[Dozmonic]

It doesn't seem long winded, but Dynamaar is a term that has no meaning to me. The single sentence summary is fine as: A young warrior goes on the journey of his life to discover the origins of the universe.

Similarly, I'd remove it in the first line of the longer plot summary, but leave it in for Dynamaar Navy.

I have an aversion to people introducing terms unique to their universe too often, too soon and too strongly