Wikipedia:How to write a plot summary: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:28, 6 January 2025

Revision as of 08:44, 6 January 2025

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==What plot summaries are not==

{{shortcut|WP:PLOTSUMNOT}} A plot summary is not a recap. It should not cover every scene or every moment of a story. A summary is not meant to reproduce the experience of reading or watching the work. In some cases, a plot summary might not even present events in the order that the story does.<ref>For some stories—''[[Memento (film)|Memento]]'', for instance, or ''[[If on a Winter's Night a Traveler]]''—presenting events in the order of the original would not be helpful. The events in these stories are presented nonlinearly, and much of the experience is based on untangling the plot. For the purpose of an encyclopedia, we do not want to add to mystery—we want to explain it. <br /> For something like ''[[Memento (film)|Memento]]'', where the original order is there for a dramatic reason, we might note that the story is structured in a particular way, and we'll surely want to explain what parts of the story are treated as big revelations.</ref> In fact, readers might be here because they didn't understand the original. Just repeating what they have already seen or read is unlikely to help them.

Do not attempt to re-create the emotional impact of the work through the plot summary. Wikipedia is not a substitute for the original.<ref>As emotionally moving as the end of ''Hamlet'' is, the final fight does not need to be described in exquisite detail that attempts to re-create every emotional beat of the scene. Our article should not try to be a replacement for actually reading the play.</ref>

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==Ways of organizing a plot summary==

{{shortcut|WP:PLOTPRESENT|WP:PLOTTENSE}}

The plot is usually placed in a self-contained section (designated by {{nowrap|1=<code>== Plot ==</code>}} or sometimes {{nowrap|1=<code>== Synopsis ==</code>}}). By convention, [[story plot]]s are written in the [[narrative present]]—that is, in the [[present tense]], matching the way that the story is experienced.<ref>At any particular point of the story, as it unfolds, there is ''now'', and hence a ''past'' and a ''future'', so whether some event mentioned in the story is past, present, or future changes as the story progresses; the entire description is presented as if the story's ''now'' is a continuous present.</ref> If it makes the plot easier to explain, events can be reordered;.<ref>For some stories—''[[Memento (film)|Memento]]'', for instance, or ''[[If on a Winter's Night a Traveler]]''—presenting events in the order of the original would not be helpful. The events in these stories are presented nonlinearly, and much of the experience is based on untangling the plot. For the purpose of an encyclopedia, we do not want to add to mystery—we want to explain it. <br /> For something like ''[[Memento (film)|Memento]]'', where the original order is there for a dramatic reason, we might note that the story is structured in a particular way, and we'll surely want to explain what parts of the story are treated as big revelations.</ref> A [[backstory]] can be mentioned before the point at which it is revealed in the narrative, or an ''[[in medias res]]'' opening scene of a film might not be mentioned at the beginning of the plot summary. If the summary follows the order in which events are presented in a nonchronological narrative, out-of-universe language such as "the story begins in", "the story backtracks to", or "the story skips ahead to" might be useful.

The plot section should usually avoid commentary. Anything that is not a straightforward description of the plot must be [[WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV|attributed to a source]].