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

Revision as of 23:11, 6 January 2025

Revision as of 04:03, 7 January 2025

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{{Wikipedia how-to|WP:PLOTSUM}}

{{ombox|text=This page is not considered a [[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines| Wikipedia guideline]] on Wikipedia, but '''[[WikipediaMOS:ManualPLOT]]''' ofand Style/Writing about'''[[MOS:FAIR fictionUSE]]''' isare. Whenever possible, the guidelines should be followed. FurthermoreBut most importantly, [[WP:PLOT|policy]]the statespoint thatis athat plot summarysummaries should notshouldn't swamp an article. This '''''is''''' [[WP:PLOT|policy]].}}

As explained in [[Wikipedia:Plot-only description of fictional works]], an '''encyclopedia article''' about a '''work of fiction''' frequently includes a '''concise summary''' of the plot. The description should be thorough enough for the reader to get a sense of what happens and to fully understand the impact of the work and the context of the commentary about it. On the other hand, however, the plot summary must be concise because Wikipedia's coverage of works of fiction should be about more than ''just'' the plot. Plot summaries that are too long and too detailed can also be hard to read and are just as unhelpful as those that are too short. Finding the right balance requires careful editorial discretion and discussion.

An encyclopedia article about a work of fiction typically includes, but should never be limited to, a summary of the plot. This will give context to the sourced commentary that should also be present. The plot summary should be thorough yet concise, distilling a large amount of information into a brief and accessible format.

==WaysThe ofpurpose organizingof a plot summary==

The purpose of a plot summary is to condense a large amount of information into a short, accessible format. It is not to reproduce the experience of reading or watching the story, nor to cover every detail. For those who have not read or seen the story, it should serve as a general overview that fills in on the major points. For those who have, it should be detailed enough to refresh their memory, no more.

==What plot summaries are not==

{{shortcut|WP:PLOTSUMNOT}} A plot summary is not a recap. It should not cover every scene orand every moment of a story. A summary is not meant to reproduce the experience of reading or watching the work. 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.

Not only should a plot summary avoid a scene-by-scene recap, but there's also no reason that a plot summary has to cover the events of the story in the order in which they appear (though it is often useful). The point of a summary is not to reproduce the experience—it's to explain the story. If the original is nonlinear or experimental in its structure, then the article should state that fact in prose, not through regurgitation of the plot.<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, for a confusing story, we should assume that some of our readers will look the story up because they didn't understand it. Just repeating what they have already seen 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>

==How are plot summaries used on Wikipedia?==

==Ways of organizing a plot summary==

A plot summary is generally used to provide a concise description of the work in question, to allow the reader to understand the discussion related to that plot, and to illustrate points within an article. Where a specific plot point has been commented upon by academics or the media, it is necessary to describe that plot point.

===Ways of organizing a plot summary===

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

The plotmost iscommon usuallyorganization placedof ina plot section is generally 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> IfProvide ita makes thecomprehensive plot easiersummary. toFor explain,articles eventsthat cando benot reordered.<ref>Forhave somea stories—''[[Mementodedicated (film)|Memento]]'',cast for instancesection, oras ''[[Ifkey oncharacters aare Winter's Night a Traveler]]''—presenting eventsintroduced in the orderplot of thea originalfilm wouldor notplay bewith helpful.a Theknown eventscast, inlist thesethe storiesactors' arenames presentedin nonlinearly,parentheses andafter muchthem, ofCharacter the([[Actor]]), experiencewhere isapplicable. basedIf onit untanglingmakes the plot. Formuch theeasier purposeto ofexplain, anevents encyclopedia,can webe doreordered; notfor wantinstance, toa add[[backstory]] torevealed mystery—welater wantin toa explainnovel it.can <brbe />put Forfirst, somethingor likean ''[[Mementoin (film)|Mementomedias res]]'', whereopening thescene originalof ordera isfilm therecan forbe adescribed dramaticwhere reason,it wewould mightoccur notelater. thatA thenonchronological storynarrative isstructure structuredcan inbe amade particularchronological; way,for andsome we'llworks surelyof wantthis tonature, explainthe whatoriginal partsnonchronological structure of the storyplot areis treatedof interest to commentators, such as bigfor revelations.</ref>''[[Pulp AFiction (film)#Plot|Pulp Fiction]]'' or ''[[backstoryMemento (film)|Memento]]''. In these cases, it can be mentioneduseful beforeto theinclude pointa atbrief whichout-of-universe itsummary isto revealedexplain inhow the nonchronological narrative, oris anpresented ''[[in mediasthe res]]''work openingbefore scenepresenting ofthe achronological filmsummary. mightPlot notsummaries should be mentionedwritten atfrom the beginningreal ofworld theperspective plotby summary.referring Ifto thespecific summaryworks followsor parts of works ("In the orderfirst inbook", which"In eventsAct areII") presentedor indescribing athings nonchronologicalfrom narrative,the out-of-universeauthor languageor suchcreator's asperspective ("theThe storyauthor begins inintroduces", "theThe story backtracks todescribes",). orThis gives "the storysummary skipsa aheadmore grounded tone and makes it more accessible to" mightthose beunfamiliar usefulwith the source material.

This section may contain commentary on the work, as in ''[[Candide]]'', though this is not required and great care must be taken to avoid [[WP:OR|original research]]. For example, to describe an alleged deficiency in a plot as a "gaping [[plot hole]]" expresses an opinion that cannot be included in Wikipedia as if it were an established fact; it requires [[WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV|attribution to a source]]. In general, commentary is better suited to a Themes or Reception section.

The plot section should usually avoid commentary. Anything that is not a straightforward description of the plot must be supported by a [[WP:RS|reliable]] [[WP:PSTS|secondary]] source.

==What to cut==

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[[Michelangelo]] is said to have created ''[[David (Michelangelo)|David]]'' by "taking a block of marble and cutting away everything that was not David". Writing a plot summary is a similar process—you take a long work, and you cut out as much as possible. The question is, what do you cut?

The basic structure of many narrative plots includes a lengthy middle section during which characters repeatedly get in and out of trouble on their way to the climactic encounter. Many episodes of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', for instance, involve the main characters getting captured and escaping repeatedly in the middle portion of the adventure. Although such events may beare exciting to read or watch, they often clutter a plot summary with excessive and repetitive detail. Cutting less important ones can make the plot summary tighter and easier to understand.

''Necessary'' detail, however, must be maintained. A summary of ''[[Odyssey]]'' as "Odysseus, returning home from the Trojan War, has many adventures which he uses his wits to escape until he reunites with his wife and kills the men who were trying to take over his kingdom" would omit almost all of the important detailspassages and confuse the readers. Even though they may know how the ''Odyssey'' ends, it's hard to say that they understand the work well enough to appreciate its context and impact.

The ''Odyssey'' contains various scenes where people recount myths to each other which have little importance to the main plot. SuchIf scenesmost mayof bethese are left out or limitedconsist toof only a sentence or two, that is not a problem as long as they help to keep the focus on the main story. In works less vital to the foundations of academia and the founding of the Western literary tradition, details and lengthy subplots could be left out due to being relatively unimportant.

The three basic elements of a story are plot, characters,character and themestheme. Anything that is not necessary for a reader's understanding of these three elements, or is not widely recognized as an integral or iconic part of the work's notability, should not be included in the summary.

===Length===

{{shortcut|MOS:PLOTLENGTH}}

There is no universal set length for a plot summary, though it should not be excessively long. Well-written plot summaries describe the major events in the work, linking them together with fairly brief descriptions of the less-important scenes or paraphrase dialog.

The [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]] provides general guidance on length, with allowances for exceptions. The [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Film#Plot|Film style guideline]] and the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Novels#Plot|Novels style guideline]] both specify 400 to 700 words for full-length works. The [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Television#Plot section|TV style guideline]] specifies a maximum of 200 words for entries in episode lists and up to 400 words for standalone episode articles. The [[Wikipedia:VG/CONTENT|Video game style guideline]] advises no more than approximately 700 words.

While longer descriptions may appear to provide more information, a concise summary canmay be more informative if it highlighthighlights the most important plot elements. By focusing attention on the larger structures of the plot and leaving out unnecessary trivial detail, a shorter summary can often helpbe helpful to enable the reader to better understand the work.

==Maintenance over time==

AtHaving some point,written a concise plot summary, isauthors likely tomust be editedwary by someone else; editors do notof [[WP:OWN|ownexcessive attachment]] to their golden prose. At the same time, changes"plot shouldbloat" beis closelya monitoredserious problem. WellPlot bloat is the gradual expansion of a plot summary over time by well-meaning editors maywho bedo unawarenot have the advantage of the prior discussionsdiscussion orabout conventionsthe regardingpreferred plotlevel summaryof length.detail Plotfor bloatthis isparticular thuswork. aPeriodic seriousreviews problem.and However,reassessments plotby expansionsnew shouldeditors notare beessential summarilyto revertedmaintaining withoutWikipedia explanation.articles Considerand whatto changesmaintaining mightplot besummary sections worthin keepingparticular.

==Characters, locations, etc.==

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==Spoilers==

{{main|Wikipedia:Spoilers}}

By the nature of being an encyclopedia covering works of fiction, [[WP:DISC|Wikipedia contains spoilers]]. It is traditional for Wikipedia articles on fiction (including [[WP:FA|featured articles]]) to summarize the work's plot in the section fairly early on (often immediately following the lead, though in other cases after a background section or list of characters and the actors who play them). Information should not be intentionally omitted from summaries in an effort to avoid "spoilers" within the encyclopedia article. (Spoiler warnings were used early in the project, but the consensus of editors was that this practice was unencyclopedic so their use has been discontinued.)

However, when summarizing a plot and choosing what details to include, editors should use discretion. The advantages of exhaustive coverage of the work are in dynamic tension with the desire to preserve the artistic qualities of the work for readers.<ref>This standard parallels the dynamic tension between the policy that [[WP:NOTCENSORED|Wikipedia is not censored]], and the practice of not tolerating sensationalism or offensiveness for its own sake.</ref> Wikipedia should contain potentially "spoiling" detail where it substantially enhances the reader's understanding of the work and its impact, but be omitted when it merely ruins the experience of the work of fiction for our readers.

==Citations==