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

Revision as of 18:12, 20 January 2025

Revision as of 18:24, 20 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 andor 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>