summaries

[sixbeforelunch]

So here's a question I've often wondered about. What makes for a good fic summary? Is there anything that can get you to click when you might otherwise not have been inclined to?

Conversely, what types of summaries do you like least? Are there summaries that will make you skip a work even if it's tagged with all of your favorite ships and tropes?

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

I am going to have to look up some of these because they have done their job:

Riker and Lwaxana trapped in a shuttle. Threats, telepathy, and gratuitous space profanity.

The God of Thunder declares war on the Internet. Jane and Darcy try to make sure that no one dies.

"Where did it come from?"
"I am Groot," Groot declares.
"Who would just hand you a baby?!"

[sixbeforelunch]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17190173

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2740829

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2201094

(Sorry for the lack of formatting. I'm on my phone.)

[yourlibrarian]

No worries, I read both already (very enjoyable) and have downloaded the podfic to listen to later today.

I find that summaries actually work much better than title and author at AO3. Since I download and then return to leave feedback, I find that sometimes a work exists but it simply will not come up with a title and author. Usually it does, but oddly sometimes it doesn't, which is when I tend to plug in a line from the summary.