How to Write Activist Literature – Two – Write a One Line Summary
By Andy Heath
Now that you have a theme to your literature, you need to decide, second of all, what your novel is going to be about. This is perhaps the easiest step in the process because most people that consider writing a novel already have some idea of what they want the novel to be about. When you know what your novel is going to be about, you need to commit to writing and to memory a one line summary.
When I wrote Preston, my one line summary was this – “My novel is about a religious, gay teenager that falls in love with his best friend.”
Generic? Yes, absolutely. But that doesn’t make the summary bad. Here’s why – there’s very little that has not been written about before. Your goal is to write material that will present old ideas in a new way. Certainly there have been books about gay teenagers that have fallen in love with their best friends. There have been books about straight teenagers that have fallen in love with a female friend as well. You must understand that there are books about everything.
Why do I tell you this? Because at some point you’re going to meet some well-meaning friend that says, “Oh, so you’re writing a novel? What is it about?” And you’ll give that friend your one line summary – which is part of the summary’s purpose. Then your friend is going to roll his eyes and say, “Oh well NO ONE has EVER written about THAT before!” speaking sarcastically, of course. Then you’re going to be discouraged and feel like you’re a failure and that you should just give up the whole writing scheme. That is simply not true.
In a later post, we’re going to talk about crafting a great plot, and yes, there is a difference. The summary is not the same thing as a plot. The one line summary is just a quick statement of what the book is generally about. It has nothing to do with all the twists and turns you’re going to see in your novel. Those twists and turns make up the plot. You, on the other hand at this point, just want a one line summary. Why? Because you have to start somewhere.
You may want to be in Los Angeles, for example, but if you’re in New York, you need to realize that. You have to make the journey, and that journey starts with a single step. Yes, this step in the process is the easiest you’re going to make because it’s simple, it’s short, and you’re just starting so you’re still excited and you’re not tired. Regardless, this is a very necessary step in the process and must be completed and given attention. Even if you only spend five minutes on this step, you need to do it and have it on paper.
You don’t need to type it. You can write it out by hand. But let’s say you have no idea what you’re book is going to be about. Then you have to come up with something. There are a few things you can do to come up with your summary.
First, consider books that you have read in the past – yes, you MUST have read a number of books in the past to be even a fair novelist. What were their summaries? Think of your favorite book. In one sentence, what was it about? Can you tell someone in just one sentence – two tops – what the book is about? You may have to think really hard to break down the story to its bare bones, but you can do it. Think about it hard.
Second, look at your own life. Are there things in your life that are interesting? You don’t have to write an autobiography in order to come up with a good summary, but sometimes you can get ideas from your own life. You will find that the problems that you have run across in your own life are a good starting point for a summary because a lot of people have probably gone through the same sorts of issues.
Another source of ideas for a summary are in the form of fantasies that you’ve had. Who of us has not, at some point, wanted to have a romantic relationship with a celebrity? Or wanted to win the lottery? Or thought about what it would be like if your best friend were diagnosed with cancer? Learn to ask the question, “what if?” which is actually a good way to write a summary. For example, “What if a Black man were asked to leave a crowded restaurant in New York in 2010 because of his race?” That’s a great summary. You don’t have to answer that question on this step; your objective now is simply to determine what your book is going to be about.
This step might take anywhere from five minutes to two days – but please no longer. If it takes you longer than two days to write a one line summary, then you have crossed the line from careful thought into procrastination. Go ahead and make the plunge. Decide what your book is going to be about and then simply run with it.
The next step in this process is to make a list of things you want to see happen in the book and begin planning the plot. You see, writing a novel is not easy, but it can be painless if you take it one step at a time. Now, in two days’ time you will see the next post, making a list of things you want to see happen.
