Of the various writing modes in The Marshall Plan® novel writing system, perhaps the least understood and most underused is summary mode. In summary mode you report your story action in a condensed, narrative form. You tell the reader what is happening rather than show it; there’s no blow-by-blow description of events as there would be in, say, action mode.
Summary mode has four primary uses.
To Connect Sections
Summary mode can take us quickly from one section of text to another. The italicized text in the passage below is in summary mode.
Barbara was near tears. “If I can’t find the right dress, I’m not going to the prom. Mom, you’ve got to help me.” [end of section]
Cara hurried Barbara out to the car and they drove straight into Manhattan, where they quickly checked out the offerings of Saks, Lord & Taylor and Bloomingdale’s. But it wasn’t until they hit Bergdorf’s that the perfect dress revealed itself.
[beginning of next section] “Mom, you saved my life,” Barbara said in the car on the way back home, and she leaned back and closed her eyes contentedly. Cara just nodded and smiled.
To Report Events
Some story events are important for your readers to know about, but don’t call for blow-by-blow description.
He spent the morning cleaning the garage: organizing the workbench, hanging shovels and rakes on wall pegs, sweeping the grimy concrete floor. At noon he wiped his sweaty face with a rag and headed inside for a well-deserved beer.
To Telescope Time
Use summary mode to tell about events that occur habitually or over an extended period of time.
Every Sunday night she followed the winding alleys to the tiny bookshop, where she and Mr. Parviz discussed their favorite novels over tiny cups of strong coffee. [end of summary mode] Then, on the last Sunday in August, a young woman stood behind the counter; Mr. Parviz was nowhere in sight. “I’m so sorry,” the woman said in heavily accented English. “My father passed away two nights ago.”
To Focus on Emotion Rather Than Action
With summary mode you can convey a character’s emotional state over an extended period of time, without focusing on the character’s actions during that time.
Over the next several weeks he found himself whistling happily as he went about his duties at the hospital. All was right with the world; everyone seemed to smile at him. He was in love.
Use summary mode sparingly. The opposite of direct action writing, it distances the reader. Novels containing too much summary leave readers feeling distant and uninvolved.
