"I don’t have all day, just sum it up…"

I don’t have all day, just sum it up…

1. Read through source.
2. Reread through source while taking notes, as you reread, of only the most important information within the text, usually just a single topic sentence says what an entire paragraph portrays.
3. No quoting, just sum up a long piece of dialogue, but only if it makes a significant point.
4. Now set aside your notes and reread the source material.
5. Set aside source material and rewrite notes summarizing the points that stick out in your mind the most
6. Compare notes: The stuff that overlaps, that’s your gold material.
7. Connect the points in chronological order (the order it appears in the issue).

Is this a lot of work? Yes. Is it worth it? If you want a great summary, it is worth it. Why is this relevant to viners? Well, quite a few of the viners are in school. Following these steps could help you out with schoolwork. More importantly, it could help out quite a bit with the database section of the vine.

In my opinion, which may not reflect the feelings or opinions of other staff or moderators of ComicVine or WhiskeyMedia in general, sometimes the database can be cluttered with what I consider to be “worthless information.” Take this hypothetical example: Issue #56 of Super-Awesome-Rad-Man (SARM) came out this week and Billy notices that SARM finds out that his arch-enemy, Trampoline Face, is actually his long lost brother. Now SARM already has an in depth character page, so the amount you add could be considered daunting to other readers.

Which one looks better?

After a brutal battle between Trampoline Face and SARM, SARM returns back to the Rad-Tower. He notices Trampoline Face’s blood stained on his clothes, and analyzes it in his computer. It turns out, that after all this time, SARM’s arch-nemesis Trampoline Man is actually SARM’s little brother Colin Crease. SARM loses it and destroys the Rad-Tower causing chaos on the ground and killing innocent civilians.

OR

Trampoline Man hits SARM in the face. SARM falls to the ground. Trampoline Man laughs. “You thought YOU were the best? I’ll have you know I eat chumps like you for breakfast! LITERALLY” Trampoline Man pulls out a knife and fork and licks his chops….. (Continues for five pages)

Would you rather read five lines, or five pages all pretty much conveying the same main point? There’s a fine line between too little and too much though, which, at times, is subjective depending on the reader.

Let’s face it, it is a fast moving society where the user wants their info and they want it now, so why not give it to them? Be quick and concise. Give them just the info that matters, instead of every little detail. If they wanted to know everything that happened, they’d hopefully pick up the book and read it. Sometimes it’s not the best idea to get too in depth. Getting to the point is just so much nicer.

Looking back at everything I’ve typed, I’m sure you guys would have liked it if I had “summed up” my article…

SARM FTW

" I love Smiley the Psychotic Button!but anyways, in my opinion writing in detail isn't necessarily a problem, I think the problem is mixing people's writing styles in a single bio, when one thing's been summarized one way all throughout so that only main details are expressed and then you pop in a little conversation Emma Frost and Cyclops discussing what kind of lingerie she should wear, it just seems odd. I feel however, that if your writing up the entire bio there should be no need to skimp on detail because it's still uniform.also...I can't believe I actually searched for Super-Awesome-Rad-Man in the database :( "

I tried desperately to fix the Danny Ketch page but gave up as Blade Hunter continuously uses bad grammar, ridiculously bad spelling etc.

" @aztek the lost said:

" I love Smiley the Psychotic Button!but anyways, in my opinion writing in detail isn't necessarily a problem, I think the problem is mixing people's writing styles in a single bio, when one thing's been summarized one way all throughout so that only main details are expressed and then you pop in a little conversation Emma Frost and Cyclops discussing what kind of lingerie she should wear, it just seems odd. I feel however, that if your writing up the entire bio there should be no need to skimp on detail because it's still uniform.also...I can't believe I actually searched for Super-Awesome-Rad-Man in the database :( "

you didn't search for Trampoline Face? "

• Tense disagreement
• Dialogue
• Unnecessary detail
• Awful grammar
• Misspellings (Most web browsers have it built in)

" @inferiorego: Agreed!  My list also includes:

• Typographical errors on characters names; and
  
• Inconsistently swapping between codenames & secret identities.
  

Grammar mistakes and typos happen.  Especially as we tend to type quickly to set out the sentence while it's fresh in the mind.  But there's a difference between the occasional error, and those who do it all the bloody time :(

"

" Isn't "returns back" redundant?I mean if we are talking about making things more concise.I tease...I teaseLove the advice inferiorego keep it coming. "

" I'm guilty as charged man. Thanks for writing this. (GAH! I was about to give a long story! LOL!) "

I often see issue summaries on character bios.  I keep saying that info should go on the issue page.  If it's a major arc, it could have a mention consisting of a sentence or two.  I know I've seen this on the Spider-Man and Deadpool pages.  All it does is make the page super duper long and then people won't read all that.

I've noticed, more than ever, that people aren't summarizing when posting submissions now. 
 
Try not to think about the points you're getting for your submission. Think about the other people who have to read the work. 6 paragraphs on a story arc within a character's description isn't fun to read especially when it reads like this, "Trampoline Face runs to the car. Trampoline Face closes the door. Trampoline Face turns the key in the ignition." Vary your wording and sentence structure. 
 
The biggest problem at the moment is that there are so many characters lacking information. Characters like Wolverine, Spider-Man, Batman, etc are filled to the brim with information. There are so many other characters that lack critical info... You can find what areas need to be filled out here.