Tips on How to Summarize Your OC’s Backstory in 20 Words or Less

“Brevity is the soul of wit” - Shakespeare’s Hamlet

You might have heard that phrase here and there, especially if you’ve studied Hamlet in high school English class. But what does it mean? Brevity is another word for conciseness or briefness, so in rough summary: “being concise is the backbone of wise words”. Being concise with words is often a better show of well-thought out points than rambling explanations; it also often holds your audience’s attention better. 

This article is all about being overly terse (meaning “using as few words as possible”), using brevity in your work without trying to be overly verbose (using a lot of words); in summary, making things quick and keeping the same information together without depending on big words. So, here are some quick tips!

• Don’t depend on big, unfamiliar words. Looking up synonyms (different words with the same meanings) to try and convey information in fewer words can make things more confusing than just using three or four extra words that convey the same meaning. If you’re not used to using a word or term in everyday language, skip it.
• Consider if you don’t mind a comedic factor in your summary; sometimes it can be more fun to describe an incident in a bizarre (but still accurate) way. For instance: “Bea got whacked over the head with a stick filled with Eldritch madness and got DJing superpowers.” Silly and a bit incomprehensible, sure, but:
• Don’t use overly technical or specialized language in summaries for a general audience (meaning, those who aren’t familiar with what you’re talking about). To use the above example with jargon terms: “Bea was attacked with a Mania Weapon and awoke as an S-Class Sinner.” You likely have no clue what any of those specific terms mean, and if you use your own specific backstory terms, your reader might not understand the summary either (which can defeat the whole point).
• Cut out unnecessary information. It might be hard to do at first, but not all information in your character’s backstory is equally important. Consider making a tier list of sorts for information and plot points. As you get more used to summarization you might be able to fit in more information, but try to focus on just the most important parts.
• To practice the above, try highlighting the most important parts of your character’s backstory. This can be on paper or online, but take note of how much you highlight; is there too much highlighted? Too little? It can be hard to strike a balance but if you can comfortably turn your highlights into a quick summary, you’re doing well!

An exercise to help practice summary involves taking something you’ve watched or read, and then summarize the plot into a single paragraph. Once you’re satisfied with what you’ve written, try summarizing it further; aim for a single sentence, though if you can’t manage that, that’s okay! The point is to practice summarization.

Summarize with Intent

Like I mentioned before, focus on specific kinds of information you find important. In the case of backstory summarization, are you summarizing your character’s personal history or motivations? Depending on what information you prioritize, you’ll convey different things. 

If you talk about their inciting incident rather than their family and childhood, your reader will understand more about their goals rather than their life before it. Your reader might naturally conclude that the dramatic event that set them on their current path is more important than their childhood; and maybe that’s not what you’re going for. 

All of this is to say, if you want your readers to understand something you think is core to your character such as their:

• History
• Personality
• Goals 
• Motivations
• Or place in the greater world

focus on backstory pieces that convey that information. 

Practicing summarization can help your English language skills, and help teach you how to convey information more effectively in daily life. Practicing using something you care about and enjoy will benefit you even more in the long run! 

Here are some interesting OCs with good summaries I found while looking around Unvale!

• iluwhiro’s OC Solveig, a cute (and weird) anthro cat girl. The user’s world summary is fascinating, and I’m curious to learn more! Like Solveig, let’s stare with unblinking eyes and wait for more of this user’s future work!
• KISITRON’s Transformers OC, Decibel, has a super descriptive character summary that gives me a great idea of his personality. If you’re a Transformers fan (especially of the IDW 2005 continuity), you’ll be happy to know the user is planning to add lots of lore to this character!
• CHSAJA’s OC Fen Granson, a horror protagonist in the year 1985. With the sudden reappearance of a rabbit-masked serial killer after ten years, Fen must face her past and investigate the recent murder of one of her classmates… This user’s summary gives me chills! I can’t wait to see more!
• Solar’s OC Beatrix Cheng- hey wait a second-! While I mentioned her in the article earlier, this page has a good example of what jargon can look like. As a Path to Nowhere OC, Bea’s page has a lot of specific terminology that makes it a bit harder for regular people to understand.

So, to summarize everything- … just kidding! Just keep these two points in mind:

• Only add important information
• Don’t use big and unfamiliar words if you don’t have to

Summarizing takes practice, so don’t be hard on yourself if you struggle with it at first. If you write up a 20 word (or less) summary, post it with the hashtag #20wordsummary! I’ve already put up my own summary about the character I mentioned in this article, so add your own and check out other people’s too. It’s a great way to introduce new people to your characters.