The Writing Stage in Summarizing

Involves two steps:

First draft
Final draft

The First Draft:

After checking that the outlined notes conforms to the original text,put away the text
Create a title for the summary. Eg.- " summary of " The History of Basket Weaving"
Use only the outlining notes to write first draft
Carefully reword and condense until the required length is achieved
Change the order of ideas if you want to
-make overall meaning clearer
-improve your expression leaving meaning unchanged
-respond to a given question more effectively
-do not over-emphasize points or ideas in the early part of the summary
-ensure the points in the latter part of the summary are included for word count.
-write in a fluent continuous style
Do not use contractions such as 'don't,can't" etc
-generally use past tense unless passage is in present or future tense throughout

Some Caveats:

Pronoun Usage:

If the original text uses a first person viewpoint:

E.g.: I went to the cinema
We had supper together.

Then you can treat them this way.

(a) continue to use the first person "I " or "We" in the summary
(b) change to third person- He/She,Michelle,the author

Using Indirect Speech:

"We would like to go shopping." she said.

"I shall have exercised the dog by five o' clock." he said.

becomes:

She said they liked to go to the movies.
He said that he would have exercised the dog by five o' clock.

Mrs. Wong said," I would like to visit Rome next year"

becomes:

Mrs Wong said that she would like to visit Rome next year.

The Final Version:

-Write the final neat version after checking and editing the first and second draft.

-There should be few changes at this stage. Make changes with care.

-Run a word tally at the margin after every completed line
-Have a final check of the good version against the original text to ensure your summary is accurate,fluent and error-free

Checking:

Check three times

When?

-after the outlining notes have been made
-after the first draft is completed
-after final version is completed

How to Do It:

At Outlining Stage:

-check accuracy of outliningn otes. Ensure main ideas and important details are recorded.
-examine words and phrases to ensure you did not copy them from the words in the text.

When Final Draft is Completed:

-check accuracy of first draft against the original text. Are all relevant ideas/ideas there?
-examine words and phrases to ensure you did not copy them from the words in the text.
-check flow and clarity of expressions. Correct where necessary.
-check number of words-rephrase to meet word count if required.
-once you are happy with this draft, start to write the final version

At Final Version Stage:

-check against the original text. Ensure accurate representation of text.
-check summary to ensure:

its fluent,it does not use words and phrases from the text,grammatically correct and meet the word count.