| Today, we turn our focus to one of the often forgotten elements of each and every article - the summary. It's one of a few things that's displayed on the EzineArticles homepage, the article's category homepage and RSS feeds along with links to the article. Apart from the title, the summary is one of the prominent things that'll spark a potential reader's interest in your article. In other words, when combined with the title, it's the article writing equivalent of a first impression. Good summaries give a short, accurate representation of the article so that readers can quickly get an idea of what can be gained from reading the article. In this video, I'll share 5 tips to help you create that perfect article summary to go along with each of your articles. 
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    Writing the Perfect Article Summary - Brief and Catchy - Good summaries are about 2-5 sentences in length and get right to the point. Don't waste any words that won't get you any closer to hooking in the reader. For example, you don't need to start each summary with something like "This article contains ..." Just get right to it.
- Work Backwards - Write the entire article first, and then use your concluding paragraph as a guide for what to put in the summary. This is a good strategy, especially if you sometimes change the direction of an article while you're writing.
- WHY, Not HOW - Sell them on WHY your presentation of material is important to them and let them know they'll get the HOW if they continue reading. Convince potential readers that your article will be the place for them to get quality, original information.
- Avoid Telling All - Don't put all of the information from the article into the summary. If you do, you'll decrease the likelihood that people will actually read your full article. Keep your tips and strategies out of your summary so readers feel compelled to read your article.
- No Promotion - The summary is not a place for promotional material. So, never include your name or your email address. Never use any links or blatant self-promotion. And never use your article summary for a personal sales pitch.
NOTE: If you don't put anything into the Article Summary field on the submission form, we'll automatically use the first 2 or 3 sentences from your article body as the summary. The perfect article summary is within reach. Now, go and use these tips when crafting your next set of articles to get more potential readers interested and reading your great content. To read this Blog entry online and leave a comment, click here. | 
To Your Article Writing Success & Passion!
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