Precis Writing: Do’s and Don’ts for Concise Summaries

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If I told you to tell the entire story of your favorite novel in less than 20 lines, how would you do it? To capture the essence of a text that is at least a hundred pages long seems impossible.

But that’s exactly what a precis is. It’s a summary covering all the important details of a book, speech, or any text.

What Is Precis Writing?

Precis writing is an exercise of comprehension. It’s about taking any long text and writing the gist of it in as few words possible. This tests your knowledge of the work and how well you understood the idea of the original.

It’s not simply a summary, though: a precis must mention all of the important aspects of the work so anyone reading it can understand its meaning without actually going through the longer text.

You must mention the main events, highlights, and themes of the text while avoiding elements that aren’t essential. Simply put, you take a piece of writing and make it as concise as possible without changing its meaning.

In this, it is different from paraphrasing, which doesn’t leave out any details. Paraphrases are often as long or longer than the original. On the other hand, a precis is generally about a third of length of the original work.

Precis writing is mostly seen in academic circles. Teachers often use it to test a student’s knowledge of a particular work and whether they are able to grasp the meaning behind it.

Key Elements in Precis Writing

When it comes to precis writing, there are a few key elements you need to keep in mind:

  • Objectivity: A big function of a precis is laying out a piece of writing’s original concepts and ideas in a concise manner. Using your own interpretation, criticism, or assumption defeats the goal of precis writing.
  • Clarity: Clarity doesn’t mean you simplify the text. It means you’re able to convey its meaning in a way that the reader is able to easily understand.
  • Structure: A precis always sticks to the point. Precis writers often follow simple structures that prevent them from drifting away from important details.
  • Improvisation: Because a precis is short, writers often get creative in how they convey meaning efficiently and effectively. This is mostly seen in the substitution of words as you can’t simply lift sentences or phrases from the original.
  • Cohesiveness: A precis is not a collection of disconnected facts or statements. The sentences must be well knit and have a logical order.

Do’s and Don’ts of Precis Writing

The do’s and don’ts below will help you get a better idea of what writing a precis is and how you can write one yourself.

Do:

  • Read the work a few times: The more times you read it, the better you get a sense of a work’s general meaning and the ideas that support it.
  • Note down the important details: Follow all the main points the author is giving and make sure you’re only basing them on what is written, nothing more.
  • Start with the main idea: Establish the text’s main idea from the start so the reader can quickly grasp the essence of the precis and then…
  • Present the supporting details: Elaborate on the main theme by providing the facts, methods, and points that support it.
  • Identify the unnecessary details: Removing irrelevant data is as critical as keeping the important stuff.
  • Always write a rough draft: Rough drafts give you an idea of what the final version will look like.
  • Limit your words: Giving yourself a word limit can help you create a precis that’s effective and meaningful.
  • Pay attention to your tenses: Historical data and anything related to the past needs to be described in past tense only.
  • Read the original work side-by-side with the precis: Reading them together ensures that you properly conveyed the author’s meaning.
  • Add a suitable title: Write a title that conveys the subject matter from just a glance.

Don’t:

  • Use complicated words: Don’t overcomplicate your precis by using complicated words. Stick to easily understood vocabulary.
  • Give your own assumptions or opinion: To preserve the meaning of the text, avoid adding in your personal interpretations or providing information that’s outside of the text.
  • Focus on one point too long: Keep the text moving by being as precise with the information as possible.
  • Insert a question: Always turn questions into statements when writing a precis.
  • Use contractions or abbreviations: By avoiding contractions and abbreviations, the meaning of the words are clearer, which makes it easier for the reader to understand.
  • Be shaky: Expressing uncertainty shows that you haven’t fully understood the original work.
  • Copy sentences from the original: Always use your own words while still conveying the author’s ideas.

Examples of Precis Writing

Here are two examples of long paragraphs that I took from here and here. I wrote a precis for each, which you can find below.

Example #1

Trees give shade for the benefit of others, and while they themselves stand in the sun and endure the scorching heat, they produce the fruit of which others profit. The character of good men is like that of trees. What is the use of this perishable body if no use is made of it for the benefit of mankind? Sandalwood, the more it is rubbed, the more scent does it yield. Sugarcane, the more it is peeled and cut up into pieces, the more juice does it produce. The men who are noble at heart do not lose their qualities even in losing their lives. What matters whether men praise them or not? What difference does it make whether they die at this moment or whether lives are prolonged? Happen what may, those who tread in the right path will not set foot in any other. Life itself is unprofitable to a man who does not live for others. To live for the mere sake of living one’s life is to live the life of dog and crows. Those who lay down their lives for the sake of others will assuredly dwell forever in a world of bliss.

The Precis: Good Men Live For Others

A good man’s character is like a tree that benefits humanity in various ways. Good men provide for others even if they suffer in the process. They follow the right path and do not care for praise, because living only for one’s self isn’t rewarding. Only men who live for others are guaranteed a fulfilling life.

Example #2

When we survey our lives and efforts, we soon observe that almost the whole of our actions and desires are bound up with the existence of other human beings. We notice that whole nature resembles that of the social animals. We eat food that others have produced, wear clothes that others have made, live in houses that others have built. The greater part of our knowledge and beliefs has been passed on to us by other people through the medium of a language that others have created. Without language and mental capacities, we would have been poor indeed comparable to higher animals.

We have therefore to admit that we owe our principal knowledge over the least to the fact of living in human society. The individual if left alone from birth would remain primitive and beast-like in his thoughts and feelings to a degree that we can hardly imagine. The individual is what he is and has the significance that he has not much in virtue of individuality, but rather as a member of a great human community, which directs his material and spiritual existence from the cradle to the grave.

The Precis: Man as a Social Animal

Human beings live interconnected lives. They depend on each other for food, shelter, clothes, and other basic needs. They communicate through shared languages, through which they pass on knowledge and beliefs.

They are different from animals because they live in a society. Any human left alone from birth remains beast-like because they do not benefit from the shared material and spiritual progress of a community.

The Purpose of Writing a Precis

A lot of people read carelessly and passively. Many aren’t able to comprehend the meaning of a piece of literature because they don’t concentrate on what they’re reading or reflect on it.

No one can make an accurate and cohesive summary without closely studying the text and understanding its contents. Precis writing helps by forcing readers to pay attention to what they read.

It also teaches you to be a comprehensive writer. You’ll begin to be more effective and clear in constructing your sentences, which helps with the readability and flow of your writing as readers are able to quickly follow its train of thought.

A lot of people also don’t have the time to read the full work, so they rely on reading the precis instead. It’s then up to you to write a short piece that still captures the essence of the original. In this, it teaches you to be a careful reader and more thoughtful communicator. You’re able to correctly identify the important parts of a text and successfully convey it to the reader.

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