Read the piece of work you are summarizing, and attempt to gain the important points of the section. Don't make notes at this stage or pay attention to individual words, but gain an overview of what the piece says. Then, write down the important points in bullet-point format on a piece of paper.
Re-read the piece and highlight where the key points occur. If you have missed any or included any points that are not key, make a change to your bullet-point list. Write quotations for each key point next to the bullet point.
Decipher contextual points, such as the author's intention in writing this piece and important information you have about the author. Note this on your bullet-point list.
Use a computer word-processing program to write the title of the piece of work you are summarizing, along with the author's name and the date of publication. This will help you find the original at a later date. Write an introduction which discusses the major topic of the article and the main points made.
Write the body of the summary, using a word-processing program. This will contain your bullet-point list and accompanying quotations. Since summaries are intended to be objective, do not write a conclusion with your own opinion, but rather, that of the author. For example, "The author believes that the economic competition between the UK and Germany was the major cause of World War I."
Print your summary when you have finished. Use your word-processing software to print the summary, and file it for use at a later date.