diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+* 0.8.1 (2013-06-14)
+- word wrapping of descriptions
+- use generic description for shared subpackage
+- simplify logic for summary and description processing
+
 * 0.8.0 (2013-05-31)
 - new simplier revision to Fedora Packaging
   - drop %common_summary and %common_description
diff --git a/cabal-rpm.cabal b/cabal-rpm.cabal
--- a/cabal-rpm.cabal
+++ b/cabal-rpm.cabal
@@ -1,30 +1,20 @@
 Name:                cabal-rpm
-Version:             0.8.0
+Version:             0.8.1
 Synopsis:            RPM package creator for Haskell Cabal-based packages
 Description:
-    This package generates RPM spec files from Haskell Cabal packages.
+    This package generates RPM packages from Haskell Cabal packages.
     .
     Recent changes:
     .
+    * 0.8.1: word wrapping of descriptions
+    .
     * 0.8.0: new simpler revised Fedora packaging; check external commands available
     .
     * 0.7.1: various bugfixes and minor improvments
     .
     * 0.7.0: command arg for spec, srpm, or build; installs existing packaged depends with sudo yum
     .
-    * 0.6.6: generate depends for extra-libraries, build-tools, and pkgconfig-depends
-    .
-    * 0.6.5: simplify BuildRequires without versions and drop explicit hscolour
-    .
-    * 0.6.4: add manpage and cabal-rpm-diff wrapper
-    .
-    * 0.6.3: accept tarball arg, use temporary working directory, and add manpage
-    .
-    * 0.6.2: fix L/GPL version output
-    .
-    * 0.6.1: fix bugs for 'cabal-rpm pkg' unpacking and extra docs
-    .
-    * 0.6.0: new update and release for Cabal >= 1.10
+    See <https://github.com/juhp/cabal-rpm/blob/master/NEWS> for more details.
 Homepage:            https://github.com/juhp/cabal-rpm
 Bug-reports:         https://github.com/juhp/cabal-rpm/issues
 License:             GPL-3
diff --git a/src/Distribution/Package/Rpm.hs b/src/Distribution/Package/Rpm.hs
--- a/src/Distribution/Package/Rpm.hs
+++ b/src/Distribution/Package/Rpm.hs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 --import Control.Exception (bracket)
 import Control.Monad    (unless, void, when)
 import Data.Char        (toLower)
-import Data.List        (isPrefixOf, isSuffixOf, nub, sort)
+import Data.List        (groupBy, isPrefixOf, isSuffixOf, nub, sort)
 import Data.Maybe       (fromMaybe)
 import Data.Time.Clock  (UTCTime, getCurrentTime)
 import Data.Time.Format (formatTime)
@@ -183,22 +183,20 @@
 
     -- Some packages conflate the synopsis and description fields.  Ugh.
     let syn = synopsis pkgDesc
-    (syn', synTooLong) <- case lines syn of
-              (x:_) -> return (x, x /= syn)
-              _ -> do warn verbose "This package has no synopsis."
-                      return ("Haskell" +-+ name +-+ "package", False)
-    let summary = if synTooLong
-                         then syn' +-+ "[...]"
-                         else rstrip (== '.') syn'
-    when synTooLong $
+    when (null syn) $
+      warn verbose "This package has no synopsis."
+    let syn' = if (null syn)
+              then ("Haskell" +-+ name +-+ "package")
+              else (unwords $ lines syn)
+    let summary = rstrip (== '.') syn'
+    when ((length . lines) syn > 1) $
       warn verbose "The synopsis for this package spans multiple lines."
 
-    let common_description = (lines . finalPeriod) $
-          if (null . description) pkgDesc
-              then if synTooLong
-                   then syn
-                   else "This package does not have a description."
-              else description pkgDesc
+    let descr = description pkgDesc
+    when (null descr) $
+      warn verbose "This package has no description."
+    let common_description = (formatParagraphs . lines . finalPeriod) $
+          if (null descr) then syn' else descr
         finalPeriod cs = if (last cs == '.') then cs else cs ++ "."
     when isLib $ do
       putDef "pkg_name" name
@@ -249,7 +247,6 @@
 
     put "%description"
     put $ unlines common_description
-    putNewline
 
     when isLib $ do
       when isExec $ do
@@ -257,8 +254,9 @@
         putHdr "Summary" $ "Haskell" +-+ pkg_name +-+ "library"
         putNewline
         put $ "%description" +-+ ghcPkg
-        put $ unlines common_description
+        put $ "This package provides the Haskell" +-+ pkg_name +-+ "shared library."
         putNewline
+        putNewline
       put $ "%package" +-+ ghcPkgDevel
       putHdr "Summary" $ "Haskell" +-+ pkg_name +-+ "library development files"
       putHdr "Requires" "ghc-compiler = %{ghc_version}"
@@ -272,8 +270,14 @@
         put "# End cabal-rpm deps"
       putNewline
       put $ "%description" +-+ ghcPkgDevel
-      put $ "This package provides the Haskell" +-+ name +-+ "library development files."
+      let devel_descr_start = "This package provides the development files for"
+          devel_descr_middle = "the Haskell"
+          devel_descr_end = "library."
+          devel_descr_long = (length $ devel_descr_start +-+ devel_descr_middle +-+ name +-+ devel_descr_end) > 79
+      put $ "This package provides the development files for" ++
+        (if devel_descr_long then "\n" else " ") ++ "the Haskell" +-+ pkg_name +-+ "library."
       putNewline
+      putNewline
 
     put "%prep"
     put $ "%setup -q" ++ (if pkgname /= name then " -n %{pkg_name}-%{version}" else "")
@@ -369,3 +373,22 @@
 showLicense (Apache Nothing) = "ASL ?"
 showLicense (Apache (Just ver)) = "ASL" +-+ showVersion ver
 #endif
+
+-- from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/930675/functional-paragraphs
+-- using split would be: map unlines . (Data.List.Split.splitWhen null)
+paragraphs :: [String] -> [String]
+paragraphs = map unlines . map (filter $ not . null) . groupBy (const $ not . null)
+
+-- http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Word_wrap#Haskell
+wordwrap :: Int -> String -> String
+wordwrap maxlen = (wrap_ 0) . words where
+	wrap_ _ [] = "\n"
+	wrap_ pos (w:ws)
+		-- at line start: put down the word no matter what
+		| pos == 0 = w ++ wrap_ (pos + lw) ws
+		| pos + lw + 1 > maxlen = '\n':wrap_ 0 (w:ws)
+		| otherwise = " " ++ w ++ wrap_ (pos + lw + 1) ws
+		where lw = length w
+
+formatParagraphs :: [String] -> [String]
+formatParagraphs = map (wordwrap 79) . paragraphs