The guide for aspiring fiction writers who want to improve, sharpen, review, and/or learn.
Warning! This book encourages editing and contains many tips that often require revision. Practice makes perfect, and it's good to workout your mental musc...
Lots of writers see that little space for what their story is about and wonder what to include.
It goes by a couple names depending on who you're talking to:
Blurb, summary, synopsis.
What you want to write is a blurb:
A blurb shines a light on your story. It gives the reader enough information to understand what the book is about, but it leaves them wanting to know more. You've posed some interesting questions, situations, dilemmas, etc, but the only way they can find out more is by opening the story.
A good blurb can help sell your story the same way a good cover can.
Who is a blurb for?
Readers. After the cover, it's your second chance to introduce them to your world, and offers them a chance to step inside.
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The blurb is your front door to the story. It should give the reader an idea of what's behind the door, and intrigue them enough where they want to push it open.
What should I include?
The main character(s), the main plot, a hint at the main genre and subgenre.
If your blurb was in a big pile of untagged books, readers should be able to figure out it's a romance and not a horror story, for example.
How much of the plot should I give away?
Enough so if you asked a reader off the cuff what the plot was, they could tell you it in a sentence or two.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: There's this boy who lives a horrible life with his aunt, uncle, and cousin, when he finds out he's a famous wizard. He's got a dangerous, magical destiny ahead of him, and it all starts at a school for witchcraft and wizardy.
If I reduced Dark Side: Marcy finds herself involved with neighborhood werewolves after a murdered alpha's pelt winds up on her doorstep. Just when she starts to learn their secrets, a handsome sheriff starts looking into hers.
If you're looking for a good place to start, consider the contents of the first third of the story (which is usually the establishing/setup for the whirlwind of storytelling to come). What's the plot driving that first third? What question do you have at the end of that third?
How long should it be?
That depends on how detailed you can be in a limited amount of space. Some stories need more words than others. All stories need the right words to catch a reader's interest, so choose wisely.
The general rule of thumb: if you're taking more than a couple paragraphs to write your blurb, you probably aren't writing a blurb. Go ahead, picture your text on a book cover jacket or on the back of the average book. Think about what else goes on the back of the book. Maybe your photo, about the author, a little praise, a bar code...How much room does that leave for the blurb?
Odds are, if you've come up with something long, there are probably a couple details in there you don't need to understand the gist of it. And if you're feeling reluctant to be more concise remember: whatever you DON'T say gets to be an unspoiled surprise in the text!
Should I include reviews/praise?
If you've one an award or gained recognition, by all means introduce yourself with it [From the two-time featured writer, 2016 Wattys award winner, NYT bestselling author, Target Contest winner, etc...].
If you are just posting glowing reviews, consider moving them to after the blurb. Wattpad gives you a spot where it shows some reviews, but if you want a particular one to shine, just place it under the blurb. Lots of readers are looking for stories to read, and they just hover over the brief glimpse of blurb- so if the blurb isn't about the story, you might miss out on a few readers who don't get hooked by sassymama677's "oh my god so good!!!"
Synopsis/summary:
The synopsis tells you the entire narrative arc from beginning to end. It gives you a taste of themes, characters, plot, and even says how the story ends. Yep, that's right. A synopsis gives away the ending. It spans the entire story, from its beginning to the resolution.
You do NOT want to post a synopsis.
Who is a synopsis for?
Agents, editors, and publishers, so they can get a feel for the novel without having to read the entire novel first. In most cases, this is where you convince them to pick up the actual story and get reading.
Why don't I want to post a synopsis for potential readers?
Because the average reader reads things to find out what it's about and what happened. Once you answer all their questions, it's an uphill battle to convince them to go back and read what they already know. Just ask high school English teachers.
People don't often read things more than once. If you post a synopsis before a reader even has a chance to fall in love with the story in chapter one, you're removing a big chunk of potential readers. Just look at news and media. There are consistently a lot of readers out there who get the gist of a story, and when something new is added or updated, they don't bother to look back (unless they are passionate about the subject or something). So whatever they hear the first time is what sticks, even though the truth might come out later.
This applies to stories. If you give the reader the synopsis, and if it's not even a gripping one, then you've cut out a lot of the page-turning element (they know what's happening; you told them) and you cut out a lot of potential readers who are happy knowing the main points.
But industry professionals want this. Yes, but they're also looking for complete, entire stories to sell. They don't have the time or patience to slog through thousands of manuscripts. That's why they want to see everything in (usually) one to two pages.
You're giving them the entire story for them to make a decision on. If you want more readers, don't give them the entire story to make a decision on. Make them decide whether or not they want to open the box and find out if the cat is dead or alive.
