Writing Tips

Abigail Jashael Bagabaldo

Ano ba ang "blurb"? Ang blurb po ay ang maiksing pagsasalarawan ng isang libro. Most of the time, makikita natin ito sa likod ng isang nailimbag na aklat. Madalas itong ginagamit for advertisement purposes, o para malaman ng isang mamimili kung tungkol saan ang libro.

To be honest I HATE writing blurbs. It's very difficult. You hafta be:

1. CONCISE. Hindi pwedeng mahaba (if I were to be asked, as much as possible, keep it around 5-8 sentences only). H'wag paligoy-ligoy (tulad niya. Kung sinabi niya lang na mahal niya ako no'ng una pa lang Joshing aside.) This is not the time to use deep words or whatever. Use a word because you have to use it, not because it sounds nice or makes you look smart. You want to communicate what your story/book is about here.

2. MARKETABLE - dahil ito ang madalas na unang makikita ng isang interested reader, you have to make it interesting. Sisingit na rin dito 'yong you have to connect with your audience. Don't mess up your one chance of hooking up someone to your story/book.

These are the two that I can think of right now, pero ang hirap nang gawin. Minsan inaabot ako ng dalawang araw para mag-brain storm ng isang blurb.

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Blurb examples:

Blurb example #1: FORGOTTEN THINGS TO SAY (my next book to be pubilshed)

"Forgotten Things to Say" is a collection of poems reflecting the journey of a young heart trying to forget a past love. Labeled by fellow poets as an avant-gardist, Strongwill ventures to experiment with the universal theme of romantic loss, using both unconventional and simplistic poetic techniques, whilst showing how writing has the power to disencumber and [ultimately] heal.

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Blurb example #2: CORPUS DELICTI (my story)

"Aunt Emily has been crying again. Mum says it's because of a tummy ache, but I can tell that she's lying..."

Her mum has warned her not to meddle with other people's business, but thirteen-year-old Miranda just can't help it. When Aunt Emily confides that her husband has not been at the "military operations" where he said he would be, Miranda proposes to get at the bottom of things. With her witty thinking and the aid of technology and Aunt Emily, Miranda surreptitiously monitors Uncle Trevor's whereabouts, and what she finds out might actually put the major behind bars.

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Kung sa tingin mo kailangan mo mag-improve sa paggawa ng blurb (and most probably you do dahil hindi naman tayo lahat dito ay may marketing team):

- write a blurb for every story you can think of
- explore words. Sabi ko nga, you have to be concise. Weight the words you want to use. 'Yong dalawa o tatlong words na pwede namang maging isa, e, go for the latter.
- read blurbs for a template (try to look for ones which will fall under the same genre of the story you want to write a blurb for)
- read ABOUT blurbs. The following is a great infographic para matuto tayo. Ate Tara, a fellow writer and a good acquaintance, shared it with me half a year ago. It helps a lot. Maaring gayahin, pero siyempre, pwede ring hindi. For additional tips lang.