Heroes Insider Weekly

All About the Blurb; Talon

         Hi again!

         So what did you all think of my first article?

         Hopefully you’ve all been busy using the hints I gave you to Jazz Up your Blurbs!

         Since the Magazine is new and I haven’t received any cries for help yet my wonderful friend has kindly offered her Blurb up for assistance. You’re the best Shan!

         Okay, this was a super hard one for me!! Why you may ask?

         Well let me tell you!

         The Talon Series (Werewolf) happens to be my favourite stories here on Wattpad. I stumbled across them while riffling through the many stories in the Werewolf Genre. I remember the cover taking my eye and I just had to check it out! If my memory serves me correctly I read the Blurb thinking this has the potential to be a really great read. I was hooked from the very first chapter, checking WP every hour in case she had updated LOL!

         So as you can imagine I am emotionally invested in this Series and that proved to be a problem for me at first. I think that’s why most of us have a really hard time writing our own Blurbs, because we are too emotionally involved. After almost a week of writing, deleting and re-writing, I decided I needed to change my approach.

         I took a step back, figured I needed a better system. I got out my trusty notebook, the one I write all my ideas in and skipped to the back page. I dissected the original Blurb, listing the details into bullet points the same way you would for when writing a synopsis. From there I narrowed it down to the most important details the ones most vital to the story.

         Following the hints I listed in my last edition I let the words flow making sure to add just enough emotion without going over the top.

         Here is Shan’s original Blurb:

 Talon – The Change

By @palominolane

          Imagine being the only one left. The only one left in a world where supernatural creatures of old are almost extinct. Imagine that you are stuck in a prepubescent state never to change and not knowing why...

         Talon has never changed from what she looks like now. She has been stuck ...for as long as she can remember. Suddenly everyone is asking whether she's been lightening her hair....or even if she's had breast enhancement! Her shoes feel too small and she's growing out of clothes... She's feeling weird and something strange pulls in her belly.

         Why now?  Unfortunately for Talon, she has been by herself her whole life, she knows nothing of her race bar the fading memories from her childhood long ago and they aren't delightful... There was a rule that struck with her though even despite her young fascination with them... Stay away from the Black slayers...especially the cursed. 

         Follow her life as it is turned upside down, through friendship, the confusion of finding love and most of all finding out who and what she really is. Follow her as she discovers that people are not always what they seem to be.  As she discovers that keeping her secret is hard.  

         She makes a friend with a rare female werewolf and the two guys that show up interested in that friend...and from then on her life snowballs into changes she never thought would happen let alone know what they mean... Maybe...it's her destiny. 

          The original Blurb has all the important details weaved into it. I tried to keep as close to the original as possible but condensed it as much as I could without losing important information yet maintaining an air of mystery by not giving too much away (this is the fine line I was talking about).

         The use of emotive words helps capture the readers’ interest, in this particular Blurb I stuck to the ‘facts’ of the story; making sure not to go overboard with descriptions. If there had been less essential details I would have had to increase the amount of emotive descriptions to make the Blurb more appealing.

         After a lot of stressing (because I love this story so much and Shan is my bestie) I came up with this:

Talon – The Hunt

By @palominolane

         Imagine living in a world where you are the last of an age old race, a world where supernatural creatures once prevailed.

        Talon knows exactly what that’s like, she’s lived her entire life believing she is the last of her kind; a race she knows very little of—her fading memories of a less than delightful childhood, her only clue to her ancestry. One rule she never forgot despite her early fascination with them was to stay far away from the Black Slayers, especially the Cursed One.

         After centuries of living as a pre-pubescent teen something strange happens; suddenly her body starts to develop, maturing at an accelerated pace. Her once dark hair lightens with each passing day, her skin glowing with vitality.

         Peculiar things start to happen after she befriends a rare Female Werewolf. An encounter with two young men with a curious interest in her new friend unleashes foreign feelings - a strong, irrational pull in the pit of her stomach.

        Talon learns just how hard it is to keep her secret safe and that people are not always what they seem to be.

         Confusing feelings of newfound love and the discovery of her true identity will ultimately pave the road to her destiny.

          Phew, that was nerve wracking haha!!

         Hopefully this example has shown you all that by talking a step back, dissecting, condensing and gathering the most important details can make all the difference in the world. Give it a go, you’ve got nothing to lose and if you’re still struggling comment with your story’s title and I’ll screw around with it for you!!

         For the record Shan liked the updated version of her Blurb so much that she is now using it for her story!

         Check it out: Talon – The Change by @palominolane http://www.wattpad.com/story/4933500-talon-the-change-editing-rewriting

 Thanks for reading!!

Until next time….

 ~~ Wonder Woman ~~

 Aka @lolly80