Hot Tips on Crafting Blurbs for Your Novel

Ah, the promotional blurb. Those little emotion-packed paragraphs that have to do it all; hook the curiosity, sway the impulses, swoon the heart. They never get easier to write. Whenever I find myself caught and reeled in by a well-crafted blurb, I want to analyze its parts and dissect its structure.

Blurbs have to do a few things which are:

• tell us something about the protagonist(s) that hint at their personality and deeper character,
• cast a mood or tone so we know if the book is suspenseful, funny, dramatic, romantic -- if it's historical or speculative this might include hints at setting or era,
• set us up for the primary conflict or story problem.

But this is a lot to accomplish in, say, 100 words, give or take a few. Meaning -- it's imperative no words are wasted. So, just like in the manuscript itself, get rid of unnecessary words like "that", or opening phrases like "this story is about..." Lose adverbs that take away immediacy and add to word count. Replace them with taut verbs.

Here's an example:

Clara Hopkins' spine tingles with dread every time she's forced to look upon Brody Mack's scarred face. How could her father really expect her to marry such a powerful and frightening man? Still, with her father's fortunes spent, and Hopkins House falling into disrepair, she dare not refuse Brody's attentions. Without the promise of his money, Clara's mother might never have the chance to get well. If only Brody were like Tom, the poor school teacher she admires more than anyone. He is light to Brody's darkness. Fear twists Clara's heart as her carriage bounces over the rain-gushed ruts, and lightning illuminates Brody's mansion in stark contrast against the night. For there is no way out.

Here we learn that Clara is of marriageable age, she's a faithful daughter, frightened but determined, willing to sacrifice for her mother whom she must love deeply, and perhaps formerly used to privilege but without fortune now. We know she compares two very different men. We don't know if she has good cause to fear Brody Mack, or if she's just being snobbish because of his scars, but that begs a good story question.

This blurb also helps us know we are in some type of historical setting, and that the book is suspenseful and romantic -- gothic even.

The conflict is clear. She must save the family fortunes and her mother's life by marrying well and against her wishes. Will she do it? Will she find love instead with Tom the school teacher, and discover another way to save her parents from their despair? Who is Brody Mack?

Know the purpose of your blurb.

Doing so isn't as obvious as it seems. You will have different blurbs for different purposes. The example above is too long for an elevator pitch, and it might be too short for something else, like a brief synopsis in which an editor will want to know further details and answers to those story questions. It might need further tweaking to suit the back jacket of a book. Note that in the example of Clara Hopkins's story, I haven't really given any idea about a hero or protagonist. We don't really know the precise roles of either Brody or Tom. In some genres -- straight romance for example, and depending on the requirements of the publisher -- you might need to specify more in your blurb about those roles. So you will need to write more than one blurb, because, as I said, different blurbs serve different purposes. In writing several, you will notice the cream of your reconstruction rising to the top. You will wind up with a variety of very effective blurbs of differing lengths which you'll use on Facebook, Twitter, in interviews, and for web pages. It's all good.

Another thing to do when crafting your blurb is to let it rest.

It's a good idea all the while you are working on your novel to periodically reassess your blurb. Stepping away from it for days or even weeks at a time will give you a fresh perspective each time you visit it. I just wrote the above blurb yesterday. I'm sure when I look at it again in a few days or weeks, I'll think of many ways to change and improve it.

Showing is still better than telling.

Blurbs, by their capsulated nature, tell things. But whenever you can, show in your blurb rather than tell, just like you do in the story itself. Notice the last line in the example above. Instead of saying, the future looks dark and ominous as Clara realizes she is forced to accept her fate, we see it happening in real time as she bounces over those rain-gushed ruts in her carriage while lightning flashes across the sky.

Hmm... I like it. I think I'll go write a book to go with it. God speed tackling your blurb.

Write on.

Coming Soon! The Black Rose ~ Empire in Pine, Book 3

Despite the panic of 1893, logging reaches its golden era in the growing state of Wisconsin, and twins Jesilyn and Corianne Beaumont enjoy a comfortable life with family in the bursting Great Lake city of Superior. But when jealousy incites Jesi to seduce Cori's fiance, a flight and fall from grace lands her in a boomtown brothel, where a fresh start is denied her.

Camp preacher Paul Winter longs to offer hope in the logging and mining towns of northern Wisconsin, but not in the way he expects when he meets a redhead he calls Pie Girl. He's never had to battle his own longings quite this way before.

Meanwhile, stung by Jesilyn's betrayal, Corianne's bitterness might separate her fom a second chance at happiness and peace. Only by Grace can both women begin new lives, and budding love can bloom in places neither of them expect.

Purchase Links:

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CBD: http://tinyurl.com/72auylb

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Writing Conversation - Essential Tips for Dialogue in Your Character Driven Novel

Guest Post by Patty Froese

University English classes look down on romance writing. When I was taking my English degree, I looked down on romance writing, too, until I figured out how much fun it was, that is. I learned a lot about writing from reading the greats, but when it comes to learning how to write a great romance novel, I have to learn through trial and error. I do my best, and then get hacked apart by editors. It hurts, but it's good for you.

While working with a Harlequin editor on a book that didn't quite make it to print because of a marketing hitch, the editor pointed out something I could improve upon as we polished the manuscript up together--conversation.

Now, a plot driven novel keeps the pages turning because of the rollicking plot. You want to see what happens next, and each chapter leaves you on a cliff hanger. In my opinion, there had better be a good plot in a good book, but a character driven novel keeps you turning pages for a slightly different reason--findingout what happens with the characters in their relationships.

The character driven novel uses conversation to do more than propel the plot forward. In a plot driven novel, a character announces a vital piece to the puzzle. In a character driven novel, we want to know how the character feels about it, and how that is going to factor into relationships around them. In a character driven novel, there is a higher expectation in character development. Conversation serves to give that character a unique voice, deepen relationships, and draw the reader into a scene. It's about a lot more than just revealing a piece of information.

I've discovered a few tricks to use when writing conversation in a character driven novel:

1. The conversation has to sound like a real conversation. That means, they can't always say the right thing or have the right words on the tip of their tongues.
2. Real people interrupt each other and misunderstand each other. Characters do that, too.
3. Keep the "he said" and "she said" tags to a minimum. If you can make it clear who is talking without them, leave them out all together.
4. Try writing longer conversations, describing things the characters are doing while they talk. Take a realistic amount of time to get to the point and let your characters discuss. It helps to deepen the reader's understanding about who your characters are.
5. Sprinkle your conversation with description so that you have a break between parts of conversation. Write a few lines of conversation, and then describe something for two or three lines, such as something the character is doing, something applicable in their surroundings or how the character (from whose point of view we are seeing the conversation) is feeling about what is being said.

There are no hard and fast rules about good writing. Most rules are made to be broken, or least bent from time to time. Go with your instinct and give some of these ideas a try if you think your written conversations could use a little boost. In my opinion, there is only one rule that is paramount in writing: if you want to get published, the editor is always right.

Patty Froese's most recent novel, Perfect on Paper, was released in April 2011. You can find her at her personal blog (http://pattyfroese.com) or on Facebook. (http://www.facebook.com/pattyfroese)
 

Perfect on Paper

Anne Stanborough, a well known mystery writer, inherits her maiden aunt's book store, Perfect on Paper. The lawyer handling her aunt's estate is none other than the handsome Jake Harrison, but despite his attraction to the beautiful author, his painful divorce has made him wary of a marriage between two driven professionals. Anne can't let go of the career she's worked her entire life towards, and he isn't willing to make a second mistake in marriage. It looks like they should call the whole thing off until Anne discovers that her late maiden aunt might not have been so "maiden" after all… A love story from the past tugs this couple back together again, but will it be enough to prove that a love founded in God really can overcome anything? 

 Buy Now:

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-on-Paper-ebook/dp/B007UB24OW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338841429&sr=8-1

"How in the world do you plan ahead enough (material) for there to be a SERIES? I mean, you could change your mind inthe middle of writing the first book, and make it just ONE STORY!"


A young writer recently made this remark, and I got to thinking there are probably other writers new to the craft who wonder about the process of developing a series. For writers ready to take the step of creating a series, please take a look at my earlier posts: Tips for Writing a Series (http://www.naomimusch.com/apps/blog/categories/show/1249356-tips-on-writing-a-series).

But to answer the question, how do you plan ahead -- or maybe it could be stated -- how do you know that what you have is actually meant to be a series?


The truth is that sometimes an idea seems big enough to become a series, but at closer look, it's really only the makings of a single book. Maybe it just doesn't have enough of a plot continuum to make a series compelling. Perhaps what it really has is a single story heartbeat with layers. It could drag on too much if spread into a series.


On the other hand, with time and experience, a writer might shape a series in his or her imagination before a single key is stroked on the keyboard. But for me, a series is more likely to evolve. Here's how it worked for Empire in Pine.


First I had a passion for a single story. If you get ahead of yourself and start trying to imagine a whole series at once, the project is already ripe to flop. You have to be in love with an idea for a single story before you can perfectly visualize what a complete series will entail. It's like the gal who made the first comment said, "You could change your mind in the middle of writing the first book", and you probably will, about many things.


I don't mean you shouldn't let your imagination roam, or that it's impossible to have a general idea for a series in mind. But your focus has to remain finite -- on the project at hand --  or you may be prone to rushing through and not making the book all that it can be. Does that make sense? See, when you've invested your entire creative being into one single story, it's much more likely that it will become full, complete, layered, and able to evolve into something more down the road -- a series.


I invested myself into The Green Veil - Empire in Pine, Book One.It was the story of my heart. Two-thirds of the way into the book, as characters had taken over and my research had run full circle, I started visualizing a second book. I didn't let it run away in my head just yet, but while I finished The Green Veil, I let the seeds settle into the soil of my imagination. Now and then I'd jot a note or two, nothing more.

I began plotting and researching as I wrote the final pages of The Green Veil.In those final pages of book one, I was finally able to lay the ground work for book two, because that's when I knew there would indeed be a book two. During the continued plotting and early writing stages of The Red Fury, I realized a series of three books was imminent. How? Based on the era of my books, the logging boom of northern Wisconsin lasted for about 60 years. If I followed a pattern of each book taking place 20 years apart, the series would culminate nicely in time, location, characterization, and historical context with a third story, The Black Rose, at the peak of the era. The stories are, naturally, generational.

That's how the series was born. But being a new author, I didn't expect a publishing house to look at my proposal unless I not only had it clearly mapped out and conceived, but also had enough of it written so they'd know I was capable of concluding the series. When I pitched my book series to Desert Breeze Publishing, The Green Veil was complete, The Red Fury was nearing completion, and The Black Rose was in the outline stage, but with a basic synopsis fleshed out. It gave me enough to tell the editor what the story line was going to be. That worked.


In short, I didn't have a concept for a series at the outset of writing Empire in Pine. I merely had a passion for one story, and I let that story take on its own shape and plan until it evolved into a series.


If you have the notion that something you're writing is series material, exhaust the storyline. Ask yourself whether or not there's really enough weight in the concept to carry through several books, or if it's best left in one. The time for that kind of introspection is now, before you've written hundreds of pages and are told by an array of publishers that it should only be one book. But if you've very nearly completed a book, investing it with passion, and you see another taking shape, by all means, start the plotting process.


Write on!

The Black Rose - Empire in Pine, Book Three

coming July, 2012, from Desert Breeze Publishing

http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-template/NaomiMusch/Page.bok