Bleeding Red Ink by Lesli Richardson

First off, there are many kinds of blurbs, not just the one you often read on a back cover. I classify them as High Concept, Back Cover, and the Query/Highlight blurbs. Each of these have a place within publishing both for non-published and published authors. Once you know the basic requirements to write each kind, you’ll find that it becomes second nature to you to have each type ready. Let’s look at the High Concept blurb first since it’s the shortest, and in some ways, the easiest to write.

What does High Concept mean? Simply put, high concept blurbs use already well-known items–books, movies, phrases– together in combination to showcase the essence of your story. An example is how Gene Roddenberry billed Star Trek to the Desilu executives. He called it “Horatio Hornblower among the stars.” This concept caught the executives attention and asked him to explain more about it. Another example is my story called Argent Valkyrie. I call it “Manchurian Candidate meets Star Wars with a twist.” If you’re familiar with what the stories are about–you then can see the essence of the story being spoken about.

So, how do you write a high concept blurb? Sit down with your story–finished or not, and ask yourself a few questions like: What does this story say in general terms? What movie/book/tv show does this story remind you of. (It can be more than one or two.) Is part of the story the reverse of a story that is out somewhere? By asking yourself these questions, you can now put together a one sentence high concept blurb. Play with it, refine it, watch a few movies or shows to capture the feel of your story better. By having this high concept blurb–we’re ready for the next stage: Back Cover Blurb.

I enjoy writing the Back Cover blurb as it’s often one of the first things I write while writing the story. It’s part of my plotting process and it often is the motivation to keep things on track. In fact, the back cover blurb will lead us to the final blurb– the query/highlight one as it’s a refined version with small changes. So, let’s take that high concept blurb as our guide and begin the back cover blurb.

We know the essence of the story, so the next step is what is the crisis/decision moment that forces the protagonist to act? This should be the first sentence of your blurb. In this blurb, I often have one to two paragraphs, each composed of 4-7 sentences. This limits what is included and forces you to think in what I call movie trailer mode.

Movie trailers are one of the best ways to learn how to write back cover blurbs. Listen to them on the radio and watch them on tv. Take notes on what is used as the opening, the middle, the ending hook. These are what comprise the back cover for a story. Though there are many things that make up a book or movie, these three components are always present.

Take your opening sentence. Does it make you go, “Hmm, I wonder what this is about? How did this happen?” If you aren’t finding yourself wondering more about the character– you need a different first sentence. Once you open up with the appropriate attention grabber that sets up the book, usually introducing the main character or at least one of the main characters, you move to the next part. Normally my first two sentences are what constitutes not just the crisis moment, but the main characters first reaction. This allows the readers to identify with the character–even though they don’t know much else. Then we go to what I call the interference–why can’t the character do what is necessary to fix the situation? What is stopping him/her from moving forward? Normally, I pick one certain thing faced that is a failure or I generalize a couple of incidents that show just what the character/s face and why they’re not getting anywhere fast.

Then I bring in the emotions. Why? Because we are emotional creatures and we want to feel the humanity of the protagonists. We want to see them struggle, fall in love, realize that they need something more than what they are at that moment to accomplish their goals. When writing a romance, this is where I mention about the attraction factor, the intimacy, or even being overwhelmed thus causing the next set of circumstances that happen. Once I’ve done this part–which is often a few sentences, I get to the setup of the black moment/final crisis. When I prepare this part, I often take a few minutes with the story if it’s done and reread the first few pages before that moment and through that moment. If the story isn’t written, I play my movie trailer in my head, taking down the aspects that make it so intense you need to know what happens after.

Then I fiddle with it a bit, making sure that I don’t give away the ending but leave the reader wondering– “What happens?” Depending on the genre, I often try to form the last sentence or two as questions, bringing the whole story essence into that moment– “Can they love each other when they find out their love is based on deceit?” “Can he figure out who is behind the murders before the murderer wins the final round by destroying the one person that Jake can’t live without?”

By using a strong hook at the end of the back cover blurb, you are leaving the reader wondering, thinking, considering. You’re forcing them to speculate without too much information and one thing that never fails when it comes to mankind is curiosity. Make them wonder what the ending is, they’ll go around, look at other things, then find themselves back at that book going, “Hmmm how does he resolve this? Can they get through this without losing themselves?” Starting and ending with a hook is one sure way to have your book remembered. If the hook is also catchy–it’s one they won’t forget and will talk about to other people. Once this is written, I often spend some time revising, tightening, and rewording the blurb until I’m happy with it. This usually involves me reading it out loud, like a movie trailer. If I hear it and I feel excited, then I know that I’ve got the paciing and flow nailed for the blurb.

This takes us to the final blurb– the Query/Highlight blurb. Why do I have this one last? For me, this is one of the hardest to write because it’s shorter than the back cover blurb yet is the one I use most often when I query publishers, agents, etc. For this blurb, I try to keep it to one paragraph–keeping the opening and if possible, the ending sentences. I go through the rest of the back cover things, removing detailed information and replacing it with generalized overviews. The goal with the query/highlight blurb is to get attention and make them want to hear more about the story. Often times you’ll see this blurb in a magazine, front page of an epublisher’s website, etc. It’s a short 4-6 sentence paragraph that gives you more than the High Concept but less than the Back Cover.

Normally when crafting the query blurb, I remove the emotions sentences and increase the crisis ideas, making the reader antsy and anticipating the meaning of what is going on in the story. A good example is the query blurb for Mark of the Blood, my first Marauder book. Example– Wrongly cursed by their patron goddess, Morrigu, nine Druid brothers fight the forcesof evil for eternity. Worlds collide as Kirstie Blake and Marauder Dr. Niam Maraigh hunt a rapist and succumb to the Mark of the Blood.

Notice that it not only gives you an overview of the series, but it also hints at what’s going to happen within the story without bringing up the details? The goal of the query blurb is to make the person want more. So when you open up the page where Mark of the Blood is–you then read the back cover blurb, which is a bit more indepth and makes you even more curious. See, you’re building up the tension in the blurbs. That’s the ultimate goal. How does this work?

Someone asks you about the story you’re working on. You might say, “It’s Underworld meets Merry Gentry with a twist.” This is actually the high concept I use for Treaty of Desire. There is more to the story than that, but in essence–it gets the point across. Now you’ve got someone going, “Tell me more. What do you mean? How is it like Underworld?”  This is where you’d break out the query blurb.

“Taja Drevin, a Were-subqueen must learn the ways of the Seelie Fey in exchange for teaching the greatest mage among them how to access the glamour magick the Fey lost for closing the mortal world from Helia, the world all preternatural creatures live. Neither Taja, nor the mage, the heir Adrastai are prepared for the attraction that springs between them. But all is not well during this teaching–someone wants the treaty between the Weres and the Feys broken and they’re willing to kill Taja to do just that. Can Taja and Adras discover who is behind the assasination attempts or will the Treaty of Desire be broken thus destroying any hopes of their world surviving mankind rediscovering them when the Gateway opens between the two worlds?” 

Notice that now you’ve given them just enough to tease their attention and whet their appetite without giving out too much detail? My back cover blurb is just a couple sentences longer, speaking about Frelin, Adrastai’s brother who is a major pain to Taja as well as the fact that both Adras and Taja are hiding secrets from the other which play factor in when they become lovers. The progression of each blurb helps to not only give snippets of info, but like movie trailers of thirty, forty-five, and sixty seconds–they let you see more aspects of the story without giving away the ending.

Even though people know romance novels will have a Happily Ever After, they still like discovering how they get to that point. It’s the journey that people enjoy the most–take that away, then a reader won’t bother with your story. But if you hint, tease, and make them wonder how it can be done–they’ll pick up your book before they do anyone else’s.

Remember– Blurbs– it’s where it’s happening. Without them we’d not get anyone interesting in reading what we write.

First off, there are many kinds of blurbs, not just the one you often read on a back cover. I classify them as High Concept, Back Cover, and the Query/Highlight blurbs. Each of these have a place within publishing both for non-published and published authors. Once you know the basic requirements to write each kind, you’ll find that it becomes second nature to you to have each type ready. Let’s look at the High Concept blurb first since it’s the shortest, and in some ways, the easiest to write.

What does High Concept mean? Simply put, high concept blurbs use already well-known items–books, movies, phrases– together in combination to showcase the essence of your story. An example is how Gene Roddenberry billed Star Trek to the Desilu executives. He called it “Horatio Hornblower among the stars.” This concept caught the executives attention and asked him to explain more about it. Another example is my story called Argent Valkyrie. I call it “Manchurian Candidate meets Star Wars with a twist.” If you’re familiar with what the stories are about–you then can see the essence of the story being spoken about.

So, how do you write a high concept blurb? Sit down with your story–finished or not, and ask yourself a few questions like: What does this story say in general terms? What movie/book/tv show does this story remind you of. (It can be more than one or two.) Is part of the story the reverse of a story that is out somewhere? By asking yourself these questions, you can now put together a one sentence high concept blurb. Play with it, refine it, watch a few movies or shows to capture the feel of your story better. By having this high concept blurb–we’re ready for the next stage: Back Cover Blurb.

I enjoy writing the Back Cover blurb as it’s often one of the first things I write while writing the story. It’s part of my plotting process and it often is the motivation to keep things on track. In fact, the back cover blurb will lead us to the final blurb– the query/highlight one as it’s a refined version with small changes. So, let’s take that high concept blurb as our guide and begin the back cover blurb.

We know the essence of the story, so the next step is what is the crisis/decision moment that forces the protagonist to act? This should be the first sentence of your blurb. In this blurb, I often have one to two paragraphs, each composed of 4-7 sentences. This limits what is included and forces you to think in what I call movie trailer mode.

Movie trailers are one of the best ways to learn how to write back cover blurbs. Listen to them on the radio and watch them on tv. Take notes on what is used as the opening, the middle, the ending hook. These are what comprise the back cover for a story. Though there are many things that make up a book or movie, these three components are always present.

Take your opening sentence. Does it make you go, “Hmm, I wonder what this is about? How did this happen?” If you aren’t finding yourself wondering more about the character– you need a different first sentence. Once you open up with the appropriate attention grabber that sets up the book, usually introducing the main character or at least one of the main characters, you move to the next part. Normally my first two sentences are what constitutes not just the crisis moment, but the main characters first reaction. This allows the readers to identify with the character–even though they don’t know much else. Then we go to what I call the interference–why can’t the character do what is necessary to fix the situation? What is stopping him/her from moving forward? Normally, I pick one certain thing faced that is a failure or I generalize a couple of incidents that show just what the character/s face and why they’re not getting anywhere fast.

Then I bring in the emotions. Why? Because we are emotional creatures and we want to feel the humanity of the protagonists. We want to see them struggle, fall in love, realize that they need something more than what they are at that moment to accomplish their goals. When writing a romance, this is where I mention about the attraction factor, the intimacy, or even being overwhelmed thus causing the next set of circumstances that happen. Once I’ve done this part–which is often a few sentences, I get to the setup of the black moment/final crisis. When I prepare this part, I often take a few minutes with the story if it’s done and reread the first few pages before that moment and through that moment. If the story isn’t written, I play my movie trailer in my head, taking down the aspects that make it so intense you need to know what happens after.

Then I fiddle with it a bit, making sure that I don’t give away the ending but leave the reader wondering– “What happens?” Depending on the genre, I often try to form the last sentence or two as questions, bringing the whole story essence into that moment– “Can they love each other when they find out their love is based on deceit?” “Can he figure out who is behind the murders before the murderer wins the final round by destroying the one person that Jake can’t live without?”

By using a strong hook at the end of the back cover blurb, you are leaving the reader wondering, thinking, considering. You’re forcing them to speculate without too much information and one thing that never fails when it comes to mankind is curiosity. Make them wonder what the ending is, they’ll go around, look at other things, then find themselves back at that book going, “Hmmm how does he resolve this? Can they get through this without losing themselves?” Starting and ending with a hook is one sure way to have your book remembered. If the hook is also catchy–it’s one they won’t forget and will talk about to other people. Once this is written, I often spend some time revising, tightening, and rewording the blurb until I’m happy with it. This usually involves me reading it out loud, like a movie trailer. If I hear it and I feel excited, then I know that I’ve got the paciing and flow nailed for the blurb.

This takes us to the final blurb– the Query/Highlight blurb. Why do I have this one last? For me, this is one of the hardest to write because it’s shorter than the back cover blurb yet is the one I use most often when I query publishers, agents, etc. For this blurb, I try to keep it to one paragraph–keeping the opening and if possible, the ending sentences. I go through the rest of the back cover things, removing detailed information and replacing it with generalized overviews. The goal with the query/highlight blurb is to get attention and make them want to hear more about the story. Often times you’ll see this blurb in a magazine, front page of an epublisher’s website, etc. It’s a short 4-6 sentence paragraph that gives you more than the High Concept but less than the Back Cover.

Normally when crafting the query blurb, I remove the emotions sentences and increase the crisis ideas, making the reader antsy and anticipating the meaning of what is going on in the story. A good example is the query blurb for Mark of the Blood, my first Marauder book. Example– Wrongly cursed by their patron goddess, Morrigu, nine Druid brothers fight the forcesof evil for eternity. Worlds collide as Kirstie Blake and Marauder Dr. Niam Maraigh hunt a rapist and succumb to the Mark of the Blood.

Notice that it not only gives you an overview of the series, but it also hints at what’s going to happen within the story without bringing up the details? The goal of the query blurb is to make the person want more. So when you open up the page where Mark of the Blood is–you then read the back cover blurb, which is a bit more indepth and makes you even more curious. See, you’re building up the tension in the blurbs. That’s the ultimate goal. How does this work?

Someone asks you about the story you’re working on. You might say, “It’s Underworld meets Merry Gentry with a twist.” This is actually the high concept I use for Treaty of Desire. There is more to the story than that, but in essence–it gets the point across. Now you’ve got someone going, “Tell me more. What do you mean? How is it like Underworld?”  This is where you’d break out the query blurb.

“Taja Drevin, a Were-subqueen must learn the ways of the Seelie Fey in exchange for teaching the greatest mage among them how to access the glamour magick the Fey lost for closing the mortal world from Helia, the world all preternatural creatures live. Neither Taja, nor the mage, the heir Adrastai are prepared for the attraction that springs between them. But all is not well during this teaching–someone wants the treaty between the Weres and the Feys broken and they’re willing to kill Taja to do just that. Can Taja and Adras discover who is behind the assasination attempts or will the Treaty of Desire be broken thus destroying any hopes of their world surviving mankind rediscovering them when the Gateway opens between the two worlds?” 

Notice that now you’ve given them just enough to tease their attention and whet their appetite without giving out too much detail? My back cover blurb is just a couple sentences longer, speaking about Frelin, Adrastai’s brother who is a major pain to Taja as well as the fact that both Adras and Taja are hiding secrets from the other which play factor in when they become lovers. The progression of each blurb helps to not only give snippets of info, but like movie trailers of thirty, forty-five, and sixty seconds–they let you see more aspects of the story without giving away the ending.

Even though people know romance novels will have a Happily Ever After, they still like discovering how they get to that point. It’s the journey that people enjoy the most–take that away, then a reader won’t bother with your story. But if you hint, tease, and make them wonder how it can be done–they’ll pick up your book before they do anyone else’s.

Remember– Blurbs– it’s where it’s happening. Without them we’d not get anyone interesting in reading what we write.

Many authors and writers have different ideas on this. I make reference to Vogler’s The Character’s Journey and Morgan Hawke’s Cheater’s Guide to Erotic Romance Novellas.

Depending on if you’re writing a one or two main character story, that will decide how long and what kind of components you’ll have.

For a one person story, my story and characters are usually run like this-

Intro to a crisis. – This is what starts the action of placing the character in motion and sets the plot in motion.

First test/trial – Normally, the hero/heroine faces their first obstacle – usually physical with a slight nod of the internal conflicts. Normally I have them fail with a slight success to balance them enough to keep going.

Twist to the Second Test. – This is usually internal conflict caused by external factors. This is a good place for a couple of red herrings, a few attempts to try to do something (and somewhat succeed). Normally this is where I have the characters begin questioning why they’re acting/reacting in certain ways. This also begin some resolution, though it’s not fully actualized in the mind.

1^st Major Change/Semi-resolution – At this point we’re about halfway through our story. At this point, I toss the character into a point where external & internal conflicts collide. Why? Sagging middles are not good. By forcing the characters to face a mini version of what’s to come, you give the characters a chance to step up using the new techniques and resolutions. Depending on the genre of the story – the character fails completely, at least for me. Why? The lessons learned so far aren’t easy to do when they’re not natural. Thus at a crux point in the conflict, the old established beliefs hold say because the new beliefs aren’t helping. (Or so they think.)

Grief State – I call this the grief state because now comes the time where the character after losing a battle (& fearing he’ll lose the war) begins the process to truly change and face his internal conflicts. From anger, depression, bargaining, etc – the character will grieve until he’s resolute in his course.

Practicing while Turning – This time he hits either an internal or external or both and wins. It’s a major accomplishment and he feels he’s getting where he needs to be. This is where I, the author, give the character time to celebrate but then quickly move him to the hardest moment in his life.

 The Black Moment – After being lulled a bit, this is where I throw the lot at the character. I do it without letting up and force choices – both good and bad. But the hero knows now, he’s learned and conquers this. Though he wins, he knows there’s always a price.

Resolution Station – Here we tidy loose ends, resolve the sadness of the bad part from the Black Moment, solve the mystery for others, etc. In the romance genre, we show the HEA or HFRN.

How does it work for TWO characters?

Just like above though you add a few more midpoints between the beginning & middle and the black moment. That allows you to overlap internal and external goals and conflicts and have each character’s growth be shown. So instead of 8 points you might have 10-12. This will also lengthen your story.

How many subplots should you have?

For very short stories, you often stick to one issue to be resolved – locked room mystery, falling in love, saving the universe.

As you increase the length, you add in internal and external goals/conflicts to deepen the main goal/conflict. Though they don’t have to seem related, these subplots should support the whole theme in some manner.

Also, you may set a short-term goal as a subplot.

Example – Saving the universe but while doing so the intrepid heroes must acquire a sacred object stolen in antiquity. By retrieving said object, the heroes gain an alliance that could help their main goal.

What if your main plot is weak, but you really want to use it? What do you do?

Think about making it a scene for a subplot. Or figure out the larger picture. Ask yourself questions to find out just what’s needed to make the story longer and more indepth. What is the theme of the story? Oooh, that alone is a new topic. One where we will pick up come next week.

      Fiction writing is an expression of our wants, needs and a reflection of society – past, present, future. Many people say they have great story ideas, they just don’t have the time to write them. Most failed fiction writers fall into this category. But you want to be different – not only do you want to write – you want to be published. For this article, I talked with some of my author friends and editors for their suggestions as well. Luckily, Nikita Gordyn offered some suggestions and wrote them down for me, instead of having me remember them. LOL

            How does one learn the craft of writing? Do courses help?

Nik: Absolutely. Though I’d suggest taking a course from a published, established writer instead of a high school or college course in creative writing.

Cyn: I also think any course you take on creative writing will help get you started, especially if it’s taught by a published author. Why? Because they’ll get you passed the old grammar and into the actually physics of writing fiction. There’s a huge difference between writing fiction and non-fiction. Though grammar is important, in this case, it’s learning the ABC’s of writing that is wanted.

         What are the basics of writing? How can your prose stand out from all the stories out there?

Nik: Read, read, read and research. Take the time to learn the craft of writing while you’re creating your stories. Writing and learning together will have you putting into practice what you learn immediately.

Cyn: Basics are starting with a good storyline with a plot framework. There must be well chosen words that move the story from it’s beginning through the climax to a fulfilling end. Otherwise, why bother writing it? How can you stand out? Simple– put a unique twist that someone hasn’t done before.

            Just as a story has a beginning, middle and end – so does writing said story. There are many components that makeup a good, saleable story. From a solid plotline, likeable characters, to self-editing, the goal is to produce a piece of fiction that takes a reader out of their daily grind and transports them elsewhere.

Where do we start?

            A good story idea!

            Not all story ideas are good for a full-length novel. Some work better for a novella. Others are anthology oriented. Then there are those that just don’t work.

            How do you know what will work for what size? This is where plotters (who plot everything) and pantsters (who write by the seat of their pants) agree – it takes experience and working it out.

            But since I’ve mentioned the two schools of writing let me say this – I’m a hybrid. I have a bare bones plot with definite goals, motivations, conflict. I have the main crisis points in my mind. Yet I allow myself and the characters to direct the story to get to those points.

Which are you? Let’s take a quiz to find out.

      1.)    When presented with a puzzle, do you dive in without looking at the pieces and the picture?

2.)    Do you enjoy lists; being told in concise steps how to do something?

3.)    Do you hate rigid rules that don’t allow you to change things?

4.)    Do you get directions to a place you’ve never been to, or try to find it by yourself?

If you answered yes to number one – you’re heading into pantster territory. If you said yes to number two – you’re showing a plotter gene. Yes to number three? Pantster or just anti-authority, LOL. Direction getter on four? Plotter. Wander on four? You’re either male or a brave pantster with a sense of direction.

            How we handle things that matter shows us how we handle our writing. So now that we have an idea on the type of writer we are, let’s get back to the story idea.

            Or do we? When you think of this story idea, do you see only this scene or are you seeing a domino effect?

            When I get a story idea, it’s a movie trailer in my mind. Not only do I get the opening sequence of the book, I see some highlights of what’s to come. This is one of my ways of knowing whether or not a story will be long or short.

What are some of the clues we can use to help figure out whether a story idea is good enough to write?

1.)    The idea deals with an age-old theme.

2.)    You can see subplots emerging from the pain issue.

3.)    You’re willing and able to expand the original idea to encompass more.

Why don’t we take an example to show you what’s meant. If you want more information, I highly recommend 20 Master Plots and how to build them by Ronald B. Tobias. 

Example 1 – Star Wars

            The Star Wars saga is an age-old theme of good versus evil. More than that, it’s a traditional Hero’s Quest. Boy sets out on an adventure to fight against the bad guys. He has a sage guide him, a possible love interest, and a battle for good at the end when he truly believes in himself and what he’s becoming.

Example 2 – Labyrinth

            A girl has accidentally sent her brother to the Goblin King. She must get him back – by solving the labyrinth, meeting new people and that the Goblin King has fallen for her. Notice the way subplots help boost the main plot AND provide distractions to accomplish her goal.

Example 3 – Any news article

            In the news recently, there was an article about a discovery of a song never performed by Johannes Sebastian Bach. Imagine, your main character, had tracked down a lead that brought him to such a discovery. What clues? What hindrances? What would he do once he retrieved it? Notice how something that is one dimensional can be broadened and expanded. Take a look at Steve Berry’s book, The Alexandria Link.

Now that we’ve looked at the beginning of the story idea, the next step would be to take that idea and create a plot. That’ll be next week’s topic: Plotting- Do I have to?