Meg versus The Blurb

~ Meg

I’ve reached that stage in novel development that I like the least — writing the synopsis, or blurb that goes on the back cover of the book or in the description on the Amazon page. How do you distill 90,000+ words down to a few sentences or a short paragraph? And write those sentences in such a way as to suck your potential readers into buying your novel? Ugh. It’s agonising!

Why is it so hard? Fellow writers, do you struggle with this part, too?

The blurb needs to convey the mystery, the suspense, the drama of the book without giving away the details or the ending. It also has to be concise and attention grabbing. I either end up with three sentences or an entire page. Finding the happy middle ground is elusive. So as I work on the blurb for my fourth novel, Tainted Inheritance, which save for a few details, is ready to be published, I rant, I rail, I stomp and I curse.

Last week, I felt so frustrated and stuck, I was ready to throw in the towel. Say “the hell with it” and shelve the whole thing. All because of a blurb. Ridiculous, I know… But after a good wallow, a little too much bourbon, a cry on a friend’s (Kevin’s) shoulder and an orchid to cheer me up, I got angry. What?!? Angry, you say? How does that help?

This is not the path I would recommend to you all, but for me getting angry energizes me. It sets me on fire and it feels kind of good. Maybe that makes me a dangerous psychopath, I’m not really sure. Whatever the case, it works for me. I spit out a poem Just Burn in about 15 minutes, Monday night and with the frustration out of my system, I moved on, rejuvenated.

I’m nailing that blurb today and then the cover is next.

What is the lesson here? You want me to get stuff done? Go ahead and piss me off…

Header Image courtesy Flickr.com

Published by Meg

Easily amused, never bored and constantly distracted. My creative pursuits include writing, drawing, painting and photography.

60 thoughts on “Meg versus The Blurb”

    1. I know! I hate them! I think I might take a page from your book, Drew, and reduce this self imposed blogging schedule. Or scale back for the summer at least. I feel like my off blog writing is getting shoved aside. Not good! How are you?

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      1. This is only my second day in wordpress. The extra time is great for my writing goals and for family. This week was full of picnic, a barbecue, and plenty of writing. Also had to work on personal stuff with lawyers. But I got a lot done. Summer is too short. Take advantage of it.

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      2. That’s wonderful, Drew. I think that is a smart move. I have some things I want to finish up here in June and then I think July and August are going to be for relaxing and catching up.

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  6. Writing blurbs is a much different matter than fiction writing. Blurbs drive me crazy, and I’ve come to the approach that less is more. I’ve found it helpful to look around Amazon and read blurbs of books in my genre. And blurb of books that I liked. It was good to see how other authors wrote blurbs. Hope that helps you!

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  8. I never considered that writing a synopsis would be the hard part! If I ever finish “the great American novel” I’ll come knocking on your door for advice! Lol! Just don’t shoot me! Best of luck, Meg!

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  10. I have tried to do this “for fun” (because I’m far from being remotely near that stage with anything)… because I wanted to see if I could do it. I cannot. I have NO idea how people do this! (In bed.)

    But listen bitch, I’m sure you can do it. (Did it work? Are you pissed off?) 😀

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    1. Hahahahahaha! That’s awesome! Yes, it’s done. My presumptuous pal Kevin even posted it on his blog already. Actually, its a good thing he did, now its set in stone. I was starting to waffle on it again… 😦 It really is the worst part of the whole production.

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      1. I saw it over at Kevin’s after I commented here… (I got very behind today… I had over 50 email alerts to go through. I think I skipped commenting in a few places where maybe I normally would have… but I need to catch up so I can write… I haven’t written all day. I have an addiction. I have several, actually. (In bed.)

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      3. Hahahahaaa… Okay, that was the best one yet. (In bed.) Yeah, I’m not done yet with this week’s installment… I’ve got to finish. (In bed.) Okay, that’s going to get old. Maybe. 😀

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