Emerald St. John is in trouble. She has been condemned to marry a man she hates, her enemies are conspiring to have her pet bear Molly torn apart in the baiting pits, and the man she loves is far away on the high seas. And she has stumbled into a web of spies with a plot to poison Queen Elizabeth I. To save herself and the kingdom, Emerald must beat the spies at their own game - which means transforming herself from a country girl into a lady of the court. Can she do it in time? Emerald by Karen Wallace
- Write the blurb before you write the book, to help you focus on what is important in the story, or - Write the blurb as you are writing the book, while the ideas are fresh 04:30 (1) What is the character's internal conflict? - What is their comfort zone before the plot throws punches at them? - What is the one clear goal they have been pursuing and what internal and external obstacles have stopped them? - Juxtapose this desire with their fear and misbelief, in as few words as possible, in the first sentence of the blurb. - Who is the main character and why should we care about them? - This will capture the reader's attention and empathy more than the plot or worldbuilding - The main character is the anchor point, the viewpoint through which we see the story - For multiple POV books, start the blurb with the character the book starts with 09:00 Examples - The Blood Race - The Other World 12:00 (2) Use story structure - Three act structure - Focuses on the character's internal journey The main character is internally conflicted. They desire something and their fear is standing in their way. Something happens to push them outside their comfort zone and set them on their journey. Where they will encounter obstacles and plot twists as they pursue their misbelief-based goal. Eventually a disaster strikes, leaving your character hopeless and confronting their greatest fear. They must overcome their fear and crush their misbelief in order to continue to the climax and face their biggest challenge yet, therefore proving their transformation. Doesn't have to be exactly the above. Identify the pivotal moments where your character is - Going on a journey of change - Facing external conflicts that challenge their internal conflicts - Facing situations that challenge their beliefs - That force them to change Bring it full circle to the outcome of the character's journey What are the most meaningful moments? - Narrow it down - Get feedback on what story points are important - What are the major plot points, internal struggles, in the first half of the book? End the blurb - Just before the game-changing midpoint - Or just after (cliffhanger) - Or go a bit beyond that - Leave the reader with a question or mystery as a hook - Don't reveal too much, making the reader feel they have read the whole book Make a bullet point list of all important story beats - Find ways to show the deeper emotion behind each beat - This happens, then this happens to make the character go on a journey, and they make this decision - Describe what is happening emotionally, internally, why it matters 17:25 (3) Don't be long winded - 250 to 350 words - Don't name more than three characters - For more than three (or for characters mentioned only once), describe the character in relation to the protagonist (father, ex-wife, mentor) instead of naming them - Write a long blurb first if you have to, then trim it down What story element would make you the most excited to read the book? - What makes you excited about the story is probably the same as what would make readers excited - "That's so cool, I want to see what happens!" - Hammer that home in the last paragraph Practice by writing a blurb for a book or movie that you like - How would you describe it? - How would you convince your friends to read/watch it? - Allows you to practice without pressure, because it doesn't matter 22:35 (4) Use power words - Make the emotional side shine by leveraging your reader's empathy and piquing their interest - List of power words are available online, and with Abbie's masterclass - Used by marketers in headlines - When revising the blurb, look for weak words to replace, to make the emotional side and internal conflict stand out 24:25 (5) Be patient and get feedback - Let it sit for a few days - Can take weeks in total - Don't rush - it will live on as the representation of your book This is your opportunity to let readers know why you are asking them to invest their time and energy with your book - Instead of doing something else, reading another book - Why is it worthy of their time? - What makes this different/special? - Will they walk away with a changed perspective on life? - What will it give/offer them? Feedback helps you know - The points that shine - The weaker points - Which of the story's conflicts has the most emotional punch Questions to ask yourself when writing the blurb, or to ask when getting feedback - What aspect of the story makes you want to read it? - What makes you want to know what happens next? - Which part of the story was the most interesting/exciting/addictive? - Which conflict gets the headline, is the most compelling, gets the spotlight? - What is the most powerful question to end on? - The thing that made you want to write the story, might be the same thing that hooks readers, belongs in the blurb's final paragraph 33:05 Recap 1. Start with the character's internal conflict 2. Use story structure to guide the flow of the blurb 3. Keep it short and sweet. Not too many characters, unnecessary details 4. Use emotionally compelling power words 5. Take your time and get feedback 33:30 Blurb-writing masterclass available from Abbie Includes template, list of power words
I can never decide if I like these sort of comments, because on one hand it's helpful that someone writes down all the important points for easy reference, but on the other hand it disencourages viewers from watching the whole video and hurts the creators because someone has already summed it up, so why now waste time watching the whole thing when the summary is right there? :P
@@Thenoobestgirl I think of it as a learning styles thing. Also, the content provider can delete or otherwise suppress the comment if it was an issue. I get what you're saying and admit to initially thinking the same.
@@Thenoobestgirl technically that’s a critique to the video itself if a comment can communicate information more concisely, so much so it’d make the video redundant 😅 I often look for comments like these on a big videos, not because I don’t want to watch it, but to see if the video is worth the time investment. The only times these comments have ever made me not watch a video is if it revealed that there isn’t any valuable information or that it deviates from the specific content I had hoped (by the video title) that it was going to include. I especially looked for one for this video because as soon as I saw an advertisement for a course in the video description I knew there’d be a risk of it being one of those videos where it’s setup like they’re GOING to teach you something but it’s really just a no-value, long winded advertisement in disguise, RUclips is full of those kind of videos nowadays, this comment made me decide to watch the video in full. But when it comes to educational content, helping other people learn more efficiently via comments like these should hold prioritisation over trying to help a RUclipsr profit. It’s their job to make their video worth peoples time, specifically to provide value in its audio-visual format and the length of time it takes to consume watching vs skim reading the transcript (which RUclips automatically provides). A lot of people will still watch because they learn better that way than reading, so these comments won’t steal the value of the video from them, just enhance it, kind of like getting a summary sheet and/or the PowerPoint slides as a handout for a college lecture to help make sure you remember what you learned. Or having that one friend who is great at notetaking and is kind enough to share them. If people struggle with note taking (which younger or neurodivergent individuals often do) these comments are a god send! Honestly, I’ve only ever seen content creators respond extremely positive to these kind of comments on their videos, even pinning them. So I don’t think there’s a need to try step in on their behalf and dissuade other people from making these comments or implying they should delete them. If a content creator is truly THAT profit motived they don’t want any good-willed, high-value comments, they have the power to delete it themselves.
@@Thenoobestgirl I totally get it. I agree, we should watch the full video to help out our info creators... but.... Some of us are a bit to busy to watch half an hour long video when we want to just write in our limited break times and this helps. I will go back and watch to get the full extent of information, but for now, with only 20 minutes left in my screen time, this is helpful.
I remember this one tumblr post about book blurbs. "I have to write it again but TINY??" this is it. Thank you so much for this podcast, I love listening to your discussions and advice!
This was uploaded just in time! I’m looking for people to help publish my book and I have to give them a synopsis of what it’s about. I was stuck on coming up with one until I saw this. Tysm! ❤️
As a screenwriter who has to write loglines, which are even worse because you literally have just 1 or rarely 2 lines to sell your entire premise off of, I despise this selling practice lol Also, to hook a reader (at least on a loglines), the best tip I've been given is to insert some sort of irony element, if you can. So for example, the loglines for the book/script I'm working on right now is "A famous stage performer has to team up with a group of rebels and embark on an undercover mission in order to save her treasonous father from execution." So in this example, the irony is that she is famous but now has to hide her identity in broad daylight in order to succeed. It seeds the reader with the question of "how's she gonna do that?" and makes them want to know more.
Thanks Kate. Great video 👍 I've been writing since I was 8 but had to stop when I got ill when I was a teenager 😢 but started again in Nov 2019. Can I ask your opinion of my blurb for my first novel that I'm going to publish. Why has Lena Oaks always been drawn to the creepy, unusual forest outside of her village? She has always wanted to go and find out what makes it so enticing and is determined to do so. But standing in her way is everything, including her twin brother, Cyrus. Inside the forest someone is waiting for the twins to arrive, but who are they and what do they want with them? What Lena and Cyrus discover is unimaginable, mind-blowing and totally out of this world
I really love blurbs that give you a taste of the tone of writing style inside the book. I really want to know if this book is going to be uplifting, or serious or witty or whatever the final feel the book will leave me with, I like to get a bit of that flavor from the blurb.
Thank you for this. I have been wondering how I will be doing a blurb when its time. Both of you are immensely helpful. I follow you both and you have helped me so much on my writing journey. Thank you.
Thanks so much for the information in this video. I wonder how much the initial comfort zone is important if the protagonist starts in a broken and uncomfortable situation?
This is definitely a big weakness in my writing. I am not good at reducing my writing to the essential elements. At school I could write at length but ask me to summarize it I struggled. I hope I can find something in this video that can help me.
Just curious ladies...do you buy your followers books too? I think that artist would be over joyful if they knew you did...thank for this video. Extremely helpful ;)
35:49 - 35:54 Best sentence. Wait...what?? Six books??!! I thought you had a trilogy!! But for Abbie's last question: Since I don't really want to pay for the masterclass, I did the minimum of what I could do and that was to write a 3-page long Word document notes. Can you please upload the template maybe on RUclips??? ❤❤❤📖📖 Btw I once saw a yt short of people telling what book tropes they hate and THROWING THE BOOK IN THE FRICKEN OCEAN!! #stopthebookabuse
I’m writing my blurb, and I’ve wrote 3 different versions of it and it’s just not coming together. It was either too much info, or not accurate to the story. I’ll try a few more times, but it might just have to wait till later.
Tip: Never start a blurb with "In a world..." even if the voice narrating it is badass. I have a story I'm working on that has a first-person narrator with a very odd voice. I'm writing it as if the narrator was telling me a story but didn't realize I would record it word-for-word. The story is supposed to be the real history of ancient Earth that has been covered up so that the knowledge that we have of history through archaeology and so on are all based on falsified evidence. I'm thinking it would be fun to write the blurb from the point of view of the narrator who just figured out that I wrote down what he said word for word and he's trying to convince the readers that everything was just a fantastical but false story he told me on a whim, all the while trying to coordinate damage control. I don't know if it will work out, but it will be fun to try it.
Name a blurb that drew you in and IMMEDIATELY made you want to read the book! 📖🤯
I don't often read the blurbs. I usually go by pretty fanart lol 😂
Lol
Emerald St. John is in trouble. She has been condemned to marry a man she hates, her enemies are conspiring to have her pet bear Molly torn apart in the baiting pits, and the man she loves is far away on the high seas. And she has stumbled into a web of spies with a plot to poison Queen Elizabeth I. To save herself and the kingdom, Emerald must beat the spies at their own game - which means transforming herself from a country girl into a lady of the court. Can she do it in time?
Emerald by Karen Wallace
- Write the blurb before you write the book, to help you focus on what is important in the story, or
- Write the blurb as you are writing the book, while the ideas are fresh
04:30 (1) What is the character's internal conflict?
- What is their comfort zone before the plot throws punches at them?
- What is the one clear goal they have been pursuing and what internal and external obstacles have stopped them?
- Juxtapose this desire with their fear and misbelief, in as few words as possible, in the first sentence of the blurb.
- Who is the main character and why should we care about them?
- This will capture the reader's attention and empathy more than the plot or worldbuilding
- The main character is the anchor point, the viewpoint through which we see the story
- For multiple POV books, start the blurb with the character the book starts with
09:00 Examples
- The Blood Race
- The Other World
12:00 (2) Use story structure
- Three act structure
- Focuses on the character's internal journey
The main character is internally conflicted. They desire something and their fear is standing in their way. Something happens to push them outside their comfort zone and set them on their journey. Where they will encounter obstacles and plot twists as they pursue their misbelief-based goal. Eventually a disaster strikes, leaving your character hopeless and confronting their greatest fear. They must overcome their fear and crush their misbelief in order to continue to the climax and face their biggest challenge yet, therefore proving their transformation.
Doesn't have to be exactly the above. Identify the pivotal moments where your character is
- Going on a journey of change
- Facing external conflicts that challenge their internal conflicts
- Facing situations that challenge their beliefs
- That force them to change
Bring it full circle to the outcome of the character's journey
What are the most meaningful moments?
- Narrow it down
- Get feedback on what story points are important
- What are the major plot points, internal struggles, in the first half of the book?
End the blurb
- Just before the game-changing midpoint
- Or just after (cliffhanger)
- Or go a bit beyond that
- Leave the reader with a question or mystery as a hook
- Don't reveal too much, making the reader feel they have read the whole book
Make a bullet point list of all important story beats
- Find ways to show the deeper emotion behind each beat
- This happens, then this happens to make the character go on a journey, and they make this decision
- Describe what is happening emotionally, internally, why it matters
17:25 (3) Don't be long winded
- 250 to 350 words
- Don't name more than three characters
- For more than three (or for characters mentioned only once), describe the character in relation to the protagonist (father, ex-wife, mentor) instead of naming them
- Write a long blurb first if you have to, then trim it down
What story element would make you the most excited to read the book?
- What makes you excited about the story is probably the same as what would make readers excited
- "That's so cool, I want to see what happens!"
- Hammer that home in the last paragraph
Practice by writing a blurb for a book or movie that you like
- How would you describe it?
- How would you convince your friends to read/watch it?
- Allows you to practice without pressure, because it doesn't matter
22:35 (4) Use power words
- Make the emotional side shine by leveraging your reader's empathy and piquing their interest
- List of power words are available online, and with Abbie's masterclass
- Used by marketers in headlines
- When revising the blurb, look for weak words to replace, to make the emotional side and internal conflict stand out
24:25 (5) Be patient and get feedback
- Let it sit for a few days
- Can take weeks in total
- Don't rush - it will live on as the representation of your book
This is your opportunity to let readers know why you are asking them to invest their time and energy with your book
- Instead of doing something else, reading another book
- Why is it worthy of their time?
- What makes this different/special?
- Will they walk away with a changed perspective on life?
- What will it give/offer them?
Feedback helps you know
- The points that shine
- The weaker points
- Which of the story's conflicts has the most emotional punch
Questions to ask yourself when writing the blurb, or to ask when getting feedback
- What aspect of the story makes you want to read it?
- What makes you want to know what happens next?
- Which part of the story was the most interesting/exciting/addictive?
- Which conflict gets the headline, is the most compelling, gets the spotlight?
- What is the most powerful question to end on?
- The thing that made you want to write the story, might be the same thing that hooks readers, belongs in the blurb's final paragraph
33:05 Recap
1. Start with the character's internal conflict
2. Use story structure to guide the flow of the blurb
3. Keep it short and sweet. Not too many characters, unnecessary details
4. Use emotionally compelling power words
5. Take your time and get feedback
33:30 Blurb-writing masterclass available from Abbie
Includes template, list of power words
I can never decide if I like these sort of comments, because on one hand it's helpful that someone writes down all the important points for easy reference, but on the other hand it disencourages viewers from watching the whole video and hurts the creators because someone has already summed it up, so why now waste time watching the whole thing when the summary is right there? :P
@@Thenoobestgirl I think of it as a learning styles thing. Also, the content provider can delete or otherwise suppress the comment if it was an issue. I get what you're saying and admit to initially thinking the same.
@@Thenoobestgirl technically that’s a critique to the video itself if a comment can communicate information more concisely, so much so it’d make the video redundant 😅
I often look for comments like these on a big videos, not because I don’t want to watch it, but to see if the video is worth the time investment.
The only times these comments have ever made me not watch a video is if it revealed that there isn’t any valuable information or that it deviates from the specific content I had hoped (by the video title) that it was going to include.
I especially looked for one for this video because as soon as I saw an advertisement for a course in the video description I knew there’d be a risk of it being one of those videos where it’s setup like they’re GOING to teach you something but it’s really just a no-value, long winded advertisement in disguise, RUclips is full of those kind of videos nowadays, this comment made me decide to watch the video in full.
But when it comes to educational content, helping other people learn more efficiently via comments like these should hold prioritisation over trying to help a RUclipsr profit. It’s their job to make their video worth peoples time, specifically to provide value in its audio-visual format and the length of time it takes to consume watching vs skim reading the transcript (which RUclips automatically provides).
A lot of people will still watch because they learn better that way than reading, so these comments won’t steal the value of the video from them, just enhance it, kind of like getting a summary sheet and/or the PowerPoint slides as a handout for a college lecture to help make sure you remember what you learned. Or having that one friend who is great at notetaking and is kind enough to share them.
If people struggle with note taking (which younger or neurodivergent individuals often do) these comments are a god send!
Honestly, I’ve only ever seen content creators respond extremely positive to these kind of comments on their videos, even pinning them. So I don’t think there’s a need to try step in on their behalf and dissuade other people from making these comments or implying they should delete them. If a content creator is truly THAT profit motived they don’t want any good-willed, high-value comments, they have the power to delete it themselves.
@@Thenoobestgirl I totally get it. I agree, we should watch the full video to help out our info creators... but.... Some of us are a bit to busy to watch half an hour long video when we want to just write in our limited break times and this helps.
I will go back and watch to get the full extent of information, but for now, with only 20 minutes left in my screen time, this is helpful.
I remember this one tumblr post about book blurbs. "I have to write it again but TINY??" this is it. Thank you so much for this podcast, I love listening to your discussions and advice!
Thank you so much Kate!! You and your sister are amazing writers and I'm so grateful for your videos!!!!
thank you so much for your kind words, friend! We're so happy that this show can serve you 🙏❤
This was uploaded just in time! I’m looking for people to help publish my book and I have to give them a synopsis of what it’s about. I was stuck on coming up with one until I saw this. Tysm! ❤️
Thanks for your examples, it makes it easier to know what to write in the blurb.
Currently creating a blurb for an animation pitch I'm presenting to a film company! This is INCREDIBLY helpful, THANK YOU guys for all you do!!
I am just now a the point where I need to write my blurb so thank you for this great video!
As a screenwriter who has to write loglines, which are even worse because you literally have just 1 or rarely 2 lines to sell your entire premise off of, I despise this selling practice lol
Also, to hook a reader (at least on a loglines), the best tip I've been given is to insert some sort of irony element, if you can.
So for example, the loglines for the book/script I'm working on right now is "A famous stage performer has to team up with a group of rebels and embark on an undercover mission in order to save her treasonous father from execution."
So in this example, the irony is that she is famous but now has to hide her identity in broad daylight in order to succeed. It seeds the reader with the question of "how's she gonna do that?" and makes them want to know more.
This might have been the most useful and helpful show so far. I'm not to the blurb stage yet, but my sister is and i'm sending this her way 😃
Thank you both for sharing. This was helpful!
Thanks Kate. Great video 👍
I've been writing since I was 8 but had to stop when I got ill when I was a teenager 😢 but started again in Nov 2019. Can I ask your opinion of my blurb for my first novel that I'm going to publish.
Why has Lena Oaks always been drawn to the creepy, unusual forest outside of her village? She has always wanted to go and find out what makes it so enticing and is determined to do so. But standing in her way is everything, including her twin brother, Cyrus.
Inside the forest someone is waiting for the twins to arrive, but who are they and what do they want with them? What Lena and Cyrus discover is unimaginable, mind-blowing and totally out of this world
Thank you for this amazing episode! And for always including examples - that's incredibly helpful! :D
I really love blurbs that give you a taste of the tone of writing style inside the book. I really want to know if this book is going to be uplifting, or serious or witty or whatever the final feel the book will leave me with, I like to get a bit of that flavor from the blurb.
Thank you for this. I have been wondering how I will be doing a blurb when its time. Both of you are immensely helpful. I follow you both and you have helped me so much on my writing journey. Thank you.
great advice. i didn´t even get to 200 words for my book blurb. maybe because it was a script instead of a novel or book
Thanks so much for the information in this video. I wonder how much the initial comfort zone is important if the protagonist starts in a broken and uncomfortable situation?
This is definitely a big weakness in my writing. I am not good at reducing my writing to the essential elements. At school I could write at length but ask me to summarize it I struggled. I hope I can find something in this video that can help me.
Just curious ladies...do you buy your followers books too? I think that artist would be over joyful if they knew you did...thank for this video. Extremely helpful ;)
35:49 - 35:54 Best sentence. Wait...what?? Six books??!! I thought you had a trilogy!! But for Abbie's last question: Since I don't really want to pay for the masterclass, I did the minimum of what I could do and that was to write a 3-page long Word document notes. Can you please upload the template maybe on RUclips??? ❤❤❤📖📖
Btw I once saw a yt short of people telling what book tropes they hate and THROWING THE BOOK IN THE FRICKEN OCEAN!! #stopthebookabuse
💜💜
I’m writing my blurb, and I’ve wrote 3 different versions of it and it’s just not coming together.
It was either too much info, or not accurate to the story.
I’ll try a few more times, but it might just have to wait till later.
I've also written 3 different blurbs and have taken the best lines from all 3 to get a final great blurb. But it's not easy though. 😅
Are you in some traditional clothing? Like because of Kate's red top...
Tip: Never start a blurb with "In a world..." even if the voice narrating it is badass.
I have a story I'm working on that has a first-person narrator with a very odd voice. I'm writing it as if the narrator was telling me a story but didn't realize I would record it word-for-word. The story is supposed to be the real history of ancient Earth that has been covered up so that the knowledge that we have of history through archaeology and so on are all based on falsified evidence. I'm thinking it would be fun to write the blurb from the point of view of the narrator who just figured out that I wrote down what he said word for word and he's trying to convince the readers that everything was just a fantastical but false story he told me on a whim, all the while trying to coordinate damage control. I don't know if it will work out, but it will be fun to try it.
Hey Ladies, how do you write a kiss scene in a slow burn romance?