How to Write Stories People Will Love

Question 11: How to write a blurb

JunoStargazer asks: How can you create a good blurb for your story, one that will draw the reader in without giving too much or too little away?

First, a bit of definition. A blurb refers to to the story description on the back cover of a printed book. Here on Wattpad, it's called "Description". Sometimes I hear the word "summary" thrown around, but that has a different meaning in the publishing world. A summary outlines the entire plot of the story, including spoilers, instead of trying to entice readers. Literary agents sometimes request this to get a feel for where your story is going.

The structure of most blurbs is typically as follows:

1. Quick sentence or two about Main Character's current life.

2. Another sentence or two about what changes (the inciting incident).

3. New paragraph about the complications/conflict that arise from this (this piques our interest).

4. What obstacles must be overcome (this makes us feel for the character).

5. OPTIONAL: What happens if Main Character doesn't overcome them (the stakes), OR hint at a plot twist or even bigger issue looming on the horizon.

Of course, not all blurbs follow this structure, but most have these elements in them.

I'm no expert on writing blurbs, but to see some good examples, browse some actual published blurbs on GoodReads or Amazon. If you're not sure what to search for, try looking up a few books that I've enjoyed: Tell Me Three Things, Open Road Summer, and Starflight. Don't look up books that have been turned into movies, because those blurbs have been altered to include movie references, and also shortened because they no longer need to draw an audience with story details.

But I don't want to give away my story in the blurb!

I actually hear this a lot, and some folks here even go as far as to recommend keeping the details vague so as to make it more "mysterious". What happens when you opt for a vague description is it starts sounding like hundreds of other stories we've seen before. It's okay if your story is similar, because it's the details that separate it from the others. This is why we need some details in the blurb.

I'll use Star Wars as an example so you can see what I'm talking about (neither of these are official Star Wars descriptions. It's just me winging it):

VAGUE - Luke must learn how to master the mysterious Force before he can save the galaxy from the evil Empire. Can he do it?

SPECIFIC - Luke's boring farm life is turned upside-down when his guardians are killed by Storm Troopers serving the Empire. A reclusive neighbor--who turns out to be a long lost Jedi Master--takes Luke under his wing and begins teaching him the ways of the Force, a mysterious energy surrounding all living things.

Luke's training is interrupted when he joins the Rebels in their efforts to combat the tyranny of the Empire. Plans for a planet-killing "Death Star" have surfaced, and if they can't stop it, entire worlds could perish. Luke doesn't think he has what it takes to be a Jedi, but maybe he can give the Rebels the edge they need. Or die trying.

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A lot of people are going to think the second example is giving away too much. But it doesn't actually contain any spoilers. It tells you what exactly the story is about and what he's going to deal with. The first example, however, could describe any number of stories about a little hero who must learn to master something before he can go off and fight the big bad guy.

Note that Wattpad blurbs tend to be shorter than the blurbs of published books. I'm not sure why that is. Don't feel compelled to make yours short unless you want to.