This was originally published on my Wattpad and is advice aimed at summary-writing for Teen Fiction writers on Wattpad – but the principles apply more broadly for writers hoping to pitch their work to publishers, so I thought I’d republish here.

So you’ve got a great story, characters you love, a plot which grips you. You want to share your story with the world; you’re excited about it, and you want people to read it. You’ve written a blurb which you feel sums up the story, but instead of getting people excited about your story, you feel like it’s letting you down. And you don’t know how to fix it.

Tip 1: Read more blurbs

The first thing to do is get analytical about your own reading habits. You’re a writer, but you’re also a reader – so you also have gone through the motions of reading a blurb and deciding whether to proceed with the book. Go to a bookshop or browse Goodreads. Read lots of blurbs and make a note of which ones make you want to read the book.

Think critically about the ones which bore you, or which turn you off reading. Do they sound too cliche? Do they just not “grab” you? Why? What’s missing? Make a list. Then apply that to your own blurb.

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Check out the blurbs of books you’ve read and loved, particularly if you selected the book in a bookshop or online based on the blurb. Take a look at what the publishers of those books do with their summaries. Make a note of things like: tense, how many characters are introduced in the blurb (usually no more than two or three), and building of tension. Try to be analytical about what it was which made YOU want to read this book.

Here’s an example. The blurb for Twilight, one of the best-selling books of recent years:

“Isabella Swan expects her new life in Forks to be as dull as the town itself. But her new classmates don’t seem to mind her awkward manner and low expectations. They seem to like her – with the exception, that is, of Edward Cullen. The problem is that Bella finds herself fascinated by him. What she doesn’t realise is that the closer she gets, the more she is at risk. And it might be too late to turn back.”

If I get analytical about this blurb, I can see that it is very simple, and that is sets up a series of questions, to which the reader wants answers. In the first sentence, we have the beginning point (situation normal), the location, and main character. A fish out of water, in a new town, with low expectations of how much she will enjoy it. But we also have a question – why has she started a new life? Why does she have low expectations? Then the author introduces the central tension: everyone likes Bella except this one person. The reader asks, “Why? Why doesn’t this person like her?” And then the hook (that is, the actual story): the closer she gets, the more she is at risk. The reader wants to know why she is at risk. And, of course, the central question of any love story is: will they end up together?

It’s also worth noting what isn’t included in this summary. The vampire war. Edward’s weird family. Bella’s friends aren’t named. The situation with her home life (her mum and dad). And, of course, there’s no mention of the secondary love interest, Jacob. The blurb really distills down what’s important.

Tip 2. Start with your story

Now you’re ready to begin analysing your own blurb, or writing a new one. The first thing to think about before you begin is: what is your story about? And is your story compelling?

We all love writing. That’s why we’re here. Some of us write for ourselves, to explore ideas we’ve had, or to live out our dreams and fantasies on the page. In this kind of writing, the actual plot is less important than the characters and their thoughts – if you’re just writing this kind of story, that’s great. But it’s not always compelling for other people to read this kind of story. Readers want a plot – they aren’t going to go on an internal journey without a hook.

I’m using Twilight as an example because it’s very famous and a lot of people have read it or seen the movies, so it’s an easy example. But if you look at any of your favourite books you’ll find the same thing. Twilight has a largely internal story, taking place mostly in Bella’s head. It’s very character-driven – as a reader, falling in love with Edward is essential if you’re going to stay on the journey. But the plot of Twilight is not “Bella falls in love with Edward.” That is character. The plot is “there is an evil vampire who wants to kill everyone.” The climax of Twilight is not “Edward returns Bella’s love”, it is “Bella is attacked and Edward saves her.” The love story is the emotional core, but the plot still needs to happen to move the story along.

Bella’s personal journey is not about falling in love, it is about being transformed (ie. growing up). The plot of most Teen Fiction stories is the same: they are mostly about growing up, because that is something teens are especially concerned with.

Have a look at your own story. Work out what the plot is. That’s your starting point.

And if you don’t really have a plot, beyond your characters or your internal discourse (ie your characters’ thoughts?) That’s okay too … but it’s not a story.

Tip 3: Create a Hook

OK, now you’re ready to write. But where to start? The first sentence of your blurb should set up “situation normal.” Where are we when the story begins? What is about to change? In Twilight, it’s “Isabella Swan expects her new life in Forks to be dull.” We know immediately where she is, and what she expects. We know that this is going to change – if someone expects something to be dull, we know that they are going to be surprised.

For my story The Dreamers of Dreams, the first sentence of the summary is this: “Seventeen-year-old Taylor Donadi has always dreamed of being a singer.” This is situation normal for Taylor: her dream of making it as a singer. This is the case for every genre. Here are some examples of other genres, plucked from my bookshelf:

Crime: “Makedde Vanderwall has her PhD and has started a new life in Australia with her detective boyfriend, Andy Flynn.” (Hit by Tara Moss)

Science Fiction: “On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.” (Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie)

Literary fiction/General fiction: “As children, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school.” (Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro)

Now that you’ve worked out what your story is about, you know where to find the hook. The hook is basically what compels the story along – what makes you keep reading, because you want to find out what happens. You have situation normal: the hook is what is about to change. The hook is what makes you keep reading.

In Twilight, it’s Edward: everyone likes Bella, except this guy. Why? And will they get together?

This can be subtle, as in the case of Ishiguro: “As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the haunting reality that awaits them.” Or it can be a direct question, which you will answer through the reading of the story. In my summary for The Dreamers of Dreams, the final sentence is this: “As fame and fortune beckons, how can Taylor stay true to herself and her friends?” The blurb for Hit concludes: “If the boy didn’t kill Meaghan, then who set him up? And how far will they go to keep their guilt a secret?”

Tip 4: Distill it down

Finally, you need to distill down your story. Of course your story is so much more than just one thread. There are minor characters and subplots and emotional journeys. But you need to find the core of the story – the main source of tension. Cull all the characters who aren’t essential to the main plot. Cull all subplots. Distill it down.

In my story The Dreamers of Dreams, the main plot follows Taylor and her bandmates, Carter and Sam, on the road to stardom. There are subplots: a love triangle, a character with a drug addiction, Taylor’s parents’ divorce, a competitive close friendship. These all cause tension in the story, but the main narrative drive comes from the journey to stardom. My blurb, therefore, is this:

Seventeen-year-old Taylor Donadi has always dreamed of being a singer. After moving to London, she makes friends with the streetwise Tish, and her charismatic older brother Carter, who asks her to audition for his band. But as fame and fortune beckons, how can Taylor stay true to herself and her friends?

I don’t think this is perfect, by any means (and I’d love your thoughts on how to make it better). But it ticks some boxes for me: namely that it is simple, distills the story down to its essence, and it sets up the main tension in the plot – that Taylor desperately wants to be a singer, but she also needs to stay true to herself.

Tip 5: Proofread

Now you have your blurb, you’re not quite finished! So many manuscripts end up on the “no” pile just because the authors haven’t proofread their query letters. Bad spelling, grammar and tenses put people off reading further, and they make you sound stupider than you are.

So proofread! Go through it with a fine-toothed comb. Read it backwards. Check it over. It’s only short – it shouldn’t take you long. If you’re not feeling confident, give it to someone who’s good at English to look over for you. Or send it to me! I’d be happy to help out.

Think about tense. Present tense is the best way to write a blurb: “Taylor Donadi wants to be a singer.” “Isabella Swan expects her new life in Forks to be dull.” You’re taking the reader on a journey, the starting point is the present, even if your story is written in past tense.

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