I decide which stories to read based on the description provided by the author.
Here are some of the descriptions (complete as written) I came across today.
1. The beginning.
2. Dumb shit!
3. Soaking wet redhead.
4. While you were out …
5. True story
6. Oh Well. Shit happens.
7. Yeah … well?
The description is equivalent to the blurb. It's marketing. To entice you to buy/read the book/story.
Your examples don't do that. Not for me anyway.
Should a description describe the story?
Ideally, yes.
That said:
1. the description is limited to 500 characters.
How well can you describe a 1MW* epic in 500 characters?
2. How much description would you expect for a 750 word flash story?
Here are some of the descriptions (complete as written) I came across today.
How long each of those stories is would be interesting.
*MW=MegaWord
How well can you describe a 1MW* epic in 500 characters?
The description doesn't condense the story in the blurb. That's what a synopsis is for.
In my novel "Sexual Awakening" there are two sub-plots with two heroes. The blurb only mentions one of them. My goal was to pique a potential buyer's interest, not summarize the story.
A blurb shouldn't tell you EVERYTHING that happens. The point of it is to give you a blurry enough idea of the plot to get you interested. You don't have to reveal every little detail since you still want to have surprises for your readers but those "blurbs" are ... painful.
How well can you describe a 1MW* epic in 500 characters?
That depends on whether it's a genuine story or just bloatware.
AJ
That depends on whether it's a genuine story or just bloatware.
Exactly.
I have one that is well over 1 megawords, but the descriptions are only 1 or 2 sentences. The description does not have to be a NYT review, just enough to get potential readers interested in checking it out.
I have one that is well over 1 megawords, but the descriptions are only 1 or 2 sentences. The description does not have to be a NYT review, just enough to get potential readers interested in checking it out.
Since I published via a number of outlets (Distributors), I prepare multiple descriptions for each of my books. There's the lengthy description, such as you'd find on a book jacket or on the back cover. Then there's the 'online' description, which is what someone looking at the book on a website would see, and then there's the lengthier description they get when they click on the description (one is a couple of lines and the other varies with the website).
And finally there's the SOL description, which is notoriously short—the shortest of ANY website I've ever encountered! It's gotten better over the years, but it's still exceptionally short. And then there's the 'Bibliography' description, where you list the various books you've published (say on an 'Other Books by the Author' page), which is typically only a couple of lines.
there's the SOL description, which is notoriously short—the shortest of ANY website I've ever encountered!
The short description on Bookapy is only 400.
And finally there's the SOL description, which is notoriously short—the shortest of ANY website I've ever encountered!
Lit. allows 50 characters, counting spaces and punctuation.
So on there the previous sentence would have been cut off in the middle of the last word.
1. the description is limited to 500 characters.
How well can you describe a 1MW* epic in 500 characters?
You don't describe the various plot points in a description, instead you focus on the story's characters and the story's essential conflicts, as that's what the story is about, not whether the guy gets the girl, or the bad guy ties someone to the railroad track or not. Those are details, not a valid description.
However, learning to write a concise and enticing blurb is a skill to be mastered, and as usual, some do it exceptionally well while others simply can't be bothered (or just can't give a damn). :(
MarComm is, indeed, hard. It requires even more attention to the audience than TechComm.
All are from one author's page: Old Man with a Pen.
Look it up.
3 An Account: the Preface to the Series
A Story in the Wendy's Worlds Universe
The Beginning.
Sex Contents: No Sex | Genre: Fiction
Tags: Time Travel
Downloads: 8898| Votes: 445 | Score: 7.18
Size: 2KB | 472 words | Posted: 26.5.2014, 17:21:51
At least this story, does it need a description at all?
HM.
All are from one author's page: Old Man with a Pen.
If these were from different authors, then I could having an issue.
If they're from OMwaP, then I consider the source. You're either already reading his stories and know how they all go, or you're not. His things are so tied together it's not funny.
Given the author, those don't surprise me.
Think of the least conventional writer you know.
Then pump him full of peyote.
You might be approaching OMwaP then.
And honestly, with a description like "soaking wet redhead" I'm there.
a description like "soaking wet redhead"
Did she just get out of the shower or was she aroused?
Did she just get out of the shower or was she aroused?
Why does it have to be one or the other?
Why does it have to be one or the other?
Why do you think women are always going on about 'long walks in the rain' on dates and/or dating sites?
Did she just get out of the shower or was she aroused?
Either is good, and the ambiguity makes it intriguing.
Think of the least conventional writer you know.
Then pump him full of peyote.
You might be approaching OMwaP then.
Hunter S. Thompson
See above.
I decide which stories to read based on the description provided by the author.
Here are some of the descriptions (complete as written) I came across today.
1. The beginning.
2. Dumb shit!
3. Soaking wet redhead.
4. While you were out …
5. True story
6. Oh Well. Shit happens.
7. Yeah … well?
When that is all they can bother to write, I would just assume the story itself is as terse and likely uninteresting.
I try to at least give hints to what the story is about, and let people decide from that and the tags if they want to read it or not.
Agreed. I've seen descriptions such as "The idea for this story came to me in a dream." which tells me zilch on what the story is actually about. Sometimes I can suss out more from the tags than I do the description.
Yip, guilty as charged! Mind you, once I find an author I like, DTP, electronic, what-ever, I don't read the synopsis, I just buy it and settle in for the ride. Granted, it doesn't always work as even elite writers sometimes drop the ball (Terry Pratchett's Nation, being a prime example of a turd in paper).
I treat the description, the blurb, as an elevator pitch. One sentence, run-on's are OK, that gives you a setting, the protagonist, and maybe a threat.
I don't require other people's works follow my recipe, but I have chosen not to read stories because the description wasn't on point or had a glaring mistake in it. I can't remember what story it was, maybe Puzzle Box Genie, which had the protagonist's name, Thor, not capitalized in the description.
If you don't put the effort to get the description right and double check it, no one should read your story.
And now I'm paranoid all of my descriptions are disgusting messes and no one should read my stories.
I think a three or four sentence paragraph can give the reader a general idea of the character(s), the setting, the time and a how the story starts. As others have said, it's a blurb to potentially draw readers to your story. If they find it interesting, they may decide to try it.
Yeah, and as a reader, I like your approach. I try to keep mine a bit shorter, but so long as it works and there's no digressions, glaring errors, or pointless warnings, I approve.
I treat the description, the blurb, as an elevator pitch. One sentence, run-on's are OK, that gives you a setting, the protagonist, and maybe a threat.
I agree with your approach, but if you consider it, your description is literally the MOST important paragraph of the entire story. If it's written badly, readers will know that you either don't bother to edit your work, or your quality sucks overall.
If you think a book's opening sentence/paragraph/page is vital, just remember that, without a compelling description, no one will ever read them!
without a compelling description, no one will ever read them!
Unless the reader has read previous stories by the author, or had the stories recommended by someone they trust.
AJ
If you think a book's opening sentence/paragraph/page is vital, just remember that, without a compelling description, no one will ever read them!
Agreed! That's why I go with my elevator pitch method. Punchy, concise, and has to backbone the story without wasting the potential reader's time.
Agreed! That's why I go with my elevator pitch method. Punchy, concise, and has to backbone the story without wasting the potential reader's time.
I couldn't have said it better, as I frequently use the same 'elevator pitch' argument myself.
This is the description for my story "Melissa's Secrets":
This is the story of Melissa's sexual awakening with the help of her friend Sarah and Sarah's mother. In the process, she discovers a number of secrets about ...
I like it, there's secrets to be discovered, excellent. Though not a huge fan of the ellipsis.
This is the story of Melissa's sexual awakening with the help of her ADJECTIVE friend Sarah and Sarah's ADJECTIVE mother. In the process, she discovers a number of salacious (or more applicable ADJECTIVE) secrets.
There's much more good than bad, it's coming of age sexual story with some lesbian and incest kink with a much broader world. I'd be proud of myself for coming up with that one.
Mostly because I'm a long-winded bastard, all of these stories are more than 400,000 words.
Follow Martina Grize', the Dragonborn, from her entry into the realm of Skyrim, as she discovers her destiny, and eventually ... well, you'll see. I classify this as fan fiction of the Bethesda game, The Elder Scrolls V, Skyrim. There is explicit sex, but not of the stroke story variety. Disclaimer - I don't own TESV, I just play there. So the land is theirs, the choices made are mine.
The world ends on October 23, 2077. Tina Wilson seems to be the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 after the nuclear holocaust. Her life, and what she does after leaving, is this story. This is a fanfic based upon the Bethesda Softworks game Fallout 4. I have included a foreword for those not familiar with the world, but knowledge of what happened is not necessary.
There was a rocket, but the occupant wasn't a baby. A young man (Cal) is the sole survivor of his planet, crash landing in Kansas in 1984. Cal is found by a farmer and his daughter, and ends up being her friend and lover, as well as... well, read on, to find out what happens in this coming of age story. NOTE: Any names and/or other similarities between people, living, dead, or fictional are purely coincidental. (Maybe.)
Those are actually very concise with an appended set of disclaimers and categorizations. Your first blurb:
Follow Martina Grize', the Dragonborn, from her entry into the realm of Skyrim, as she discovers her destiny, and eventually ... well, you'll see.
gives us a name, a setting, and a direction, in one sentence. This's what I like.
I'll be honest, the ellipses in the first and third blurbs do bother me. I think it's just my extreme disagreeableness kicking in:
read on, to find out what happens in this coming of age story.
You can't tell me to read on! I'm an adult!
I don't think my reaction is common, so take that with a grain of salt.
I'll be honest, the ellipses in the first and third blurbs do bother me.
A description should describe. An ellipsis doesn't describe, it's shorthand for a lack of description. Its use in a story description is counter-intuitive.
I don't remember seeing any ellipses on the covers of dead tree novels.
AJ
I don't think it's the ellipses that bothers me so much as the teaser that follows. Personally, I'd go with:
Follow Martina Grize', the Dragonborn, from her entry into the realm of Skyrim as she discovers her destiny...and more.
It's more concise and still teases at further secrets.
I'm not keen on the 'and more': surely anything beyond fulfilling her destiny is just a minor subplot. But the ellipsis is redundant.
AJ
Don't forget, in fiction the ellipsis has uses that don't exist in other medium (i.e. newspapers or other non-fictional uses), as it often describes a hesitation in the spoken delivery, typically accompany something that discomforts the speaker.
But "destiny...and more" is just plain wrong, both in terms of formatting, meaning and use. Besides, 'discovering your destiny' is not a story conflict, it's the story resolution, and thus doesn't belong anywhere near a story description. What's more, there's absolutely no point in discussing someone's 'destiny' if no one understands what the hell that destiny is!
Heartily agree on usage errors and typos in descriptions being off-putting — and they'll almost always make me skip even trying it.
Almost as off-putting is outdated information, such as "Updating weekly" on a story that's been completed for years. That stuff is relevant during serialization but expires once the final chapter is posted. Leaving it in says to me that the author doesn't care about the story now that it's done.
Here's a new one today:
He waits his time but eventually he his revenge.
It really gives you confidence in the author's storytelling quality doesn't it? But what's worse, on the few times I point out these sorts of blatant errors, the authors get typically get pissed, rather than caring about potentially lost readers, quoting their weekly download counts. I guess if you have enough readers, what good are a few hundred more?
Luckily, that's a fairly straightforward omission, rather than those nondescriptive descriptions.
