Outsmarting Your Blurb - GUEST POST with Candace West

HUGE THANKS to Candace West for popping in and guest posting while I (Jaime Jo) am on a tight deadline! Be sure to leave her welcomes and hellos in the comments! ALSO: WINNER OF THE BOOK DRAWING FOR PREMONITION AT WITHERS FARM IS - AMY! Congrats.

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Do you love writing blurbs?

If so, I wish I could sit at your feet and absorb your technique (no rhyme intended). If not, take a huge breath and release the frustration. Help is on the way. I hope. 

A deadline was approaching, and I had no story for an upcoming anthology. I brainstormed and stumbled on an idea. The more I mulled on it, the better I liked it. A woman, owner of a horse rescue, is desperate to hire a master groom because hers walked off the job, leaving her to deal with the chaos. Good start. However, it wasn’t enough to grab interest. What other conflict could I hurl her direction? Then, in the middle of my musings, I was asked to write the blurb. My mind immediately scrambled like Mama’s platter of buttery eggs at breakfast. How could I write a blurb without a plot? After all, no story equals no blurb. Right? A crazy idea rattled around in my brain. I knew the basics of my storyline and the initial conflict. Why not write a blurb focused on these and worry about the details later? 

I gave it a whirl, several actually, scribbling on notebook paper rather than my customary paper towel. Don’t judge me. Paper towels are the savior of all housekeepers/authors. But I digress. 

Here’s what I penned: 

Charity McDonald, owner of a horse rescue, hires new stable master Gilbert Bennett to settle the chaos her previous groom abandoned. She has compounded her problems, however. First challenge: Gilbert is blind. Second challenge: She is responsible for the accident years ago that caused it. Worst of all, Charity can’t muster the courage to tell him who she is.

The blurb isn’t earthshattering, and it needs tweaking. The important thing is that it taught me a lesson I’ll apply to my future short stories, novellas, and novels. Always, after finishing a story, my mind was crammed with the characters, plots, subplots—all the details. Narrowing all of it down to a short blurb was a nightmare. I liken it to clearing out a house of heirlooms where you’re allowed to keep five items that signify the whole collection. Where do you even begin?

Start with the heart of the story. When a character or idea interrupts your relaxing bath with a tantalizing story flash, write a blurb that focuses on the initial conflict. Include a hook that leaves you wondering where the story will go. Do you realize we do this in the writing process? Writers are always unraveling those internal hooks that keep our fingers tapping the keyboard. Revise the blurb as your story develops, keeping it concise and centered on the main issue that drives the characters and the plot. When you reach the end of your story, you’ll discover this: writing the blurb first provides a launching point for your final blurb. It is your lifeboat, keeping you from drowning in an ocean of details. It’s also your anchor, keeping you from drifting. 

This idea might not be for you, and that’s okay. But then again, it may be a gamechanger. I challenge you to try it the next time inspiration sparks.

Candace West was born in the Mississippi delta to a young minister and his wife. She grew up in small-town Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. At twelve

years old, she wrote her first story, “Following Prairie River.” In 2018, she published her debut novel Lane Steen. By weaving entertaining, hope-filled stories, Candace shares the Gospel and

encourages her readers. She currently lives in Arkansas with her husband and their son along with two dogs and three bossy cats.

Find her at https://candaceweststoryteller.com/ !