Blubbering into your laptop.
That’s how having to write your book blurb
can leave you.
After slaving away over your work for
months/years/decades, you’re finally finished. Except you’re not.
Unless you’re lucky enough to have someone
else to do it for you, you’re going to have to sum it all up in a few snappy,
salesy sentences.
Good luck.
No, sorry, actually the point of this post
was to say that the task can be made easier by writing a blurb after each
draft.
Even if you haven’t finished your story, a
blurb after each draft can help you write the next draft, giving you more focus
and a better (or even a new) idea of where your story needs to go.
I started doing this after finishing an
earlier novel and writing a blurb that outlined a story that was tighter,
better structured and more exciting than the one I’d just finished.
Naturally, I had to rewrite the whole thing
to fit the blurb, but the book was better for it.
I’ve also found that blurbs are easier to
write months after you’ve finished a book. A bit of distance clears the air,
brings things into sharper focus. Though I have to say, more than a year after
finishing it, I still haven’t written a blurb I’m happy with for A Dead Chick
And Some Dirty Tricks.
