"It's your choice, kitten," whispered Damien Howred in my ear, his hand traveling down my waist.

I squirmed, but with my arms pinned over my head, I wasn't doing much progress. His lips nibbled the edge of mine, and I shuddered.

"Leave me alone, I'll never be yours!"

His bright blue orbs flickered with malice, and a seductive smirk emerged on his lips as he pushed me dominantly, our hips firm against each other.

"You're already mine."

~.~

Charlesetta Durden has always been known to make heads turn. She's got golden eyes, eyelashes that are longer than unwound paper clips, and cheeks as smooth as a porcelain doll.

One day, she meets Damien Howred, a werewolf. Sparks instantly fly between them. But Damien has an oh, so dark past - and he won't let Charlesetta anywhere near it.

Will they fall in love? Will Damien let himself succumb to his desire?

And that, my folks, was an example of what we call a blurb. Why?

First of all, the excerpt answers the rhetorical question at the bottom. Yes, we know that Damien lets himself succumb to his desire - he even acts upon it in the excerpt. Secondly, the summary itself is missing so many factors - how did Charlesetta meet Damien? What exactly is Damien's dark past and why is it dangerous? Where is this story set? Why do we need to know Charlesetta's physical appearance? How is it relevant to the plot?

It's not relevant to the plot. So we don't need it.

And, of course, another drawback of this blurb? It's so incredibly cliché. Sorry, Charlesetta.

So, what makes a summary?

These are the four main elements in a traditional blurb, and while there is definitely some flexibility when it comes to these elements, they are the fundamentals when it comes to writing a good blurb. These four elements are:

Who is your story about? Who will the reader be spending their time with? While we don't need to know their entire backstory, nor do we need to know their favourite fruit and the colour of their underwear, it is important to know brief details about them - their name, their purpose, and why they are the main character.

Common points of the MC one should place in the blurb is the occupation and/or age. That's the starting point. Next up should be what they did that had dragged them into the situation, or the plot.

What is the main character facing? What will be the big dilemma in the story? Is there a war? A boy? A boy who is dragging the heroine off to war? What is the story's Voldemort? Basically, you need to talk about what the climax of your story will involve, or at least allude to what will lead into this climax. Show the readers that something exciting is about to happen, and make them want to read on. However, whatever you do, don't spoil the ending! Otherwise they already know the end of the book before it even begins.

Now, this is the important part. This is the part that I find most blurbs are missing. What happens if the protagonist does not accomplish their goal? Will their mother die if he fails to find the herb? Will the fire nation burn everything to ashes if she doesn't raise an army? Will the new boy move to Canada if she doesn't hurry up and confess her feelings? (Hopefully not all three at once - that would be one wild story!)

Basically, this is where you seal the deal with your readers and tell them what can go wrong. Make them nervous. Make them worry about your protagonist. Make them want to read on so that they can find out whether these stakes will ever actually come into play.

Now, this might only be a word or two words in your entire summary. It might be woven into the part about characters or conflict. But, basically, it is important to let your readers know where your story takes place. Is it set in 1940, on the cusp of another world war? Perhaps it is set in a completely different world - a world with dragons and talking crayons. Perhaps it's set in Alabama. Let the reader know, but make it subtle.

Whether you're writing a fantasy novel in a completely different world, or just a small spin-off from the usual high-school adventures, it's always good to let us know what's going on in your world first, and what role your characters play in it. Nope, it doesn't have to be fancy, just a small scratch in the surface to give us a hint of what your characters are getting into!

It is, of course, possible for stories to diverge away from this structure. Some stories prefer to omit the protagonists' name, or they try to keep the conflict ambiguous. Additionally, writing stakes for romance stories can be hard because, let's face it, sometimes the worst thing that could happen is heartbreak. And that, if not summarised properly, can just sound underwhelming.

Also, Wattpad is rather famous for having 'aesthetic summaries'. These summaries are usually one or two lines that replace the traditional summary, and they look like this:

"A story in which a girl and boy find themselves finding love in the most unexpected of places."

"There are plenty of fish in the sea, but there will only ever be one dugong."

"She loves the moon. He loves the sun. And, together, they make the galaxy."

These are perfectly fine on Wattpad. They're kind of cute, too, as long as they give the readers a good glimpse at what to expect. However, if you are taking your story to the professional stage, you're going to need to work on a proper blurb.

So, what does a good blurb look like?

Yvonne Rosetta doesn't know why she has a crush on the ugliest, most invisible guy at school. Literally.

Jerome Lux Folchart, also known as Jelu, has a large birthmark on his right cheek that looks like a dried-up band-aid. It earned him the label of Phantom of The Opera, since, coincidentally, he just vanishes without a trace and comes back as he pleases.

With bullies, booby traps, and devious fangirl nerds in every corridor, it is Yvonne's job as the Student Council President to stop everything from harming her 'ghostly' beloved. With only one school year left before Jelu transfers for good, the awkward girl must find a way to make the equally awkward boy stay before it is too late. Even if it means bathing in squid ink together.

Welcome to Severson's Academy of Arts, where two phantoms are ready to put an end to the bullies once and for all.

So, what makes this blurb good? Well, apart from being seamless and fluent throughout each paragraph, it ticks off the following boxes:

- Yvonne and Jelu are introduced.

- It's a love-story, and Yvonne must find a way to make the boy she likes to stay.

- As shown by the sentence ending with, "before it is too late", Yvonne has only a limited amount of time to convince him to stay. If she fails, he'll be gone. This is an example of a romance stake executed well - it's not too dramatic, but there is still a sense of urgency.

- Severson's Academy of Arts.

Let's have a look at another summary. This summary is a professionally written summary by bestselling author, Jay Kristoff, for his published book, Nevernight. We did write this blurb. All credit goes to Jay Kristoff.

Mia Corverre is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Destined to destroy empires, the child raised in shadows made a promise on the day she lost everything: to avenge herself on those that shattered her world.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, and Mia must become a weapon without equal. Before she seeks vengeance, she must seek training among the infamous assassins of the Red Church of Itreya.

Inside the Church's halls, Mia must prove herself against the deadliest of opponents and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and daemons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Church is no ordinary school. But Mia is no ordinary student.

So, what is amazing about this blurb? It's engaging, compelling, and dramatic in its telling. It is also cohesive and fluent. And does it contain the four elements?

- Mia Corverre and her history are introduced.

- She has to train in a school of assassins so that she can avenge her family.

- She is surrounded by murderers, liars, and daemons. Deadly ones. And she must survive them.

- The Red Church of Itreya.

Can you see how two completely different summaries contain the same four elements, but are executed differently?

Now, since blurbs are often a little tricky to write, we decided to include a few FAQs that we, as reviewers, usually receive from authors:

Would your blurb fit on the back of a paperback book? If not, then that's a sign that your summary is too long. In all honestly, if your blurb exceeds 250 words, that's probably a good indication that you may have gone too far. Ask yourself: is every word in my summary purposeful to one of the four elements, or is it something insignificant, such as the character's physical description? Only tell the reader what they truly need to know to understand the four elements that we mentioned above.

When it comes to shortness, well, as long as it covers the four elements, then we should have no issues. Of course, that is assuming you are writing a traditional summary. If you're writing one of the aesthetic summaries addressed above, then no need to worry - there is no such thing as too short.

If you are including an excerpt, keep it short and brief. You want it to be so quick that your readers find themselves craving more. It can be used to discuss the themes within the story, or even the world-building. For example, in Jay Kristoff's novel, Nevernight (which was discussed earlier), the excerpt he included in his blurb was:

"Never flinch. Never fear. Never forget."

It's incredibly ambiguous, but it plays an essential role in the story regarding both characterisation and plot. It's short, sweet, but damn, it's totally captivating.

If you are including an excerpt, make sure If your story is about two people falling in love, and you ask the rhetorical question, "Will they fall in love?" - please, please, make sure the excerpt doesn't involve one of them saying, "I love you." Otherwise the excerpt answers the question, and there isn't any real point of the reader reading the story. They know what happens.

And that, folks, is the end of this chapter! Did you find it useful? Any parts that you found confusing? Let us know! Your feedback is always appreciated.

And, most importantly, what would you like us to write about next?

Note: Apart from the blurb belonging to Jay Kristoff for his story, Nevernight, the rest of the blurbs and excerpts were written and edited by both and . They were not based off any previous stories we have read/reviewed, and any similarity between our blurbs and other works of fiction was entirely coincidental.

Coming up, we have Blurbs - and how to make them superb! But, this time, for poetry and short stories.