Getting to the Point

Carrie blogged about putting down unread books (or not) the other day, and she’s so smart and with it* that I think everyone should go read what she wrote right now. She talks about what she’s learned about her own writing based on analyzing what has made her put down a book.

One of the reasons she spoke about is about teasing the reader with a plot development they know is coming because it’s part of the hook. She writes:

…if the reader knows the hook is coming don’t make like it’s some big surprise to the reader. [bolding Diana’s] And don’t make that the only thing we’re reading for either…::snip::… (this is my personal back cover blurb rule: if the reader will know something by reading the back cover blurb, don’t drag it out in the book – or at least don’t make that be the only reason the reader is turning pages cause there will be no payoff).

Which is excellent advice, but pretty much impossible to follow. By the time most authors get their back cover blurb, the story is in galley stage and they have no control over rewriting the story. I know more than one author who has despaired about the fact that entire plot twists are neatly summarized on the back cover copy of their books. Sometimes they are successful in getting it changed to a non-spoiler blurb, and sometimes they live with people complaining that they wait until the end of the book to admit that the nice-looking, quiet boy running the hotel is actually both himself AND his murderous mother.**

Often, the people writing back cover blurbs haven’t even read the book, just the synopsis, so they don’t know how important or surprising certain plot elements are supposed to be (yet another reason why synopses are so very important). So maybe the advice should be: back cover blurbs shouldn’t talk about stuff that happens at the end of the book.

Bad back cover blurbs are like those movie previews that show every good line from the film. As a reader, I think the perfect back cover blurb won’t reveal (though it may hint at) anything that happens after the midway point in a book. (As a writer, I think this goes back to structure and the idea that what happens in the second two acts of your story should be a result of what you’ve set up in the first two acts.)

I also think that whatever happens in the beginning of said back cover blurb needs to happen as close to the start of the story as you can make it. (In keeping with Carrie’s words that I bolded above.) If you’ve got a hook for your story, say, the book is about a girl who is turned into a vampire, you can’t wait for 100 pages to have the vampires show up. This isn’t about the blurb, it’s about reader expectations.

This is why so many romance writers talk about the “rule” of having the characters meet in the first chapter. No, it’s not a rule, and you don’t have to do it, but the people picked up the book for a romance, so they don’t want to wait too long to see some sparks flying.***

Carrie goes on to talk about this issue in regards to my debut, and we’ll talk about that tomorrow. Meanwhile, what do you think about reader expectations, hooks, and back cover blurbs?
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*And I’m not just saying that because she managed to praise my book in teh process. Shameless I may be, but not that shameless.