Writing 101: Writing Descriptions · 7:27am Nov 20th, 2015
Fanfic can be very different from and very similar to published fiction. One major similarity is the importance of titles and descriptions. There is a lot of equivalency between a back-of-the-book blurb and a fanfiction’s summary.
Your title and description are what hook your readers. They are (in most circumstances) what convinces your audience to devote time to your story. They require brevity and a dash of wit, while still being informative.
Here are some basic tips for writing descriptions. Like all my writing advice, this comes with the caveats that fiction is subjective. It comes with the second caveat that despite writing fiction for twelve years, I am still inexperienced. These tips mostly only apply to descriptions; titles are a separate beast that warrant their own post.
With that out of the way, let’s dig in.
* Proofread your description: This may sound obvious. It is the first point, however, because it is so often neglected. Your description represents your story. If there is a spelling or grammar error in it, it not only damages the meaning but also turns off readers.
** By the same token, be wary of intentional misspellings. If the meaning is not immediately obvious, or if it is an in-joke that requires a reading of the story for impact, then reconsider if it creates a good first impression.
* Don’t include spoilers: “This story has a happy/bad ending” or any other story spoiler does not belong in your description. If you include it in the description, what is the point of reading the story? My general rule for description content is the first chapter (for longer stories) or first 500-1000 words (for shorter stories). If your story is well constructed, that should be the scene setting and the introduction of the major conflict, and that is exactly what your description should sell the reader on.
* Your description should not describe anything other than the story: Things like “this is my first story”, “featured/popular box/Equestria Daily on [date]”, “it gets better after chapter n”, or “this story is very original” do not belong in a description. Your description is there to describe the story, not to make value judgements or give the reader irrelevant information. These things belong in the authors notes or a linked blog post.
** If it is something that is actually important, I usually place a horizontal rule and place it right below the description. Prereader/editor credits, for instance, are one thing I do this with, since I feel that effort warrants more recognition.
** This especially includes hostile comments/sentiments like “don’t like, don’t read” or “keep your comments to yourself.” This is not the sort of thing one wants to make a first impression with.
** Don’t give the reader instructions: “read the prequel” or “skip chapter 2” or similar don’t belong in the description. This only creates clutter, and the description/story should already be structured in such a way that such sentiments shouldn’t need mentioning.
* Don’t ask questions: A summary that asks the reader a question (“Will Rarity be able to confess her feelings to Tom?” “Will Becky save the day?”) sounds wishy-washy and bland. It also feels rather empty, since it is invariably obvious what the answer is.
If you found this post helpful or interesting, then stay tuned. I plan to do a sister post to this, covering similarly basic tips for titles. I’m also going to be trying a new blog series where I review/critique story descriptions and titles (yes, just the descriptions/titles). Illustrating a lesson with examples and learning through critique is often easier than simply reading a list, so I hope it will be informative.
Thanks for reading. As always, comments, counterpoints, and criticism are welcome.
I think an important thing to consider here is that if your first hook ISN'T within this general length, you're probably doing something wrong.
What I saw recently in a description that honestly revolted me was quoting a positive comment in the review itself, as if the author didn't trust his story and description to captivate me to read it. I don't want spam in a story description.
Few things put me off reading a fic as much as weaseling in the description: "It's my first story", "I know it's not very good", "Please don't comment too harshly". Author, if you don't think your story's very good, then rewrite it until it is. And if you don't think it's any good, why would anyone reading it have a better opinion?
As well as the passive-aggressive "No negative comments" or "Don't like, don't read" (the latter of whom is downright bratty, as well as illogical - how will I know if I'll like it if I don't read it?) I don't take kindly to someone trying to tell me what I can and can't do, because the moment their story left the sanctity of their hard drive and was published on a public site, it became fair game. The comments section isn't just there for ego boosting and pats on the back. If you can't stand the thought of the chance for negative responses, you have nothing to do publishing here. Even great stories get some flack, because you can't please everybody.
As it happens, I checked the front page yesterday and did a straw poll of the new stories. 7 out of 15 had a grammatical or spelling error in the short description.
You would think that this would be, like, kindergarden-level advice here, but apparently it isn't.
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In defense of blurbing (which I regularly do; example example), such pullquotes can have positive effects:
1) Network effects. If a reader's on the fence about a story and then notices that someone whose opinion they trust (or whose writing they enjoy) liked it, that can pull them into the story.
2) Gatekeeper effects. Similarly, noting that the story won a contest, or was featured in EqD/RCL/Royal Guard/etc., serves as a semi-objective, aggregate measure of quality. (The common "Featureboxed on x/x/x!" notation arguably also falls into this category, but let's face it, I think anyone who has opinions on good story descriptions is also going to have a low opinion of the Featurebox. All that tells you is that the story was able to get lots of people to click on it. With other gatekeepers, they apply similar vetting processes to large numbers of stories, so if you trust their vetting process you can get solid recommendations that way.)
3) Suggesting why a reader might like it. The egoboo of gushing praise is always a temptation, but I try to choose my blurbs carefully to suggest reader experience in a way my description can't or doesn't. An outside voice saying "This story has awesome worldbuilding!" is a powerful statement I can't make myself without resorting to alienating bragging. I strongly suspect "You should read this story if you like awesome worldbuilding" is just as much a dealbreaker to you as a blurb is, and that's not the sort of topic that fits in a story summary/elevator pitch.
4) Linking to outside reviews. This gives readers on the fence a chance to see other readers' unsolicited reactions, in a way that digs deeper than the chaff and chatter of comments. (I'm careful to pull blurbs from places outside the story itself.)
My own personal opinion is that "Featureboxed on X!" is an alienating factor, as explained above, but I actively find blurbs useful in helping me evaluate stories at a glance, and a good choice of pullquotes/links/recs definitely can pull me in.
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If the author has the necessity to push reviews to make me read the story then s/he isn't doing a great work as author. Why should I read the story then?
If I wanted to read opinions, the reviews are just below.
About the featured box/EqD/RCL/etc, I'm indifferent at mentioning it, becuse it should be short and to the point... Now that I think of it that's the crux of the problem: posting a review or even an extract of it is way too long for text in a description (effectively forcing the text on it, as they are usualy in the bottom when I'm already partly invested to read the full long description)Then again what I know, I haven't posted any stories.
3555205 Ideally yes. This can be a good thing, though. If one has trouble writing a description, it might point to a more fundamental story issue. That's why one of my outlining/planning steps for new stories includes writing a test description.
3555669 In my experience, such statements paint the author as immature/inexperienced. While there can be a distinction between an author's writing ability and ability to interact with people, they often go hand-in-hand.
Immature people can write good stories, but generally people don't want to interact with immature people in any capacity.
3556426 3556537 I don't think it is wrong to want to sell your story to readers. I don't think the efficacy of including reviews, however, is worth the negative impression they might create.
To paraphrase Roger Ebert, a critic's job is not to tell you if something is good; It's to let you know if you will enjoy it. He was talking about how a critic's taste must align with the reader's to have meaning and weight.
If one includes reviews excerpts in their description, then one of a few things usually happen. First, the reader already trusts that reviewer, and thus has seen the review already. Second, the reader doesn't factor the review into their decision at all. Third, the reader actually reads the review.
The last case is presumably what the excerpt is included for. If the reader's tastes don't align with the reviewer, however, then the review is not going to sway the reader.
Meanwhile, there are readers who are going to be put off by the presence of reviews. It's a gamble, and I don't think it is worth it, regardless of the author's relative popularity. I would advise against it, but it is ultimately the author's call if the risk is worth it.
I do skim comments if I'm really on the fence, but those generally require less of a time investment to read than a full review.
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In all fairness, this is largely because the only people who do "featured on X" are people who don't get featured very much, and are consequently on the lower range of talent in the featured story box. Being featured is actually a positive indicator of quality, it just isn't a very strong one. I haven't been able to do an exact calculation on it, unfortunately.
I'm guilty of asking questions in my summaries.
I am looking forward to reviews though. DO ME DO ME!