Blurbs can be one of the hardest part of writing a novel, but they are incredibly important. They are the breakdown by which authors sell their books, by that to agents, publishers, or the general public.
Speculative author Deborah Chester wrote a writers’ guide called The Fantasy Fiction Formula, in which she breaks down a good blurb using her SPOOC (Situation, Protagonist, Objective, Opponent, Climax) acronym. I’m not going to repeat her here – go read her book! – but I am going to show you how I used SPOOC to write the blurb for my current WIP The Songbird and the Sorcerer.
When everyone in the keep falls into a magical sleep [Situation] apart from the bard Selene [Protagonist], she travels to the tower of sorcerer Rathgar in the hope he can break the curse.[Objective] The ancient sorcerer agrees on two conditions:
The first is that Selene use her musical magic to enchant a dragon [secondary Situation] in order to steal back what it stole from Rathgar [secondary Protagonist and Objective]. Easy enough, but the object of his desire holds a curse of the sorcerer’s own that, once broken, reveals him to be a rather handsome man, which makes the second condition – that she become his apprentice – even more appealing than it was.
However, the witch who cursed Selene’s keep [Opponent] is not happy that Rath broke her spell and has designs on making sure that the sorcerer is denied his happy ever after with his songbird. [Climax]
As The Songbird and the Sorcerer is a romance, I have the main Protagonist and then a secondary one, aka the love interest. Rath has his own wants and needs, which he imposes on Selene, sparking the secondary Objective. The dragon is a secondary Opponent, despite appearing first; a level boss if you will. The Final Boss is, at this point, to be revealed.
Having the secondary Opponent results in a secondary Climax: breaking the curse over Rath and returning him to his younger, and much more handsome, appearance. Spoilers? Possibly, but again, this is a romance and readers will want to know who the love interest is and why.
Selene agrees to both of Rath’s terms. The journey to the dragon’s lair forms the beginning of their relationship. Once Rath is out from under the curse, that can move on to what romance authors call the “fun and games” part of the story. It’s building the relationship, revealing the characters’ wounds and how they compliment each other and, depending on the spice level, is often where the smut is found.
Once the relationship in a romance is established, it’s time to throw a spanner in the works. Bring on the Opponent, aka the Final Boss. This is the witch who cursed the keep. As I’m very early on in my discovery draft I don’t know why she did this, or what her goals are. I know that her ultimate goal is Rath’s downfall, though, which is the Climax.
It’s important NOT to clarify what the Climax actually is. You want the high stakes laid out to hook the reader without saying how the Protagonist(s) defeat the bad guy. Because then there’s no point in reading the book!
This is a draft blurb, written to give me an idea of what I’m actually writing. It stands in for the loathsome outline (can you tell that I’m not a fan? lol.) It might get revised or the novel might go to press with it as is.
If you’re working on your blurb, I hope this helps!