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Cathy replied to the topic SciFi Beta Trading in the forum Sci-fi Writers 4 years, 6 months ago
I’ve never heard of that before! Can you explain what that is?I just kinda…*cough cough* made up that term coz it sounded descriptive 😂…But it’s just this thing I keep seeing that’s cool and I don’t know the actually word for it but you shift your style or voice three times in the summary:
“He has created a dark and twisted strand in the cable of human existence, one that cannot withstand my caress without breaking and becoming no longer a man. You saw it just now. It saddens me.”
That’s a more detail and image-oriented style than the rest of the blurb and it’s especially descriptive and thematic with the idea to create very vivid imagery so it has a very distinct voice and style. Then you have:“Two men, condemned.
The pilot, betrayed by his AI god.
The convict, Wasteland-banished.
One from the stars, the other born on Dirt.”This one has a very different voice; it’s bare bones which punctuates the details and has the dramatic effect of leaving somebody with questions that leave them aching for more. The key is the simplicity, highlighting the section with very short sentences; short sentences and sentence fragments are used the most in high-action scenes because they have the effect of sounding sudden, jerky and/or angsty. When it’s positioned right after the narrative style above the overall effect is to make your entire voice sound more dynamic and provide an active transition from narrative to bare facts the final explanatory summary:
“More than a thousand years of biological drift and technological advancement separate them. Yet they must come together to save themselves–and perhaps much more. If they fail, the ideological virus will unite mankind in agony and death.
Encapsulation is their only hope.”This is the expected almost required summary style in a blurb and assures the reader you know what you’re doing at a professional level. It provides the basic stakes and hints at the higher stakes, I’d personally say by default the summaries are more ambiguous than the other two styles because it relies on vague threats more than stakes like “they must come together to save themselves (“from what?” the reader is lead to ask “and how and why?”)–and perhaps much more (“what more? And how and why?”)” It’s a leading paragraph that kinda bates the reader to read to find out more. I generally detest summaries that rely solely on this method but when it’s junctured with the other two styles or expanded with more clear realization of the situation and stakes it makes for an elegant teaser.
Experimenting and shifting voice styles is one of my favorite things and I found it very engaging that you used three distinct voices that transitioned smoothly in the summary AND actually explained enough to catch my interest.
I’ve used this style a lot in my WIP because I have a lot of plot-relevant information that needs to be remembered by the reader but it’s so much it would be so info-dumpy to try and slip it in every other scene I think so I use pieces between chapters that kinda work like prologues except they aren’t just at the beginning but I think it builds anticipation better than the alternatives. I start with the short “hook” sentences (part 2 of blurb’s style) then I do the thematic imagery (part 1) and finished with a clip of narrative kinda similar to the summary-style of part 3 so it goes like:Act 1
Rule 1 of magic: gifteds are formed by Deep magic; the normal rules of magic do not apply to them…
What is a soul? Some loose animation of the senses apart from emotion and intelligence? An analytical organ of preconceived rightness and wrongness somehow tied to identity? Or something…more?
He folded a paper doll, murmuring backwards as he worked, wizard spells inking through the fragile mote of shattered, soaked and dried wood making up burnished brown parchment. Paper dark eyes reflected light lifelessly as the pieces pulled together. Curling paper twisted into shape, with spindly parchment hair. A tiny red set of origami-like feathers netted in a small quiver for the soulless doll. Years ago.
Thiiiis frees me to use the word “doll” as a thematic trigger-word for manipulation, dehumanization etc facts and details so that I can constantly “remind” my readers without actually restating a single thing and it works as a teaser to kinda wet the readers appetite and the more I do them the more of a sense like a ticking time-bomb is established so instead of being like “ugh how many stupid rules does she need for her magic system and why do we care demonic rites are quasi-culturally accepted in this particular society?” it’s more like “where is she going with this, this is going to blow in their faces and apparently the wizard is an ultra-badguy who’s identity hasn’t been revealed but he’s…somewhere *cue angsty anticipation :D*” At least. That was my logic…XD
Aaaaaaand that was a huge and unnecessary rant but basically you adapted three distinctive parts within the whole of your blurb that made it particularly dynamic and I liked that and made up a name for it XDDDI’m not sure exactly what you found, but I’ll take that as a good sign =PThis!
The beta copy should be ready today or tomorrow. Can you send me an email to the address I listed before so I know where to send it, and which file format would you prefer?*siiiiiiigh* They say third time’s the charm, I am sending it now…*hopefully Internet will not get excited and send you like three emails now that it’s gotten over its cold which it gets once a month. If that happens, sorry in advance XD.*
I usually use pdfs, but I think I can kinda work Word the only one I know I absolutely can’t is GoogleDocs even though I can read links (but apparently not invites I’ve just discovered…)












