Now that you have completed the previous six classes, you have likely completed a few chapters of your story. If so, congratulations are in order! If you have completed three thousand words, you can now apply to sign a contract. Once you become a contracted writer, you will enjoy more benefits as one of the Stary writers. For example, you will be able to participate in contests or Stary writer projects and receive more income. Doesn’t that sound great? If you want to realize your dreams as a writer, your first step should be to become a contracted writer.
The best way to attract readers and get signed as a contracted writer is to have a good story. If you want your book to get more attention, though, factors must be taken into account. Within the first few seconds of reading, the readers and the editors might not know anything about your story. The book’s name gives them some information, along with the cover and the description. After that, there is the first chapter.
The description has a close relationship to your story. It lets readers know a lot about your story in a short amount of time. This helps them decide if they want to read it. Most of the time, readers who browse websites are like visitors walking in a garden. They might be looking for something specific, or maybe they’re just relaxing, and they want to find an excellent story to kill some time. There are many books out there, but if the description of your book is attractive enough, it might capture the attention of some readers and get more exposure. The more exposure your book gets, the more reads it will get, and you will make more money!
Remember, your book is a completed product, and the description is a part of it. Your book is a product. It is waiting to be examined by readers, and the description is the packaging. You must make sure the packing is well-designed and that it best displays the product.
Here are some tips on how to write a good description.
First, you must decide on the type of description you want to write, and then write it accordingly. Although different descriptions might have unique characteristics, they can typically be classified into four types. We will discuss these below.
1. Main Characters Description Type
Let’s take a look at the description of Marrying the CEO:
Alice Gardner was a hardworking woman who was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Despite wanting to enjoy life, Alice was stuck working two low paying jobs in order to earn money for her little brother’s surgery, but to no avail. Alice needed money and she needed it fast. Otherwise, she would lose her brother. So when a once in lifetime opportunity presents itself in a form of a newspaper advertisement, Alice jumps at the chance.
Gideon Maslow is the owner of the world biggest business empire, Maslow Enterprises. He is ruthless and had the power to destroy anyone with just a snap of his fingers. In his circle, he is regarded as Dark Royalty. Despite having everything, what he wanted was an heir, who would inherit his empire when the time came. So he holds interviews in order to find the perfect wife who is going to give him an heir.
When Alice leaves Maslow Enterprises, she thinks that she won’t ever see Gideon Maslow ever again, but her beliefs are shattered when she sees Gideon again and realizes that Gideon Maslow has no intention of letting her go.
We can see that this description introduces the heroine, Alice Gardner, and the hero, Gideon Maslow. This description focuses on their background and the problems, which are the starting point of the story. The main characters encountered some problems, they met, and their life changed accordingly.
The advantage of this kind of description is that it lets the readers know the type of story and introduces the characters quickly. Its disadvantage is that it lacks emotion and tends to be insipid. The readers might not have the patience to read along. So, suppose you choose this kind of description type. In that case, you must make sure the background story is interesting enough, the reason for the main characters to meet is attractive enough, and the story has left some suspense to arouse the readers’ desire to know what happens next.
2. Outline Description Type
The description of I Will Be Beautiful belongs to this type:
Jacquelyn, or Jackie, is a werewolf. An overweight werewolf. The only people that really care about her are her brother and her friend. But, on her first day back to school she finds her mate, the future Alpha of the Baneswolf pack. But, he makes it more than obvious that he doesn’t want her. So, Jackie does the only thing she can think of; she runs away.
Four years away from her hometown; Jackie’s back and more beautiful than ever, but has her mate changed as much as she has?
I guess you’ll just have to read the story to find out.
We can already see the main plot points from this description: Jackie was an overweight werewolf, and her mate refused her love. Heartbroken, Jackie left her hometown. Years later, she changed her fate and returned as a beauty. The readers can easily predict what will happen and decide if it is “up their alley.”
Compared to the Main Characters Description Type, Outline Description Type gives the readers a better idea about what will happen in the story, but it lacks emotion. When the writer tries to introduce the outline of the story using only a few paragraphs, the personality of the story is often omitted, and the emotions are lost. If you decide to choose this type of description, make sure you use concise and accurate language to present an exciting story with surprise twists so that the readers will want to explore your story.
3. Story Fragment Type
Let’s take a look at a part of the description of His Abused Mate:
I shook my head frantically, keeping my head down. He walked towards me and tried to change my mind. “Oh come on, you can’t be that bad looking.”
He reached his hand out toward my hood and I jumped away, falling to the ground while shaking with fear.
“Alexis? Oh my god, Alexis I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I felt like sobbing, screaming even, but I knew nothing was gonna come out. I waited until I calmed down a little before I stood up and dusted myself off.
“I’m sorry Alexis.” Was the last thing I heard before my hood was pulled off my head, revealing my face.
This type uses a fragment of the book as its description. Generally, the content that could be chosen from as a description might include:
- The first meeting between two main characters
- A sadomasochistic love Scene
- A confession
- A change of fate, etc.
These moments are usually dramatic. They should shock the readers and give them a thrill. It is convenient to use this kind of description. All the writer needs to do is choose an excellent fragment from the book. The disadvantage is that the readers don’t know the background of this fragment and sometimes can’t understand this fragment very well because they have no idea about the story’s content. If you use this kind of description, choose paragraphs that are relatively independent and have a strong impact. The fragment should come from early on in the book, and it should not contain more than three characters.
4. Mixed Description Type
Let’s take a look at the description of Obsession With My Forced Wife:
Ten years ago, an accident caused the Cameron family and the McLean family to break up and become enemies.
Ten years later, Lance, the Cameron family’s young leader, was told he was going to marry Evelyn, a McLean family girl.
“What? Anyone in the world could be my bride, but not a McLean woman. I will NEVER marry that Evelyn.”
However, when Lance learned that the girl he embraced at the party is his bride, his mind began to change. On the wedding night. He pressed on her and started kissing and touching her as he always long for. Oh, damn, the sensuality makes him unable to stop, he just wanted to release his desire in her body. He slowly kissed her lips and neck, and the suck it vigorously.
What Lance doesn’t know is that he lost his heart when he became sexually attracted to Evelyn. He began to care about her feelings and dreams, and he came to see her as a true wife.
Lance can’t control his love and desire for Evelyn, but the family hatred makes Lance feel guilty. How to choose between love and hatred? How will Lance face his forced wife?
This is called as a Mixed Type because it combines the characteristics of the above three types. It introduces the background and the storyline, and it displays a dialogue out of the story. However, it is as simple as adding the three types of descriptions together. It’s more like putting on a three-part preview of the story. It focuses on describing a scene or a plot while displaying the characters’ personalities and the story’s conflicts. It focuses less on the general description of the plot. By doing it this way, the description displays the highlights of the story and attracts readers.
This kind of description has high readability. It is interesting, and it gives the readers a sense of substitution.
When you start writing the book, you can choose a description from the first three types. And after you finish your book, you can modify it as you please. Of course, this doesn’t mean the fourth type is superior to the first three types. You can create your own style of description according to your writing habits and preference.
Notes on Description Writing:
After you choose the type of description you will write, you should pay attention to the following two points.
1. Leave a hook in your description.
The hook gives the readers the desire to read the first chapter of your book. Generally, at the end of the description, the writers will leave a hook.
Such as:
*The main characters first meeting or contracted marriage
*The beginning of a misunderstanding
*A cliffhanger or some shocking event
*The exposure of the character’s true identity
*The obtaining of superpower
*The change of fate
The writer should learn how to use these hooks, understand what kind of content readers like to read, and the attractive points of their book. With this knowledge, you can compose a description that best displays your book’s virtues and make it the best advisement for your book.
2. Words number
Many writers tend to ignore the readability of the book. Remember, people read your book for fun, not for academic research. So, the text should be easy to read; the language should be fluent and straightforward. It is suggested that:
*The number of words should be between 100 to 300 words. You can’t give the readers sufficient information if the description is too short. On the contrary, a description that is too long will make readers lose their patience.
*The sentences should not be too long and should be in commonly accepted patterns.
* Don’t use long and complicated sentences, avoid using subordinate clauses continuously, and choose the verbs, adjectives, and adverbs accurately.
After you write the description, you should ask your friends to read it and see if they find out if they have any confusion. You can modify your description according to their opinions.
Now we understand the types of description and the points that we should pay special attention to. Let’s start and write an excellent description for our books. If you have already written a description for your book, you can modify it and make it more attractive. After you describe your book, you can start trying to get signed as a contracted writer. Doesn’t that sound exciting? The process of becoming a contracted writer is long, but you can achieve it!
Keep up the good work and don’t forget to join our Stary Writing Academy Facebook group to share and discuss with more than 70,000 writers! Also, you can share your work with readers and writers worldwide in the Stary Writing Camp. Together, we make more progress for the better!