Writers in the Storm

by Laurie Schnebly Campbell

We all know that writers are super-powered beings who can convince readers snug in bed that they’re actually freezing on the Arctic tundra…

...eloping with the incredibly attractive leader of the enemy forces…

...saying a final goodbye to their stalwart horse…

...basking in a Paris penthouse while they plan how to spend their billion-dollar inheritance…

We do that every day of the week.

Because we’re creators of magic, right? We can take ANY situation and turn it into something funny, or dramatic, or terrifying, or heartwarming, or thought-provoking, or whatever our readers want.

So if we’ve got that kind of superpower -- the mind-boggling ability to turn any situation into exactly what an audience wants -- why is it so incredibly hard to write a blurb for our book?

Especially when, most of the time, we can pretty much take our superpower for granted. While we don’t usually get tired of hearing people rave about our writing skill, we’ve gotten accustomed to comments like:

• “Your note made my day.”
• “Your hero made me swoon.”
• “Your reference letter won me the job.”

“Well, of course,” we think. “Come on, I’m a writer -- this is what I’m great at!”

Which makes it all the more startling when we come across some new type of writing that we’re NOT necessarily great at right from the start.

Okay, we might not expect to be great at computer coding. Or calligraphy. Or composing a symphony. But writing a synopsis, a query, or <gulp> a blurb for our book?

How can that be so HARD?

I used to think I was incredibly gifted because I could whip out a blurb or synopsis in no time. A novel, not so much…but summing up the essence of the book? Piece of cake!

But then I realized this was only because of my day job as an advertising copywriter. Anyone who’s written for clients with something they want people to buy learns pretty quickly to identify -- and highlight -- the Unique Selling Points that’ll appeal to this seller’s Target Market.

(Although, drat it, that still didn't make writing the manuscript any easier. Hmph!)

The Essence of a Blurb

A blurb is very much LIKE an ad because it tells somebody why they want to buy your book -- but also UNLIKE because it doesn't have to tell the entire story, much less how the conflict gets resolved.

And, back to why they’re alike...you know how an ad needs to draw you in from the very start? It's gotta have a headline (or an opening) that makes you think "hmm, I want to see more of this."

Then to keep reading for more.

Your blurb has to do the same. Which is why you need to:

Forget everything you know about writing a novel.

When you're writing a novel, you have to think about plot structure and character development and turning points and how the people grow-learn-change and where to plant clues about upcoming developments and at what point the setting should evolve....

In effect, you have to think long-term.

For the blurb, you don't want long-term. You don't necessarily even want to include the plot plus the character/s plus the setting/s, any of that -- all you want is a BIT of what's cool about your story.

Since identifying what’s cool is generally more the job of a publicist than of a storyteller, you need to switch hats for this particular writing task. We all know what a great storyteller does, and we do it all the time. But a great publicist might NOT know every character in the book... every fabulous little plot twist... every nail-biting complication… as thoroughly as you do.

What they DO know, though, is the guts of what your book delivers. And when offering up those guts (ew, that sounds yicky!) here are:

3 DOs & DON’Ts to keep in mind.

1) DO make use of unusual connections that readers might not expect.

Examples of those would include some intriguing combinations like:

• Vikings & Kindergartners
• Wedding & Murder
• Cowboys & Wizards
• Terror & Humor

Anyone who already likes half of such a pair is gonna be eager to see how the other half fits into this story.

2) DON’T mention a cool detail that’s not a big deal in the plot.

If you have a military thriller during which the agent who’s fleeing pursuers winds up racing through Prince William’s coronation ball during a single one of the book’s 320 pages, this event doesn’t belong in the blurb. Otherwise, readers who love Prince William and coronation balls will be annoyed when they don’t get any more than just that one-page mention.

3) DO convey the mood of the book.

This is crucial, and it’s also where Test Marketing comes in the most handy. Which is one MORE thing that makes writing a blurb similar to writing an ad.

And, speaking of ads, that leads to a:

Prize Drawing Question

What’s some ad (in print, online, TV, radio, signage, whatever) that made you think “yes, I want this” -- to the point where you actually DID place an order, go to the business, make a donation, whatever they wanted you to do?

Do you remember how it opened? (It’s okay to mention the ad even if you don’t remember the opening; it was still doing its job just fine.) Share your answer in the comments!

Someone who comments will win free registration to Blurbing Your Book, a June 3-14 email class on using ad techniques to do exactly that. On Monday morning, I’ll have random dot org draw a name and post it at the end of the comments...and, hurray, I can even justify doing that while at my Day Job since technically it’s about how advertising affects people. :)

About Laurie

After winning Romantic Times’ “Best Special Edition of the Year” over Nora Roberts, Laurie Schnebly Campbell discovered she loved teaching every bit as much as writing...if not more. Since then she’s taught online and live workshops including the one at groups.io/g/Blurb, and keeps a special section of her bookshelves for people who’ve developed that particular novel in her classes. With 50+ titles there so far, she’s always hoping for more.

Top photo created in Canva by Writers In the Storm.

by Lynette M. Burrows

Rumor has it that agents and editors hate prologues. The truth is agents and editors are readers. Some readers love a good prologue, others will never read a prologue. The same is true of publishing houses.

Prologues aren’t bad per se…but they are tricky to get right. They are so tricky there are no hard and fast rules. A poorly written prologue can prompt your potential readers to close your book and never open it again. Knowing what a prologue does and what questions to ask will help you decide if your story needs a prologue.

What Is A Prologue?

The word prologue has its roots in two Greek words. In Ancient Greek, “pro” meant forward or before. “Logos” means word or plan. Latin, then Middle English, language each changed the word to what we use today. 

Today’s dictionaries often define prologue as an introduction or preface. In the world of books, a preface refers to a section of the book that talks about the book. And that is not what we mean when we say prologue.

 In fiction, a prologue can be an introduction to the world or society of a story. It can be a past event or a future event. It can also set a mood, a tone, or to provide information.  

Prologues come before chapter one without exception. 

What Makes a Good Prologue?

The most important thing a prologue does is it establishes the context for the story. You can do this in several ways. 

If it provides necessary information that would disrupt the plot of your story if you included it in the main story, that is a useful prologue. This is especially true if the reader will understand the plot more deeply by having this information. 

Introducing an important-to-the story philosophy or religious belief can make a good prologue. If it helps the reader understand why the story characters make the choices they do but would require a lump of exposition that would disrupt the story, this would make suitable prologue material. 

You can write a prologue from the point of view of a character who knows or experiences something that is outside your plot and your viewpoint characters’s experience. Whatever this knowledge or experience is, it should add to the reader’s understanding of your story.

Another good prologue introduces a little of the antagonist’s background and motivation. It could be a scene that humanizes the character or a scene of how far the antagonist will go. This type of prologue is effective when the antagonist doesn’t appear until later in the story. 

Finally, a prologue can be a bit of background or a glimpse of the future that reinforces the main plot.

Examples of Good Prologues

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

The opening four lines of this play introduces the conflict between Romeo’s family and Juliet’s family. The culture and long-standing conflict is information that helps the reader immediately understand that these two young lovers will have colossal problems. 

A Song of Ice and Fire (A Game of Thrones #1) by George R.R. Martin 

The prologue in this book is a complete scene. None of the characters in this scene are viewpoint characters in the rest of the book. However, each of the characters represents a part of the story’s culture and society. It shows us that there is something unusual happening, and it’s freaking out the viewpoint character. By the time the reader has finished reading this prologue, they want to know who were the creatures that attacked, how cold is it going to get, and who’s going to stop the threat from the creatures? The reader is prepared for the brutality of the world and for the feudal culture and government of the story. 

The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books Book 1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

This prologue is told in the main character’s voice. It takes place when he was a young boy and his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten books. It’s an exclusive and mysterious place of wonder presided over by an old man. The protagonist is told he may select one book, take it away, and make it part of his life. This sets up the reader to understand the character’s obsession with the book years later and how this leads him to a mystery that is the heart of the book.   

What Makes a Prologue Bad?

1. Information Dump

This is the most common “bad” prologue. If your prologue is only about one element of the story (technology, the world, the society, a character’s lineage, etc.) it will most likely be unnecessary and boring. Like the rest of the story, a prologue needs only enough of each story element in order for the reader to see it in his mind’s eye. 

2. Has Nothing to Do with the Story.

It does not matter how interesting a bit of business, a scene, or a description is if it doesn’t illuminate some part of the main story.The life cycle of a Fairy Godmother might be an interesting story, but as a prologue for Cinderella, it would fail. Why? The reader does not need to know the life cycle of a Fairy Godmother in order to understand the story. The same is true of a prologue about the lineage of Prince Charming. Neither of those bits of backstory is necessary to understand and enjoy the story. 

3. It only has one purpose.

Like the other parts of your book, a prologue needs to fulfill more than one purpose. Offering the reader a tourist brochure and guide or an encyclopedic description of the geo-political world instead of writing about an event and a character they can identify with and learn about the world alongside, will probably bore your reader. Or they’ll skip the prologue or put down the book. More than one purpose rounds out your prologue and gives it strength.

4. It’s used to supplement a boring first chapter.

No matter how suspenseful or interesting your prologue is, the reader will not keep reading if the first chapter is boring. Every part of your story must be the best, most interesting story you can write.

5. The content could be part of the main story.

If it could be, why isn’t it? 

6. Is it longer than your chapters?

A good prologue needs to be short and to the point. An overly long one may show information that you (the writer) need to know (and the reader doesn’t). It may also show you need to include this information in the main story. At any rate, if it’s longer than your chapters, it is in danger of not hold your reader’s interest.

7. It doesn’t fit the genre.

Readers of genres such as science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, and historical fiction are accustomed to prologues. Readers of contemporary romance are not as used to prologues. 

How to Tell if Your Prologue is Good

1. Does your story make sense without it?

The best prologues give the reader little bits of information that help them "get" the story. Test yours to see if yours does that. Try having someone read it without the prologue. If they read and understand the story without the prologue, skip it. 

2. Could this content be part of the main story?

It's okay if there's a part of the prologue is echoed in the main story, but the best prologues are the puzzle piece that helps complete the story. If your prologue could be part of the main story, by all means, put it in the main story. 

3. What does the reader gain from your prologue?

Even though your prologue is short, the best ones offer a full story moment. If it exists solely as exposition, or world-building, or mood setting, reconsider. Or rewrite your prologue to include an event and/or characters that will enlighten your reader about the main plot.

4. Does it give information that the reader could not glean from the rest of the novel?

If it does and the information enhances the reader’s experience or understanding of your story, then go for it. 

5. How does your prologue stand out from the rest of the book?

It can stand out by being a letter or poem, set in a different time period, or from a different point of view. If it doesn’t stand out from the rest of the book, why is it a prologue?

6. Does it make the reader ask questions but does not frustrate her?

A frustrated reader is a reader who will put the book down forever. If you’ve written a good prologue, then the reader wants desperately to continue reading. 

7. Is it gripping and intriguing?

Your prologue must be as gripping as the rest of your book. Remember, an agent, editor, and some readers will judge your story by the first ten pages of your book. 

Additional Tips to Writing Prologues

Despite genre and reader preferences, whether you write a prologue is all about what works best to tell your story. 

If you can’t decide if you should start with a prologue, read books in your genre. Do they have prologues? Look at what those prologues give the reader and what story techniques were used to create them. Another way to decide prologue or no prologue is to finish your story first. Once it’s complete, you will have a better idea of whether a prologue works.

Consider giving your prologue a title other than the word prologue. Some say this is necessary if you publish your book on Amazon. I don’t know the veracity of this. However, if you choose to give your prologue a title, make it stand out from the rest of your book. In The Shadow of the Wind, Zafón uses “The Cemetery of Forgotten Books” as the title of his prologue. He numbered the chapters in this book.

Finally, keep in mind that some readers may turn away from a book with a prologue. Other readers may skip it. 

You can’t do anything about the readers who see a prologue and give the book a miss. But for the readers who skip it there are two things you can do. 

1. Make certain the readers who skip the prologue can still enjoy your story. 

2. From the first to the last line of your prologue, use crisp, evocative language that pulls even a reluctant reader in. 

To Prologue or Not to Prologue

Prologues are not for every writer or every story. If you choose to write a prologue, use your best story writing techniques. A prologue isn’t simply something you tack onto the beginning of a story, it’s a story (or at least part of one). 

Have you thought about starting your story with a prologue? Why did you decide to use one/not to use one?

About Lynette

Lynette M. Burrows is an author, blogger, creativity advocate, and Yorkie wrangler. She survived moving seventeen times between kindergarten and her high school graduation. This alone makes her uniquely qualified to write an adventure or two.

Her Fellowship series is a takes “chillingly realistic” alternate history in 1961 Fellowship America where autogyros fly and following the rules isn’t optional. Books one and two, My Soul to Keep, and  If I Should Die, are available everywhere books are sold online. Book three, And When I Wake, is scheduled to be published in late 2024.

Lynette lives in the land of OZ. She is a certifiable chocoholic and coffee lover. When she’s not blogging or writing or researching her next book, she avoids housework and plays with her two Yorkshire terriers. You can find Lynette online on Facebook or on her website.

Image purchased from DepositPhotos.

by Diana Stout

You’ve got a great idea for a new story. You have an idea of how it’s going to end. You have at least one main character, maybe two, so you start writing while the idea is hot.

The idea grows as you’re writing, so you’re making it up as you go along, and the characters are revealing who they are. And, then suddenly, you hit a wall. You don’t know what happens next, and your brainstorming ideas are dismal.

Several days pass, and you’re still stuck. Maybe this idea wasn’t as good as you first thought. You’re now wondering if you’ve lost your muse. Even the characters aren’t exciting anymore.

You don’t want to give up because you’re halfway through the book. But, you’re stuck.

Suddenly, you get a new idea. An exciting idea. A different story idea. So, you shelve this problematic story and turn to writing the new idea instead.

And then, it happens again. You’re halfway through the story and you’ve entered the dead zone.

The sagging middle. Where great ideas weaken and get mired in the murky waters of story that creates painful writing.

The Three Biggest Reasons for the Sagging Middle

1. Nothing is happening.
2. The climax is in the wrong place.
3. There’s a lack of emotion.

What Should Occur in the Middle?

Blake Synder, author of Save the Cat!, a bookabout screenwriting, calls this plot point The Midpoint.

According to Michael Hauge, the author of Writing Screenplays That Sell, Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds, and The Hero’s Two Journeys with Christopher Vogler, the middle is one of five major plot points in the story that is designed to “elicit maximum emotion” both from the character and the audience.

This middle plot point should spin the story in a different direction and be fraught with anxiety, frustration, self-doubt, or fear.

Other Perspectives

Different writers have called this particular plot point by different names, but they all mean the same thing: it occurs in the middle of the movie or the book, at the 50% mark.

For Michael Hauge, this plot point marks the Point of No Return. The main character can’t return to the Ordinary World from which they came. Bridges have been burned. They’re now closer to the end of the story than they are from the beginning; and, they’re no longer that same person.

Chris Vogler, author of The Writer’s Journey, calls this plot point the Approach to the Innermost Cave. It’s both a huge step into the heart of the conflict and the heart of the character’s wound.

James Scott Bell, author of Write Your Novel From the Middle, coined this potent Midpoint as the Mirror Moment. He contends this Mirror Moment is a self-examination within a scene, where the character fully recognizes they can’t go back.

This Midpoint is a highly emotional scene as we see the character wanting to change, with the plot moving forward because of their renewed resolution in changing, which spins the story in a different direction.

The Nothing is Happening Problem

When nothing is happening, there’s always going to be a lull in the story, yet the middle isn’t the place for a lull. The Midpoint is easily the third highest emotional plot point in the entire story. The other two plot points that should elicit more emotion than the Midpoint are the Major Setback (at 75%) and the Climax (at 90-99%).

To determine what’s happened so far, make a list of the story events. Once listed, determine if the main character made the decision or someone else did, which means the character was acted upon; you want the main character making the decisions or agreeing with them. Then rate each event on the previous emotional scale of 1-10.

If lots of events occurred because of the main character’s decisions and the events were emotionally engaging, could your sagging middle be problematic because you’ve resolved the conflict? That there haven’t been enough twists and turns?

The Climax is in the Wrong Place Problem

When consulting with other writers and showing them how the five big plot points will create maximum emotion, they often discover there’s only one big confrontation, and more often than not, they discover it’s in the wrong place.

Once we move that big event to the Major Setback or Climax, they realize they had finished their story too early, that they didn’t have enough emotion or any emotion, or that the story lacked genuine conflict.

All of which led them to ask, So, what goes in the middle? What’s missing?

The Lack of Emotion Problem

Emotion is why we read books and watch movies. We want to experience what the protagonist is feeling. Too often, there’s not enough emotion.

Story emotion is revealed through the main character’s pain. If there’s no pain, there’s no conflict, and if there’s no conflict, there’s no story.

Conflict generates pain, which generates emotion.

Were the emotional scores you gave your list of events high, low, or midline? They should be high. If not high, is it because there’s no pain?

How to Fix the Sagging Middle

To fix the sagging middle, you want to ratchet up the main character’s emotion with tension, danger, stress, and anxiety. They need to be in danger emotionally, physically, mentally—separately or together.

To fix the Nothing is Happening Problem

Make something happen!

• Create a twist.
• Another crime is committed or another body is discovered.
• A character regrets having sex or saying I love you.
• A character on a quest realizes they’ve just been tricked or been going down a wrong path.
• The main character discovers something or someone they thought they could trust can’t be trusted.

To fix the Climax is in the Wrong Place Problem

Move your Midpoint to the Major Setback or Climax.

• Create an added crisis or twist, a mini climax, the first of several battles that lead to the largest battle of all—the climax.
• If your Midpoint is in the right place, then create an emotion-filled Climax.
• Make sure that events in the first half are properly leading to this new crisis, which later leads to the Major Setback and Climax.

To fix the Lack of Emotion Problem

Layer the story with more emotion.

• Hurt your main character.
• Fill every scene with emotion.

Allen Palmer named each of Christopher Vogler’s 12 plot points from The Writer’s Journey with a specific emotion. Seeing those named emotions, for me, was key to understanding how to layer those plot points more effectively, more deeply.

Final Thought

Far too often I’ll hear a writer, especially a romance writer, say, But I don’t like hurting my characters! Hurt them to the point that you’re cringing or fearing for them.

A sagging middle is a sure sign that something is wrong with the Midpoint plot point.

Brainstorming more events, more pain, more emotion, and moving your plot points around until you feel a lump in your throat occurs, or any other emotion you’re trying to elicit, because if you’re feeling it, your audience will feel it, too.

As you read this blog, did certain movies or books come to mind that provided an emotional Midpoint? Share their titles with us.

Have you struggled with the sagging middle in the past? Do you still?

About Diana

Finding joy in helping other writers, Dr. Diana Stout has just published two resource guides, CPE: Character, Plot, & Emotion and its companion book, the CPE Workbook, to help writers eliminate their sagging middles and demonstrate with examples and templates how a bit of plotting can be an aid to your pantsering.

Michael Hauge states that “Diana brilliantly reveals and edifies the uniquely powerful principles of plot and character.”

To learn more about Diana, visit her Sharpened Pencils Productions website.

Top photo created in Canva.