#but i figured. someone has to do a mermaid au. Why Not Write That Premise Myself

[theminecraftbee]

The thing in her cargo hold is looking at her again.

Really, Gem should have sold it by now. If the fishmonger had refused to take it--and really, it seems unlikely, Gem thinks, that the fishmonger would refuse to take it; he has taken and carved up and made meals of far stranger fish than one with a human face and hands and torso--she could have easily sold it to the man on the train, who takes exotic catches for his zoo. She could have even taken it to Grian; it's not a mending book, but it's the sort of thing he'd like to make fun of her for catching, instead of anything she's after.

Really, she should have. The longer she keeps the thing in her cargo hold, the more it starts to look properly human to her. She should know better. She has caught far stranger fish, and none of them have been human. It's another trick these seas have been playing on her, she thinks.

Long nights alone do that to a woman.

She ignores it. Instead, she opens the lid of the tank and starts depositing salmon. "It's a really weird request, that I keep them alive the whole time. You won't eat them, right?" Gem says, knowing the thing in her cargo hold can't answer. "Because if you eat them, this time, I really am going to sell you to the fishmonger. Or maybe I can figure out how to get fillets from you on my own? I've certainly eaten weirder fish..."

The thing in the cargo hold continues to stare. It has eyes that look like little moons, and brown hair, and it is smiling for some reason. Gem huffs.

"Don't give me that look! You are a fish. I am a fisherman. If mere human faces stopped me from doing my job, I would have gone mad a long time ago."

The thing in the cargo hold smiles wider. The lights flicker. Gem rolls her eyes and finishes putting salmon in the tank. As though to spite her, the thing in the cargo hold immediately lashes out, grabbing one in the claws on her otherwise-human hands and then tearing it apart with razor-sharp teeth. Blood rises on the water. Gem sighs.

"I have a harpoon in here somewhere, or at least a very sharp knife," she says to herself. She doesn't really want to use her nice knife, the one she always keeps on her belt, but she ought to have another knife around with which she can finish the job, right?

The lights flicker and go out. When she looks across at the tank, there are two silvery-moon eyes looking at her.

Gem pulls a wire. Gem turns the lights back on. She takes a deep breath.

"I really should have sold you by now, really. If the fishmonger won't take you, then the zookeeper would love you," Gem says.

The radio crackles. Gem startles. Very, very few people ever contact her on the shipboard radio, but if she's getting a signal, that's more important than a grudge match with a fish. She heads over to answer the call.

An amalgamation of voices responds:

YOU ARE FUNNY. I HAVE A MESSAGE. A DELIVERY. YOU'VE TRAPPED ME THOUGH.

Slowly, Gem turns around to the thing in the cargo hold.

"This won't stop me from treating you like a fish," she says. "If messages from the ocean stopped me--"

A terrible, crackling laugh sounds from the radio.

I AM THE MOON'S PEARL. YOU WILL NOT HOLD ME FOREVER. WE WILL SEE WHO EATS WHO.

Gem wags her finger. "We'll see, for sure, as long as you don't eat my salmon. That man in the fish-scaled suit was VERY insistent, you know."

TELL ME MORE.

"You're tying up my radio. What if there's another ship? What if there's something important?"

OH GEM. YOU KNOW THERE WON'T BE.

Gem swallows.

The thing in the cargo hold is staring at her.

"I need to sleep. I need to go to shore," she says.

YOU WON'T, the radio says.

She won't.

#hermitcraft #hermitfic #geminitay #pearlescentmoon #a bee fic #SO I STILL HAVEN'T PLAYED DREDGE. SO SORRY IF THE VIBES ARE WRONG. #but i figured. someone has to do a mermaid au. Why Not Write That Premise Myself #and then it become... spooky. #so uh. i guess pearl may not exactly be a MERMAID here. but. #horror #DO WITH THIS CONCEPT WHAT YOU WILL. #dehumanization #JUST REALIZED I PROBABLY NEED THAT ONE. yeah anyway

[seventhfracture]

I was asked recently to write the blurb for a collaboration “because you’re good at those” and that got me thinking in greater detail about how to write blurbs. Because, right now, the blurbs I write are largely instinctive. I know how to throw the pitch together. Mainly because I get a lot of practice trying to explain my WIPs in 100 words or less to people I am talking to for advice/guidance/etc.

But what’s the basic science of a blurb that will get someone in the door?

Formula

Most basic blurbs have three key components: 1 who is the main character? 2 what problem are they solving? 3 what are the stakes?

Now you can write appealing blurbs using just one or two of these elements, but they flow together, as a trio, in a very pleasing way if you can master the chemistry of getting them all on the page in under 150 words. This also tells the reader a lot of information to make an informed choice and helps get them excited.

Now you don’t want to summarise the whole story. If I know from the label how your 38K novella is going to end why do I need to pick it up? But you want to orientate. In some cases a good blurb will carry people through a chapter of set up without complaint. Even if the set up is boring. If I know that at the end of chapter 1 your main character is going to realize she’s in a time loop. I’ll be much more forgiving about having to read 200 words about her brushing her teeth.

I’m going to walk you through a couple of my blurbs. Just to break this down.

Most of my blurbs start with the narrator’s name as the very first word. This blurb establishes in the first sentence that this is L’s story and tells us some key things about him. He’s eccentric and he’s rich.

Alright so character’s done. Next, we move immediately into the ‘problem’ or premise of the story. L, our main character, has acquired a mermaid. Neat.

Finally, we’ve got to establish some stakes. Now I don’t outright say here that Kira is a threat to L’s life. But it’s heavily implied that Kira is physically dangerous, and that L’s life is at risk if he isn’t careful. I also imply there’s an element of deception between the “has even more brains than teeth”. This flags both “brains” and “teeth” as risks. That said these stakes are clearly small scale and personal. We’re not going to be dealing with the fate of England. We’re dealing with L’s fate exclusively.

This tells the reader a lot about the nature of the story. In only three sentences. It’s clear, its succinct, and if you’ve read the fic you know that the label pretty accurately describes exactly what’s inside. It’s a promise and that promise is fulfilled.

Here we get a little wordier, but the rules are the same. I start off by providing some context for the anime fans. “After thirteen months Kira”—so now we know this is Light’s story. This is also a basic alteration from the canon in because we’ve said Kira has been “totally unhindered” which most fans will immediately realize means; Light has not met L in this timeline. So we’ve established Light is narrating and we’ve given anime fans some anchoring points. We also establish, in the first sentence that the problem is “Light and Ryuk draw the unwanted attention of the Shinigami King”. That’s a big problem and it implies some world changing stakes.

Honestly, I probably should’ve stopped at the first sentence.

The rest of the blurb is pure enticement. I am giving the reader some temptations. I make it clear L is the Shinigami King in this AU, that there’s going to be some roommate shenanigans and that Light is going to try and figure out how to kill a god. This is because I know my audience and I know some of these tropes are appealing to people in the community. It’s Christmas lights. It says “here’s some reasons you might want to read this”

Again, first sentence introduces our narrator and lead; L. Second sentence is problem; sentient, dangerous, AI. Third sentence, with the context of the previous two, implies that L and Tokyo-3 are both in danger form Kira.

It’s pure formula.

However, this kind of thing also works with smut fics��

L’s name is the first word here. And we’re talking from L’s perspective so clearly he’s the narrator. Then in the next sentence, in conjunction with the tags, we outline the problem and the stakes; L is getting handsy while he thinks Light is asleep, but Light is awake. Whatever will happen? Short, sweet but it begs the question and people will want an answer.

And this is a pure smut fic!

But the logic of how you set up a blurb remains the same.

What’s on the can

Now this formula we’ve been discussing is solid. But you’ll notice that, at times, I don’t say things explicitly. I imply them. But my audience clearly know what I am implying and I trust that they know that.

So how much can you imply? And how do you know what you can safely imply?

Know your genre.

Whether you are writing fanfiction, original stories, romance, sci-fi or horror there is baggage that accompanies each and every one of those tags. As a fanfic writer I get to assume that my audience knows the canon. We start with that baseline understanding. Therefore, I can assume they’ll know when I’m deviating or not.

Likewise someone who reads a lot of romance knows romance tropes and common set ups. So if I say “Light didn’t expect the Shinigami King to move in with him” a seasoned romance reader knows that’s prime set up for a roommates storyline, maybe even some fake dating.

Now while you don’t want to summarize in your blurb you also don’t want to mislead. Your blurb should be a clear indication of the content of your story. This is so the people who will enjoy it can find it and read it. You don’t want to trick the wrong people into reading your story because, chances are, they’ll be unhappy.

Be honest, and know your genre.

Alternatives:

I mentioned above that you can write a good blurb with just one or two of the formula components. So what are some viable alternatives to the kind of classic blurb we’ve been discussing?  

The Hook Alone

This single sentence is doing all the leg work of a 150 word blurb. I haven’t even said who’s narrating. But I’ve posed a question that will get any Death Note fan itching in their seat. They will instantly know what I’m referring to. It’s simple, it’s concise, but it opens a massive can of worms. And I can be this concise because I know my audience and my genre.

The Snippet

Now these snippets are both from early in the first chapters. And I didn’t just pick them randomly to convey the vibe or the atmosphere of the story. These snippets convey the entire premise of the story. Both stories. That’s why I chose them.

In the “Prime Suspect” example I’ve conveyed the same things I would in any classic blurb- 1. Character: L is narrating 2. Problem: Light has lost his memories but chosen to confess to being Kira 3. Stakes: If they don’t stop Kira’s plan lives will be lost

Again, these snippets come preloaded with a lot of information that fanfic readers and fans of the Death Note series will be familiar with. Knowing that means I don’t have to waste time explaining every detail. And knowing that helps me know what I can convey and imply in a single snippet. But I did have to be selective about what snippet I chose.

Snippets are great for fanfics. But there’s no reason why a snippet approach or a hook approach wouldn’t work for an original short story either. You would just have to be aware of what your audience implicitly understands and use that to your advantage.

To Avoid

Ideally your blurbs should always be short and succinct. They should be easy to follow. But there are a couple of mistakes I see people make that you should avoid.

“I suck at writing summaries” This doesn’t engender confidence in your writing abilities for an audience. But it also doesn’t give the reader’s much to go on in terms of what they might like about your stories.

I saw a great post about how people notice 100% of the mistakes we draw their attention too. Chances are people won’t know you feel uneasy about writing blurbs unless you tell them. And, secretly, everyone finds them hard. Just give it your best shot. Any blurb will be better than saying “I suck at summaries, please read anyway”.

Don’t Insult Your Readers I shouldn’t even have to say this, but I have seen it.  Things like “If you appreciate real stories, not just porn, you’ll like this” or “to put it simply for anyone slow…”

These tell me that you’re a jackass. And I’m instantly turned off anything you make. Insulting someone is not a good strategy to get them to listen to you or engage with your content. It often invites people to be a lot harsher towards you than you necessarily deserve because you’ve started the interaction in an aggressive tone.

To be honest, ploys like this are often a glaring red flag for me that the author is insecure and lacks confidence. If you feel you have to insult me before I’ve even read the first chapter of your story that tells me, regardless of actual quality, that you don’t think your story is any good. Have a little more faith in yourself!

#writing #creative writing #how to #how i do it anyway #blurbs #summaries #summary

[purrincess-chat]

Moving Forward

Okay, so as many of you may know I’m participating in the ML Big Bang which is partially why I haven’t been uploading as much the past few months because most of my writing time goes into that project which I can’t post until December. I have, however, been trying to finish up How to Catch a Ladybug and The Girl Under the Mask as well as fluff month for the love square when I can. I’m hoping to finish all of those things by the end of the year because once the BB is over and my semester ends, I’ll have a lot more free time to write before spring semester. I have some plans for the Christmas season, so starting in January, I’ll be getting back to Lady Luck and Lady du Coeur, as well as another fic I’ve been slowly planning and working on that I’m excited about. That being said, I have a number of other ideas floating around in my brain, and I entirely blame most of them on my friends in the BB discord, so in addition to all of those things, what else do you guys want to see from me come January? I’ll be starting another fic of your choice, so I’m going to spill my ideas down below, and you guys can either comment, reblog, or send me asks/messages with what you wanna see. Also if you ask I can give a little more detail on any of these as well within reason. I am hoping to write all of these at some point, it’s just a matter of what you guys want to see first. Some ideas will be longer than others, so an idea for sizing Small fic (one shot/<10k words), Medium Fic (10-30k words), Long Fic (30k+)

WARNING: SOME OF THESE ARE SPOILERY:

Pirate AU (primarily LadyNoir, I’ve talked about it a little before. I can share more details if people ask, but it’s really intricate and angsty. Gonna be a long fic.)

Diary AU (events of the story told through Marinette’s diary entries. Medium length.)

Fake Dating AU (Alya and Nino want to help Adrien get lady fans off his back, so they suggest he fake-date Marinette. Medium length.)

TTQ Sequel (continuation of my Chlonette fic To Tame a Queen. Medium length)

One-sided reveal (Adrien finds out Marinette is LB and tries to figure out a way to tell her while getting to know her better. Medium length)

“Senpai” (I call it this cause the idea started with Nino asking Adrien if there were any girls he was interested in in their class, and come to find out Adrien really admires their class president notice him Marinette-senpai. Nino convinces him to ask her out, but an akuma attacks right before they’re supposed to meet up for the date, and they both end up missing it. They then fear that the other thinks they stood them up. Small/Medium length)

DJWifi slow burn (don’t have a set idea for this one yet, but I have wanted to dabble in DJWifi development. Medium length at least.)

NY AU (Marinette goes to NY with the Agrestes one summer to intern for Gabriel. She and Adrien inadvertently meet two other Miraculous wielders and get caught up helping them with their own villain. Post-reveal fic. Medium/Long length)

Intern AU (Similar set up, Marinette is interning for Gabriel one summer in NY and she and Adrien bond as she assists him with his job. Probably non-magical, or at least their miraculouses aren’t the focus. Medium length.)

Myvan Mermaid AU (Ivan is a sailor on a fishing ship, Mylene is a curious mermaid infatuated with the people who walk on land. Medium length.)

Kimax Amnesia AU (Max/Kim gets amnesia from an accident and the other tries to find a way to tell them they’re together and in love. Small/medium length)

Adrinette Life Swap (As part of a class assignment, students are paired and forced to swap lives for a day. Adrien and Marinette get paired (bonus maybe some Chlolya)Medium length?)

Ladrien angst (maybe Adrien getting akumatized? Something angsty to prove that Ladrien can have angst if you’re creative enough to think of some. Small/Medium length.)

Claustrophobic Adrien (Ladybug and Adrien get stuck in a tight space (similar to MariChat from Evillustrator) only Adrien doesn’t react as well as Marinette. Based on his comment at the end of Riposte about not liking to be locked up. Small length.)

Gabe is accidentally an ass (Based on the new info from Robostus about the ultimate power and balance. Basically, Gabe wants to bring Mama back, but doesn’t know the cost of the ultimate power and ends up accidentally killing Adrien to bring her back. Small length.)

Farm Family Agrestes (Gabriel’s parents are actually farmers, and he and Adrien attend a family reunion on the farm, despite Gabe’s reluctance. Ft. evil twin brother and Grandma Agreste feeding Adrien a lot of pie. Medium Length, maybe long?)

Alya helps Adrien befriend Marinette (Adrien wants to be better friend with Marinette, but doesn’t know how because she gets flustered around him. He seeks Alya’s help because Marinette always seems comfortable around her, and Alya is like the ultimate wingwoman, seriously someone give her an award Small/medium length.)

Chat!Tom and LB!Sabine (pretty self-explanatory. Tom and Sabine were the past LB and BC. Adventures and stuff. Medium length.)

Chlorine Bourgeois (So, this one has been explained before when it happened, but someone in the BB accidentally typoed ‘chlorine’ instead of ‘chloe’ one time, so we came up with a whole scenario where Chlorine is Chloe’s evil twin sister who stole her identity and then locked her in the closet. So the mean Chloe at school is actually Chlorine, and Chloe is actually the nice one. 100% crack. Medium length.)

Crack Blanc (I’ve wanted to try my hand at Chat Blanc for some time, but I can’t take it seriously after the one comic someone did where he does like minorly annoying things and thinks he’s super evil, so I wanted to make a fic about it (i.e. putting the toilet paper roll on upside down, ripping the tags off pillows, etc) and he goes to Marinette a lot to talk about his problems. Also he gets akumatized a lot for silly reasons. (his favorite show didn’t air a new episode but instead a rerun, he ran out of gum, he ripped his favorite jeans, etc) Probably small.)

Chlonette One-sided reveal (Chloe finds out Marinette is LB and decides to make an effort to be nicer to her superhero crush’s alter ego. Lots of awkward moments ensue. Small/medium length.)

Shugo Chara AU (If you’ve never read Shugo Chara, basically kids all have an egg in their heart that represents the self that they want to be. There’s a group at the main character’s school called the ‘Guardians’ that consist of people whose eggs have hatched into ‘Guardian Characters’ and they protect the students and stuff. It actually has a very similar premise to ML because the evil corporation, Easter, is searching for the Embryo, a pure egg that can grant a wish, by putting X’s over children’s eggs by crushing their dreams. Long fic.)

Master Fu Origin story (I want to write about Master Fu’s early life and how he got to be where he is today because I love him. Medium length.)

Vote now~ Send me asks/messages, reblog, or just reply. 

#emily speaks #my ideas #my fics #vote for your favorite(s) #miraculous ladybug