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Robert Stephen, writer, photographer, storyteller
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  • blog
  • Writing
  • Helpful Hints for Writers of Fiction
  • WHAT OTHER WRITERS HAVE TO SAY
  • AUDIO ESSAYS-STORIES-AND MORE
  • Photography
  • Rory and El Paso
  • Pierre and the Baker
  • About
  • Connect
Robert Stephen, writer, photographer, storyteller

THE EXCITING JOURNEY OF Writing
​a Fictional Book

"IT'S A LUXURY BEING A WRITER,
​ BECAUSE ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS LIFE."

​AMY TAN






THE BLURB-(THE FIRST 30 SECONDS)

7/4/2017
It would be wonderful as a writer if all that I had to do is write. If after the book was completed I could hand it off to a team of people to market the "best story ever written" all the way to the top. But alas, those are dreams because I'm not J.K Rowling who has her own story to tell.

I've read that a potential book buyer takes about 30 seconds or less to decide if they want to buy and read a book. I was also shocked to find (Total percentage of books started but not finished) 57%- www.statisticbrain.com/reading-statistics/

Truth be told, most writers are one man or woman shows. We do it all. Write, edit, write, edit, and then market, market, market. Imagine for a moment that you own a store with all of the merchandise in the back, nothing on the showroom floor.  Or everything on the floor is poorly displayed. 

Welcome to the blurb or 30 seconds to buy or bust. I recommend
"How to Write a Sizzling Synopsis" by Bryan Cohen. It is a great tool for writers. It makes a writer think about their book which is their product. We become marketing people trying to softly persuade strangers that our product is entertaining. They will enjoy it. Why shouldn't they? We've only invested months or years of our lives. 

The reader, just like the moviegoer, is not interested in the behind the scenes nonsense. "Entertain me and damn it you better be good," they say.

Below is a sample of the blurb from
THEY TRY TO THINK LIKE US, the original and then the re-write.

Tell me which you prefer.

                                                  #they try to think like,#writing a blurb,#the blurb,#bryan cohen,#robert stephen,#writing,#novelist,#write a book

Picture

1st.
Teresa, Larry, and Steve, three young people begin their careers at TechnoSunland, the fourth largest corporation in the US. However, for the millennials, it is not at all, what they expected. Soon they uncover a vicious scheme by the company's CEO, which will cost millions of people their lives. They also find out a secret he is not human. 

Scientists argue that machines would automatically know and care about human values, which would not pose a threat to man's well-being.

Others argue vehemently that Artificial Intelligence will want to wipe out the human race, either out of revenge or out of the core desire for survival. 

Teresa, Larry, and Steve must choose between the age-old question of survival- fight or flight.

Re-Write
Remember the first real job. With it came excitement, hope, high ideals. Imagine going to work for the fourth largest corporation in the United States only to find out it is all "smoke and mirrors."

What would you do if you discovered a plot that will cost millions of people their lives? If the people around you are not who you thought they were. Teresa, Larry, and Steve, young idealistic millennials, are catapulted into an "Alice in Wonderland," world. Nothing makes sense, but everything is deadly.

Scientists vehemently argue that Artificial Intelligence will know and care about human values. Others say AI will want to wipe out the human race.  

Teresa, Larry, and Steve must choose between the age-old question of survival. Fight or flight.


Comments

    Author

    Robert Stephen.
    What makes a writer? What do you envision when you think about that question?

    Someone sitting by an open window looking out over the ocean, desert, mountains? Rainy day, foggy, sunny? 

    My definition of a writer of fiction. A person who drives himself or herself to the edge of insanity when writing a story to the best of their ability that you the reader find entertaining.

    I can honestly say my life has been interesting, far from boring.  Land baron, restaurateur, photographer, artisan, author. A life full of ups and downs. A life full of stories.

    Along the way I've met hundreds of people, some interesting, some not. Some dangerous, some beautiful, some kind, and some cruel. During my lifetime I've even had my heart run over a couple of times, but when all of it is said and done I wouldn't trade it in. 


    Writing has always been inside of me, but the siren never called to me. I wasn't ready until one day in October of 2015 when life said, "Start writing."

    Writing is a long journey, full of many perils, but don't be afraid it is an exciting adventure! 

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