They found that it was broken.

Today’s prompt: Create the flap copy for your book. Doesn’t matter if you are writing fiction, non-fiction, or memoir. Write the two or three sentences that convey the essence of your story in a way that will convince someone to read the entire book.

This can be incredibly hard. In fact, I can’t do it in the earliest draft of my book. This is usually because I haven’t yet fully figured the internal journey of my main character. Take a half dozen of your favorite books off the shelf and read the flap copy to learn how the book was distilled into a few lines. Does that flap copy do a good job of it? Would you have written it differently?

(If you are totally stuck and can’t figure out how to write the flap copy for your story, rewrite the copy for a book that you love.)

The Time I Said Goodbye.

The work read outloud was very strong and moving.  Try the heading for yourself and see what you end up with on the page.

GLASS

UNDO

PAINT

Great Prizes – No Entry Fee

Gotham Writers’ Workshop invites you to enter their Hint Fiction 25-Word Story Writing Contest. Entry is free and easy.

For this competition, Gotham welcomes the expertise of Robert Swartwood, editor of Hint Fiction: An  Anthology of Stories of 25 Words or Fewer (to be published in November by W.W. Norton). Mr. Swartwood will select the winner from the finalists in this competition.

What is Hint Fiction? Here’s Swartwood’s definition:

Hint Fiction (n): a story of 25 words or fewer that suggests a larger, more complex story.

GREAT PRIZES
Submit your unpublished 25-word story to their competition and you could win:

• 10-week writing workshop ($420 value)
• $100 USD
• One-year subscription to The Writer
• Publication of your winning entry in Gotham’s Winter 2011 course catalog
• Bragging rights

ENTRY IS FREE & EASY
To enter, just complete their online entry form. Limit one entry per person.

Here’s a little more about Hint Fiction from Gotham’s site:

A title is important in Hint Fiction. While the word limit of a story is 25 words, it does not include the title. The title should add another layer of complexity to the story, helping to give the reader a better idea of what is taking place.

Ultimately, Hint Fiction is an exercise in brevity, with the writer trying to affect the reader in as few words as possible.

Here are two examples authored by Mr. Swartwood:

BURST

You have a little while to get ready for this, but it doesn’t hurt to start thinking and writing early – it’ll give you time to edit too.  Check their website out for more info: http://www.writersunion.ca/cn_shortprose.asp

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$2,500 Prize; Winner and finalists will have their stories submitted to three Canadian magazine publishers for consideration. Entry Fee: $25 per entry, cheque or money order made payable to The Writers’ Union of Canada. Deadline: November 3 Eligible Writers - Canadian citizens or landed immigrants - All writers who have not been published in book format, in any genre and who do not have a contract with a book publisher Eligible Entries - Nonfiction and fiction prose; up to 2,500 words, English language - Not previously published in any format - Multiple submissions are welcome How to Submit Entries - Typed, double-spaced, on numbered pages, plain 8.5” x 11” paper, not stapled - Submissions will be accepted by hardcopy only - A separate cover letter with full name, address, phone number, e-mail address, number of pages of entry, and whether submission is fiction or non-fiction. Please type name of entrant and title of entry on each numbered page. Manuscripts will not be returned. Latest Winner 2009 Award Winner Previous Winners 2008 Award Winner 2007 Award Winner 2006 Award Winner 2005 Award Winner 2004 Award Winner Deadline - Postmarked: November 3 Results - Results will be posted at www.writersunion.ca. Send entries to: SPC Competition, The Writers’ Union of Canada, 90 Richmond St. E, Suite 200, Toronto, ON, M5C 1P1 top