2 years, 7 months ago
about A Storm Of Swords
Where is the spoilers limit?
I been building the pages for the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, like A Game of Thrones or A Clash of Kings but when I'm writing the synopsis I'm afraid to spoil too much, I don't want to ruin the new readers fun, I d0n't want to have a Wikipedia style (destroying any mistery) but I also feel like I'm writing something like this:
A Storm of Swords is a novel where there is people that does stuff and things happen.
But the worst thing is that even when just writing this kind of thing, I'm spoiling the story.
So, this is my question, where is te spoilers barrier?
A Storm of Swords is a novel where there is people that does stuff and things happen.
But the worst thing is that even when just writing this kind of thing, I'm spoiling the story.
So, this is my question, where is te spoilers barrier?
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M$2 Answers
Well, in my opinion, this is a very subjective judgment. It really comes down to what do you value as the big secrets and what do you think someone should know if they are considering buying it.
First off, I would consider anything in advertisements, on the covers, or inside the cover flaps fair game for your page. If I found the book in a store and was debating on getting it, I would read these. Beyond that, people want to know a little bit about the main cast of characters. See if you can answer a few questions in your own narrative style:
Who is this story about? (List and give brief descriptions of the cast.)
What is the world they live in? (Mid-eval, modern, future?)
Does something happen to them, or do they do something? (Should our heroes stop Evil King So-And-So's plot or are we setting out to adventure the farthest reaches of space?)
Telling these details sets a good stage without revealing a plot. For a review, I like to "see the whole stage for the First Act and review the character list".
Finally, address the writing style. Is it first person from one of the characters or third person? How thick is the reading? Is this something a middle school child can handle or do the words and themes go more towards adults? Can you read it over a few weeks or will you be drawn into this book to read it all at once?
First off, I would consider anything in advertisements, on the covers, or inside the cover flaps fair game for your page. If I found the book in a store and was debating on getting it, I would read these. Beyond that, people want to know a little bit about the main cast of characters. See if you can answer a few questions in your own narrative style:
Who is this story about? (List and give brief descriptions of the cast.)
What is the world they live in? (Mid-eval, modern, future?)
Does something happen to them, or do they do something? (Should our heroes stop Evil King So-And-So's plot or are we setting out to adventure the farthest reaches of space?)
Telling these details sets a good stage without revealing a plot. For a review, I like to "see the whole stage for the First Act and review the character list".
Finally, address the writing style. Is it first person from one of the characters or third person? How thick is the reading? Is this something a middle school child can handle or do the words and themes go more towards adults? Can you read it over a few weeks or will you be drawn into this book to read it all at once?
source(s):
Personal Opinion from visiting my book store and reading reviews (books, video games, plays, and movies)
Personal Opinion from visiting my book store and reading reviews (books, video games, plays, and movies)
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M$Report Abuse
I completely agree in regards to going after material expressed on book jackets and the back cover. Since that is the info the author and publishers want people to know before they read, it seems like a safe bet.
Also, if you want to include something that is somewhat spoilerish, you can mask the specifics. For example, instead of "when John Stark was killed in a battle with a Vampire Wombat", you could say "when John Stark battled for his life", which doesn't tell you outcome or circumstances but lets you refer to the event.
You have my sympathies, as in that series the author seems to really love letting terrible and startling things happen to major characters, so it's pretty hard to describe the books without ruining the surprises.
If you want to create a sort of Cliff notes summary and document every significant event the way they do for some books on Wikipedia go ahead and do it providing you give adequate warning. Have a brief and very general spoiler-free plot summary at the top of the page, and then a "Detailed Synopsis with Spoilers" section later on the page so that people can decide if they want to risk reading it. This could be valuable to fans of the books as that series is fairly long with many characters. If you are like me and are reading them as they get released, it's easy to forget what happened in previous books by the time you get the next one. It would be great to have a more detailed and spoiler-ish synopsis before starting the next book so that you can remember where things left off.
Also, if you want to include something that is somewhat spoilerish, you can mask the specifics. For example, instead of "when John Stark was killed in a battle with a Vampire Wombat", you could say "when John Stark battled for his life", which doesn't tell you outcome or circumstances but lets you refer to the event.
You have my sympathies, as in that series the author seems to really love letting terrible and startling things happen to major characters, so it's pretty hard to describe the books without ruining the surprises.
If you want to create a sort of Cliff notes summary and document every significant event the way they do for some books on Wikipedia go ahead and do it providing you give adequate warning. Have a brief and very general spoiler-free plot summary at the top of the page, and then a "Detailed Synopsis with Spoilers" section later on the page so that people can decide if they want to risk reading it. This could be valuable to fans of the books as that series is fairly long with many characters. If you are like me and are reading them as they get released, it's easy to forget what happened in previous books by the time you get the next one. It would be great to have a more detailed and spoiler-ish synopsis before starting the next book so that you can remember where things left off.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
