Tip 4. Distill it down

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Finally, you need to distill down your story. Of course your story is so much more than just one thread. There are minor characters and subplots and emotional journeys. But you need to find the core of the story - the main source of tension. Cull all the characters who aren't essential to the main plot. Cull all subplots. Distill it down.

In my story The Dreamers of Dreams, the main plot follows Taylor and her bandmates, Carter and Sam, on the road to stardom. There are subplots: a love triangle, a character with a drug addiction, Taylor's parents' divorce, a competitive close friendship. These all cause tension in the story, but the main narrative drive comes from the journey to stardom. My blurb, therefore, is this:

Seventeen-year-old Taylor Donadi has always dreamed of being a singer. After moving to London, she makes friends with the streetwise Tish, and her charismatic older brother Carter, who asks her to audition for his band. But as fame and fortune beckons, how can Taylor stay true to herself and her friends?

I don't think this is perfect, by any means (and I'd love your thoughts on how to make it better). But it ticks some boxes for me: namely that it is simple, distills the story down to its essence, and it sets up the main tension in the plot - that Taylor desperately wants to be a singer, but she also needs to stay true to herself.


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