Dragon-Riding Sky Vikings, And Not Burying Your Story's Lead

Several years ago I was contracted to help give a facelift to a fantasy RPG setting called Legends of Kralis. It was a project that had a lot of heart, but which needed a little extra polish to really bring out the unique aspects of it. While the creator had said he wanted it to have more of a sci-fantasy than straight fantasy feel to it, many aspects of the book, from the black and white line art, to the general world description, to the array of standard equipment, felt a lot like older editions of Dungeons and Dragons despite that intention.

I'd been on the project for months, removing things like number of soldiers under certain banners from nation descriptions, and trying to add more distinct flavors to countries that felt really similar in their execution, when I came across a line in the northern kingdoms that said there were airships who had to contend with raids by sky pirates riding frost drakes.

I distinctly recall exclaiming out loud, "There are sky Vikings riding ice dragons raiding airships, and you waited until page 347 to tell me that!?"

Most of what I'd come across in the project up to that point had been fairly standard for a fantasy RPG, and it had front-loaded the blander parts of the gameplay and world building. Once I finally slogged through all of that, though, I found cyborg despots holding their nations in iron fists, contingents of star knights wielding laser lances and riding robot horses, magi-tech thieves running high-speed heists, and dozens of other things that would have immediately drawn my interest. But all of them were buried so deep in the text that by the time you got there you were probably expecting another game entirely.

Speaking of, if you'd like to see a more refined version of the game with many of the leads thoroughly unburied, check out the Legend of Kralis quick start for free!

Seriously, if you have sky Vikings, LEAD with that!

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Don't Bury Your Lead

While this story deals with the particulars of roleplaying games and world building, this is something that I see a lot of writers of all stripes deal with. Because a lot of the time we'll focus on the safer, more normal aspects of our projects and stories, rather than going all-in on the parts that really stand out that are more likely to get an audience's attention.

In short, regardless of what kind of project you're working on, ask yourself what the unique selling point of your story, setting, etc., is. What makes it stand out among the competition?

Is this magical finishing school story about a character who doesn't have any skill with spells, so they have to resort to other means to come out ahead when it comes to magical challenges? Is this high fantasy story about a long-running cultural lie where elven overlords convinced orcs they were savage brutes who committed atrocities that never happened, using false flag operations to justify purging the orcs and taking their land? Or does this game allow you to tame an ice dragon, and then use that creature to raid sky ships so you can steal their cargo, sell the vessel, and live out the rest of your life as a legendary Jarl in the northlands?

People like stuff that's familiar, that's true. But if you have something that's sure to grab attention in your project, don't hope your potential readers care enough to get elbow-deep in the book before they find the good parts. Lead with that. Hell, put it on the cover if you absolutely can!

And while this may feel like it's primarily a marketing concern, it's also important to evaluate your setting, your story, and even your cast of characters while you're working on a project. Because too often we stay committed to only exploring the place where we originally had an idea, when there's something way more interesting shining over the next hill. So every now and again it's a good idea to take a step back, really take a look at what you're making, and asking if where you're focusing is really where the most interesting part of your story is taking place.

Speaking of Not Burying Your Lead...

Figured I'd share one of my older (but still fun) stories that I made for bringing attention to my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age RPG setting. I figured that a city built on a sky island ruled over by a cooperation of 5 dragons, one of whom enjoys sky racing, would be enough to get people to sit up and pay attention!

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That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

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What Is Your Book's Unique Selling Point?

"So, what's your book about?"

"Well, it's a riff on the old pulp private detective stories. The main character gets dragged into a complicated web of mysteries, and he has to try to parse the truth from what his client, her enemies, and his old acquaintances are telling him is going on. It's kind of my homage to The Maltese Falcon."

"Why would I want to read that when I already have a Dashiell Hammett collection?"

"My book's take on Sam Spade is a demon pulled straight out of the lower hells by a witch who wants him to track down her lost soul."

"Shut up and take my money."

"He looked, rather pleasantly, like a blonde Satan."

There are millions of books on the market right now, and there will be thousands of new ones released by the end of the year. People only have so much time to read, and if you manage to grab that fleeting moment of someone's attention you need to pin them down with something that will hook their interest. To that end, you need to know what the most appealing thing about your book is, and you need to be able to explain it quickly, and efficiently.

In short, you need to know what your unique selling point is.

Where's The Hook?

A USP is, essentially, an elevator pitch that you give to potential readers. If someone is walking by you at a convention, or they've paused for a moment at a signing, how are you going to summarize the multiple years and hundreds of pages it took you to tell this story so they want to pick it up, and take it home with them?

While every book is unique, and special, there are ways you can shorten the pitch so it fits in a sentence or two. For example, "It's the Trojan War, but with space marines," is a description that would make me flip the book over to get the more detailed version. A description like, "It's your classic, macho shoot-em-up, but the protagonist is gay," might also turn a few heads from readers who like Mack Bolan, and who wonder what it would be like if he was into dudes. Maybe your book could be described as, "Lord of The Rings, minus the walking, and with ten times the body count."

Tell me more.

Your USP is about more than just pitching your book to readers, though. It's about knowing what niche you fill in your genre, and in the market. If you were writing fantasy books in the 80s, for instance, then you would know everyone and their mother was trying to be Tolkien. Just like how today you can walk down the fantasy aisle and see the thousands of bastard children George R. R. Martin has spawned. What makes you stand out from all those other books jockeying for space in stores, on shelves, and in customer reading lists?

Is it that your complicated political drama taking place in a fantasy kingdom is seen through the lens of a matriarchal society? Does it have a lot more onscreen sex, bondage, and gratuitous cod piece shots? Or is the cast of protagonists all the old-school, old guard of the world? Like if Tywin, the Queen of Thorns, Maester Aemon, and all the other old farts had been the people we were following around the whole time?

In short, your USP tells people what you're offering that they can't get anywhere else. Because it's not enough to just have a story, and write it down. You need to tell people why they should be reading your book, instead of going back to the authors they already know they like for their next hit of that dream stuff.

And before you go, a steampunk noir collection that takes you on a walking tour of The City of Steam!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing. If you like the work I'm doing, and you don't want to miss the next installment, why not follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter? Lastly, if you want to chip in some support, head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. All it takes is $1 a month, and you'll get free books on top of my everlasting gratitude.