A practical writing exercise

Write a synopsis and a spoiler-free blurb

Write an ending-inclusive synopsis and a spoiler-controlled reader blurb from one complete source, then audit facts, withheld information, and unsupported promotional claims.

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Your starting material

Use this complete original material for the demonstration. You can copy or download it before working through the steps.

Original complete story source:
Lighthouse keeper Hal hears a distress signal naming a ship that has not appeared in current harbor records. In this fictional world, the old lamp can turn words on wet paper stored beneath its base into audible signals; it cannot invent messages or predict events. Hal searches shipping records and checks the lamp room. A storm has wet a brass letter box concealed in the base. Inside he finds a letter he wrote ten years earlier to his estranged brother, asking him to come home after their father's death; he never posted it. Its imagined ship name and private phrase match the call. No current crew is in distress. Hal dries the letter, which stops the echo, then writes a new honest letter to his brother and posts it without demanding a reply. Their reunion is not shown or guaranteed.
Use: synopsis for an editor assessing how the plot resolves; blurb for a reader deciding whether to open the story. Synopsis must disclose the old letter, lamp mechanism, stopped echo and newly posted letter. Blurb may name Hal, the unexplained call, the empty records and a personal reckoning; forbid the hidden letter's identity, sender, location, mechanism and final action. Tone: quiet speculative mystery and family regret. No awards, sales, reviews or endorsements are established.

Deliberately flawed example

Deliberately flawed pair: Synopsis: 'Hal discovers a shocking secret, but you must read the story to learn it.' Blurb: 'The call is his own wet unsent letter under the lamp, which he dries before posting a new one. A bestselling masterpiece praised by every critic.'

One possible revision

One possible revision — editor synopsis:
Lighthouse keeper Hal hears a distress call naming a ship absent from current harbor records. Investigating the records and lamp room, he finds that stormwater has reached a letter box beneath the old lamp. The lamp, which can sound the words of wet paper stored there, is repeating a letter Hal wrote ten years earlier but never sent. It asked his estranged brother to return after their father's death; its imagined ship and private phrase created the apparent emergency. No present crew needs rescuing. Hal dries the letter and stops the echo. Rather than mistaking that silence for reconciliation, he writes his brother a new, honest letter and posts it without demanding a reply. The immediate mystery is resolved; whether his brother answers remains open.
Reader blurb:
A distress call reaches Hal's lighthouse, but the harbor has no record of the ship asking for help. As a storm closes around the tower, he searches the records and the machinery he thought he knew. The signal's familiar turn of phrase unsettles him more than the empty charts. To understand what is calling, Hal must face a family silence he has kept for years. A quiet speculative mystery about the messages we send—and the ones we leave unanswered.
Audit: synopsis includes source of call, established lamp rule, no current endangered crew, drying action, newly posted letter, and uncertain reply. Blurb withholds letter identity, sender, location, mechanism and ending; 'familiar turn of phrase' is a source-supported hook, not the reveal. Neither claims awards, sales, reviews or a guaranteed reunion.

What changed and why

• Replaced a synopsis teaser with the actual causal resolution and final action, making it useful for evaluation.
• Removed the blurb's reveal and fabricated acclaim while retaining a specific mystery, tonal promise, and personal pressure.

A choice worth keeping

Keep the uncertain reply in the synopsis. Posting a new letter resolves Hal's action; it does not guarantee another person's forgiveness.

Try it with fresh material

Original complete transfer source: Community radio host Mira receives weekly requests for a song attributed to a band nobody can identify. She checks old broadcast logs and learns the name was a placeholder used by her late mentor for unfinished student recordings. A former student has mailed requests to locate the singer, who is alive and wants her recording returned rather than broadcast. Mira finds the tape, contacts the singer, and returns it without playing it on air. She instead announces a voluntary archive-return project. No supernatural mechanism, romance, chart success or public performance occurs. Blurb forbid list: placeholder identity, requesting former student's purpose, singer's wish, tape return, archive-return project. Allowed: Mira, odd song requests, records search, tension between broadcasting and listening.

Write a 100–160 word editor synopsis with the real ending and a 60–100 word reader blurb honoring every spoiler restriction. Add a shared fact list and a two-column inclusion/spoiler audit. Deliver both descriptions and audit.

Feedback for your attempt

• Does the synopsis tell who wants what and how Mira resolves it? 'A surprising discovery' is not enough.
• Does the blurb accidentally imply a ghost band or promise a performance absent from this story? Revise the invitation.
• Can every promotional claim be traced to source facts or clearly identified tone? Delete invented praise.

Check before moving on

• Use the same complete source for both outputs.
• A synopsis includes the ending; a blurb respects an explicit spoiler boundary without lying.
• Check new claims and implied promises as carefully as omitted spoilers.

Original complete story, synopsis, blurb, and audience-purpose audit authored by an AI agent. No actual publication credentials, market test, or captured provider output is claimed. An independent AI agent completed the transfer exercise and archived its artifacts; no human reader testing is claimed. Material version: 2026-10-18.