Back cover

Has someone complained about not knowing these things early on?

If you want to fix it, it should be easy enough without using an info dump or being obvious. There are many things which separate male from female (names, make up, purses, etc) and Americans from other nationalities (names, geography, culture, etc.)

Kryianna said:

Is it logical to presume that you would have a back cover blurb, and that someone would have read the blurb before starting to read the book? Or at least have some clue of what the book is about before reading page one?

I'm writing in first person, and in doing my revisions, I'm noticing that I don't specifically say the MC is female, or American, until page 8. The earliest I can find to easily allude to it is page 3.

Should I specifically state these items earlier, even if it ends up being a data dump? Or can it be presumed that someone at least read the first line of the blurb, which would state these facts? Or hope that my writing is compelling enough where they would keep reading just to figure it out?

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Whether there is going to be a backcover synopsis is not the issue.

My feeling is that you should reveal the vital information of the narrator as soon as you can -- sex, ethnicity, age, and possibly name. I think waiting until page 8 is risky, depending on the plot and voice -- it's possible that your readers have already thought your MC is male, so when it's revealed that the narrator is a female, it can be really jarring. I remember one thing someone wrote the first chapter (1st person) and the whole class thought it was a man (an FBI agent) who liked his eye candy, and at the end of the chapter it was revealed that the narrator was a lesbian. It didn't go over well.

There are ways to hint at all that. Or make sure you have the voice right. You don't have to info dump -- just drop a few hints (the narrator picks up her purse, for example)... or some kind of subtle hints that it's a she...

On hardcovers, back cover blurbs are written on the dust jacket. I've got plenty of hardcovers I've picked up at library sales, etc., that don't have the dust jacket.

Story shouldn't depend on the marketing material, which is what the blurb is. If it is dependent on the blurb to get the reader into the story, how are you going to sell your manuscript to agents or publishers?

Kryianna said:

I'm writing in first person, and in doing my revisions, I'm noticing that I don't specifically say the MC is female, or American, until page 8. The earliest I can find to easily allude to it is page 3.

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I think you're worrying too much. Being female and American are awfully small details, small enough that they can be conveyed with very small bits of information (as you said yourself, by having her stop to look at some heals). If you really feel the need to establish her gender earlier, she can feel a little cramp at the start of her jog, and wonder if it's a stitch or that period she's been waiting for (or any number of other little things that would establish her sex).

The really big concern, especially in the opening pages, is that you establish a question in the reader's mind that the reader wants answered. A person of unspecified gender out on a jog, who's worried about being followed or spied upon is a lot more interesting than a woman jogging with nothing much else going on in her life.

If your opening passage can grab and hold the reader's attention, they'll put up with a slight wait to find the gender.

Len Deighton wrote several bestselling spy novels that were all first-person. Because they're narrated by a professional spy, the narrator never reveals his own name, where he lives, what brand clothes he wears, or anything else that might reveal his true identity (if in fact he were a real person). I've met plenty of people who loved the series (myself included), and no one who complained about not knowing these details.

I like the idea of revealing the MC bit by bit, so to speak.

Simplistic answer is sometimes the best, so here it goes:

If you're questioning it, then you already know your answer. Why? Your instinct is making you sit back and say 'hmmmm'...so act on it. Do something within the first few opening sentences that let's the reader know female/age.

Again, why? Because most of us don't just read the back cover blurb...we also read the first 3-5 sentences...and are either hooked, or deflated.

bluntforcetrauma said:

I like the idea of revealing the MC bit by bit, so to speak.

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Revealing the MC's personality and character, sure. But I want readers to create an accurate visual image, at least for the most important visual elements. And I want to do it before they've formed an incorrect image in their minds. Probably so for important auditory elements as well (voice, accent).

Dale

Dale, I see what you mean. Wouldn't want readers running for the shower when they find out the truth!

I agree with Inky that if you're questioning it, you probably have a problem.

However, it can be amazing what readers don't need. In my manuscript THE NEXT STEP, the narrator doesn't have a name. Several readers never even notice this until afterwards when they're trying to talk about it. Works well as the narrator only talks with one person (which is in the middle of the book and lasts less than three pages).

Nor does the book have much of a physical description of the narrator. All we know is his health (major factor in book), age (again, major factor in book), and he's losing hair. The narrator does not view the fact of whether he's tall or short, thin or not, and things like that as important to impart to the reader. And again, readers aren't noticing this, although the picture in most people's minds are rather consistent.

A lot of short stories drop a lot of the characters' descriptions. The real question for you is whether it works or not. And to repeat what Inky said, if you're wondering, it probably needs to be fixed.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

The protagonist of the Hilary Tamar mysteries by Sarah Caudwell is never revealed to be either male or female. Professor Tamar is always called "Professor" because Professor Tamar is an extraordinarily impressive and formal person.

The cover illustrations of the US editions, by Edward Gorey, are completely awesome in that they clearly depict Professor Tamar in academic gown and barrister's wig, but in situations and postures where the professor's gender is not apparent.


However, if you're writing a mystery, chances are good that there will be a picture of a man or a woman either with a gun or fleeing for his/her life on the cover, so the person reading it will have a preconception of the protagonist's gender.

It's fine to have readers fill in details.

It's bad to have readers fill in details and then contradict the details the readers have invented.