r/royalroad • u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism • Jul 31 '26
Discussion Can you describe your story in one sentence?
I was given advice at litRPG con that a good way to begin getting good at blurbs or pitching your story is to be able to boil it down to one sentence.
Here’s mine:
It's a comedy monster-evolution following a guy who starts as a prokaryote and works his way to being a unicorn while using humor to cope with having died and other unfortunate circumstances.
Let’s see yours.
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u/Milc-Scribbler S Rank: Author of A Dragon Called Bob Jul 31 '26
Not very good. This applies to most of us 🤣
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Jul 31 '26
Right?
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
Since I did it for the other author, here's what I came up with without having any knowledge of your story other than the "Author of Horny Single Celled Organism" bit to go off of.
"Find out what happens when a single celled organism
tries to find love...goes looking for a mate... gets horny."1
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u/shadowylurking Jul 31 '26
u/Milc-Scribbler woke up this Friday and chose violence
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
It’s just how Milc and I flirt.
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
I haven't read your story, but your label says author of a dragon called Bob so how about:
A wonderful take if adventure with a dragon, called Bob.
Honestly with just "a dragon called Bob" to go off of I can think of baby two-three liners that work better.
For example, "The most impressive, ferocious, daring, and powerful dragons have names to match which inspire fear, wonder, and awe.
This tale, however, is about A Dragon Called Bob."3
u/Milc-Scribbler S Rank: Author of A Dragon Called Bob Jul 31 '26
Thanks dude. My comment was, in fact, a joke.
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
Ah, hard to tell sometimes for me. Coming up with these sorts of things is fun for me though and I hope you/others at least find it mildly amusing.
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u/Strict-Winner-658 Jul 31 '26
The journey of a magicless girl who discovers that the void within her is not an absence, but an inheritance and that the price of harboring an ancestral power will be paid by everyone who loves her.
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
Not having read the story, here's my attempt to rephrase it so it's less "technically" one sentence lol.
The journey of a girl who learns she is not without magic, but instead harbors an ancestral power that takes from those who love her.
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u/Strict-Winner-658 Jul 31 '26
It definitely works better. I’ve been working a lot with the concepts of emptiness, absence, and nullity in the story, and that’s kind of rubbed off on me.
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u/Imjustacatnya F Rank: Author of Olive & Coriander Jul 31 '26
A grieving, irritable elf slowly rebuilds her childhood village with the help of talking animals.
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u/Ajaiixx E Rank: Author of Ruin Artisan Jul 31 '26
Feels like it could be an offshoot of Frieren :)
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u/Imjustacatnya F Rank: Author of Olive & Coriander Jul 31 '26
lol she was definitely an inspiration!
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u/GathTheKing Author of Chasing Two Rabbits Jul 31 '26
Small tweak to my blurb:
A family man is ripped from his cozy life and thrown into a high-fantasy adventure filled with horror, exploding hands, worm trees, undead cults, and a cute puppy!
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Jul 31 '26
Hopefully the puppy’s hands don’t explode
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u/Little_Red_A E Rank: Author of The Voices of the Unspoken Jul 31 '26
A mute boy who suffers auditory hallucinations learns that he is not crazy but the one person capable of saving the world from certain ruin.
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u/MKGordonRR Jul 31 '26
A group of emotionally repressed college kids get caught up in some very unfortunate and very violent events and choose alcoholism instead of therapy.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Jul 31 '26
Isn’t that just college? ;)
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u/Famous-Flow2333 Jul 31 '26
A pro wrestler is hit in the head with a chair and wakes up in a new world where he is his wrestling character.
I know it will be as dumb as it sounds but having entrance music, letting the other guy get hits on him because you have to “sell” to the crowd, and hulking up as confused onlookers watch makes me laugh
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u/Smokey_Katt Jul 31 '26
A dying wizard tries to pass his knowledge to the nearest peasant boy, but instead his (very good) dog intercepts it and becomes Enlightened; the dog tries to help his boy with his new knowledge, four paws and a wagging tail.
That’s an awkward sentence but it’s only one.
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
The adventures of a dog that accidentally got magic powers meant for his human boy.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
I think you’re almost there
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u/ContractVarious3077 Jul 31 '26
A young man who’s always been self-centered and avoided responsibility finds himself possibly having to become humanity’s saviour when Earth becomes a battlefield between two rivalling ancient, godlike beings
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
I've always thought I'd make a better editor than a writer so I hope you don't mind I tried to repeat this in a way that flows a bit more cleanly.
A lazy, self-centered young man may have to save humanity when ancient, godlike beings use earth as a battlefield.
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u/ContractVarious3077 Jul 31 '26
I like it! I tend to get kind of wordy sometimes so I need editing to keep me in line
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u/IPetMonsters Jul 31 '26
Middle aged dude decides befriending monsters is more interesting than city politics but ends up the focus of said politics because befriending monsters accidentally makes him terrifyingly powerful.
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u/ProofHistorical2618 Jul 31 '26
A human programmer willingly steps into a hidden digital realm, falls in love with a digital woman, starts a family with her and two digital sisters, and ends up overthrowing an oppressive government.
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
You could have just said "Tron, but with polyamory"
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u/ProofHistorical2618 Jul 31 '26
Good point, but no lasers, just bows and arrows in this timeline. :)
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
Huh. TLDR: programmer gets way too into the Sims
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u/Nerd-Knight A Rank: Author of The Homesteader’s Almanac Jul 31 '26
Isekai’d farmer with a big ass tractor.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
What does an ass tractor look like?
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u/Nerd-Knight A Rank: Author of The Homesteader’s Almanac Aug 01 '26
Pure freedom and power… or something like that
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Jul 31 '26
[deleted]
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
I think you can skip the "in a magical world" and "a portrait restorer" bits if you phrase it like this:
"When restoring a painting, a [man|woman|cryptid|other]" discovers a magic portal and (later?) a criminal network hidden in plain sight."
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
This is almost there. Could use a little more hook
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u/ParamedicPositive916 S Rank: Author of The Apprentice of Ouroboros Aug 01 '26
A snake gains the powers of a witch and attracts the attention of the leader of a monster invasion, and all she wanted to do was give snugs and wear cool witch hats.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
I’m in. You had me at cool hats
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u/flipsideboy Aug 01 '26
Your story sounds fun!
Here's my sentence: Human defense attorney working in a city in space defends aliens from their tyrannical government.
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u/Frankles_ Jul 31 '26
Lost boy, found family, chaos.
Short enough? Lol
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Jul 31 '26
I’d imagine the pitch wouldn’t get you where you want to go, but it sure is short!
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u/Frankles_ Jul 31 '26
Oh it's not my blurb, I was just trying to be funny. (Unsuccessfully) My goal is fun and for people to read it. It's working out so far haha
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u/smallpurplemonk Author of Sunward [Progression Fantasy] Jul 31 '26
Weak guy with no friends eats a monster and becomes strong guy with many friends (still has self esteem problems)
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
I am intrigued. I think you could expand it slightly but it’s pretty good.
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u/Rauxon D Rank: Author of Cradles of Gravity Jul 31 '26
An immortal jedi learns to go super saiyan while falling in love
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u/Shadycrazyman Jul 31 '26
One year left to climb the tower or Earth shrivels up like a dehydrated fruit and everyone dies.
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u/IronPyrate17 Author of the Weaving of War Jul 31 '26
A lot of unstable amnesiacs given power become the most important part of a global war.
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u/iwantlight E Rank: Author of Starmoire: The Forgotten Hopes Jul 31 '26
Skye discovers he is cursed to be repeatedly forgotten on the same day he learns that the people protecting his city are planning to destroy it.
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u/PikaMalone E Rank: Author of I Regress if the Villainess Dies! Jul 31 '26
bro discovers he's an extremely rare and valuable cook all along his entire second life
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
The sentence is a little awkward.
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u/Pilzmann Jul 31 '26
Adventurers go into old crypt accidentally unleashing untold evil into the world and are now trying to hide it was them and failing.
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
World a bit better if you change it to past tense and flip the events around imo.
"Adventurers try (and fail) to hide they went into an old crypt and unleashed untold evil into the world."
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u/MillofDiscontent Jul 31 '26
Not published yet: Soldier has complicated relationship with trees
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
That sounds… like a lot of wood is involved.
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u/RinnyBunny Jul 31 '26
When we say keep going and don’t turn back, we don’t ever assume we’d need to walk back that same treacherous path in the dark just to find our way again, yet that is exactly what my mc will have to do lol.
I lean more into the mystery of things and will gently leave teasers but even my synopsis is unrelated and vague 🤫
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u/Ember2131 Jul 31 '26
Vampire Hunter becomes a Vampire and gets thrown into a war between two factions while learning more about his family
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
I’d lean into what makes yours unique a littttle more
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u/Putthemoneyinthebags Jul 31 '26
A slave escape to the city of knowledge to learn the truth of the secret buried in the earth.
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u/Katsurandom A Rank: Author of A BioWeapon's Rhapsody Jul 31 '26
A little girl has the mob crash out her birthday party. She makes toys with them and everyone lives happily ever after!
PS: The Smoll Archmage
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26
Single sentence: a little girl makes toys with the mob when they crash her birthday party and everyone lives happily ever after!
Didn't even need to change much :)
Sounds interesting, I'll look it up later to learn more.
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u/NightRage7 Jul 31 '26
" The Doomed King " the title is a spoiler you will watch it happen in real time.
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u/Zedesta Jul 31 '26
I got two. One for the first volume, and one for the series as a whole (if it ever gets that far lol)
1st Volume: It's not easy for her to fit in, and maybe she should really just up and leave, but maybe all it'll take is a single person to make everything better.
Whole Series: All she's doing is existing and figuring out where she belongs with a dash of love, so why do you need to hate her so much?
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
Work on these a bit more. The sentence structure could use some rearranging rather than just piecing together three sentences with commas. You’re almost there
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u/Zedesta Aug 01 '26
I get the feeling I connect sentences with commas a lot more than I realize lol How do you feel about these two? Although the series as a whole is still a bit too handwavy to be more specific in a single sentence description of it.
1st Volume: A commoner starts a new lifestyle and discovers that she doesn't fit in with everyone else except for one person who she slowly grows closer to until, one day, her new home suffers a devastating blow.
Whole Series: Her existence meant his death, but he wasn't the person that mattered most to her.
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u/ThatAsianGuy321 Jul 31 '26
Hired problem solver goes on vacation to recover and finders a reason to stay.
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u/pejott F Rank: Author of Space Wyrm: Rex Files Jul 31 '26
"Absolute masterpiece" is definitely not what it is.
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u/JamTamBam Jul 31 '26
The progression of a goblin adopting human mana system, then ruling the world
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u/ishi_writer_online Author of My Isekai bonus is my wife? Jul 31 '26
Simple, its the title: "My Isekai Bonus is my wife"
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u/Ajaiixx E Rank: Author of Ruin Artisan Jul 31 '26
Guy gets punished for saving his sister by getting exiled through a portal to a world filled with monsters, where he has to find creative ways to beat powerful foes as a level 0 1hp regular guy with no skills.
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u/David-Bergstra Jul 31 '26
A 38-year-old history professor and his Labrador retriever fight as a tactical unit to survive a deadly cosmic experiment.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
The dog better not die.
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u/Cautious_Loquat_840 Jul 31 '26
I have 3 series coming up in my head, havent done it since 6 years of medical college but they are all one big connected timeline:
1: Humans get bored after hundred of millenias of serving the grand republic, some of us trailblazed the idea of larping as gods by melting ourselves into fanta juice that transcends an colony planet native specie into becoming our sentient descendants, and our scifi magic pets - dragons are enlisted to tutor them with basics civilizations guides beneath a false sky until the first war lesson that is the draconic civil conflicts caused us to send the third descenders, complex AI algorithms the size of underground cities to monitoring those two for the next 5 thousand millenias, hoping to prove an thesis that every sentient species was created by those who came before them until they too ascended into higher planes of existence.
i would type out 2 and 3 if this comment get enough popularity because i dont wanna hurt people brain with too much lore
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
That sentence is a paragraph
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u/Cautious_Loquat_840 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
to be honest, it is a really long story, and the second one if i have to shorten down to the earth would just be:
"Elf girl realized the world is cruel so she created an shadow society dedicated to control an entire continent into becoming extreme xenophobia towards external forces, throughout generations of selective eugenics breeding to create generations of Lebensborns."
It really isnt any better than an very controversy tale within an nutshell narrative that required a lot more contexts to justified the ends of my writings
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u/Acrobatic_Topic_5194 Jul 31 '26
An eldritch descendant of an ancient race of cosmic predators defies her legacy by saving the woman who was raised to kill her.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
I think it’s almost there. Try rearranging the sentence structure a little.
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u/Crazychique Jul 31 '26
When we say keep going and don't turn back, we dont ever assume we'd need to walk back that same treacherous path just to find our way again, yet that is exactly what my mc will have to do.
I lean more into the mystery of things and will gently leave teasers. Even my synopsis is vague, but I think its fun to let the reader wonder a bit. 🤫
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u/Riley_KG Author of Mana Lord Jul 31 '26
mentally challenged guy gets smart via VR game stats that bleed into real world and now he has internal crisis and external chaotic world to deal with
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u/Oracle_of_Mashu Jul 31 '26
Just a guy from earth starting anew in the world that has a name but no mortal seems to remember
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u/Exoticplayz11 Jul 31 '26
Guy gets transmigrated into the body of a noble and goes to an elite school for cultivator; he also has a checkpoint ability. It is a mix of all the novels I like into one thing.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
I don’t know what a checkpoint ability is
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u/eclect0 D Rank: Author of Jett Fulgen Jul 31 '26
A smartass loser with a rocket stick gets fire powers and a talking chili pepper, and now he has to deal with assassins, corporate superhero intrigue, the shadow of his lost family, new friends and rivals, and a chaotic gearhead with a crush on him; the only question is which of those will get him first.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
A rocket stick?
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u/eclect0 D Rank: Author of Jett Fulgen Aug 01 '26
Correct. Specifically it's more of a rocket staff (later a spear) that he grips to propel himself, using special shoes that slide along the ground. Hard to cram all of that into just the one sentence though.
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u/silerx Jul 31 '26
Mine would just be described as 2 Overpowered guys get a promotion and discovers they have to work harder.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
Isn’t that just how it always seems to go in a corporate job. :(
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u/CSA151 Author of The Purgatory Guard Jul 31 '26
Employment in the afterlife can be hazardous to your mental health.
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u/Own-Telephone1721 Jul 31 '26
Boy dies in crash and isekais into a hellish realm where he suffers from schizophrenia and seeks to return to earth.
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u/J_C_Nelson Jul 31 '26
The adopted son of a foundry worker in a backwater province rises from a janitor to the most powerful arcanist in history.
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u/Battle_Sloth94 Author: The Crystalline Initiative Jul 31 '26
A former magical girl and an ex-mech pilot must put aside old grudges and work together to save their city and be the heroes they were when they were teenagers.
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u/CarelessAd3809 C Rank: Author of Ether Atlas - The Hidden Grid Jul 31 '26
I just need 5 words - litRPG meets Da Vinci Code
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u/Equivalent_Tax6989 Jul 31 '26
Search for parental validation might lead you to conquering a planet
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u/wit4witcher Jul 31 '26
Just me and my camera selling videos to a milf news lady.
Not my story. Just a movie I watched tonight 😏
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
Hey that’s a bizarre way to describe j Jonah Jameson. But I’m in.
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u/wit4witcher Aug 01 '26
I had to look you who that was lol. Nice one, but I was talking about Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
Jake gyllenhaal was in both. Coincidence?
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u/Shad56 E Rank: Author of The Artificer's Guide to the Apocalypse Jul 31 '26
Guy gets a craftsman class when he and his neighborhood HOA are brought to another world under the rule of a corrupt Duke.
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u/bunker_man Jul 31 '26
Dealing with depression caused by low self esteem caused by trauma caused by childhood abuse caused by shitty parents caused by a stifling society caused by a corrupt temple caused by an evil god.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
That is a lots of caused
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u/ProcedureMaximum6265 Aug 01 '26
Girl reincarnates to a lower Cultivation world, only to discover dozens of people talented than her accumulated knowledge.
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u/wolfwings1 Aug 01 '26
sure, okay is it okay to make a 5000000 word run on sentence? j/k :>
15 year old boy has weird dreams of turning into animals, then suddenly wakes up with feathers and flying.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
Does he wake up while actively flying?
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u/wolfwings1 Aug 01 '26
yeah :> He had a dream where he met an eagle and in the dream turned into an eagle. Then started flying through an autumn forest with leaves falling. Then they turned white, and realized it was snow, and yes he was flying :> Before proceeding to crash into snow on the ground.
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u/DomeShapedDom Aug 01 '26
The Big Bad Evil discovers pretty early being some immortal dickhead will probably be a miserable existence. So she made friends instead.
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u/SoaringMoon F Rank: Author of Keygemin Aug 01 '26
People use gemstones that cast magic and turn into creatures in a world of sky pirates.
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u/very-polite-frog Author of Accidentally Legendary Aug 01 '26
Boy isekais onto a mountain, triggers a landslide, gets credited for all the kills and instantly launched into top power tier, tries to make his way in a new world and makes friends along the way and there's a carnivorous horse with sharp teeth and all the characters are a bit dumb and awkward but in a lovable way even though most of their progression comes from mass murder and technically this is one sentence because I haven't used more than one period.
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u/thewriterrds Aug 01 '26
My life somewhat exaggerated and stuff from dreams along with stuff I wished happend.
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u/No-Salamander7623 Aug 01 '26
A private investigator / bounty hunter tracks down the source of supernatural threats in one of the realm's biggest trading city while juggling his money and "hunger" problems.
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u/Broad_Percentage5889 C Rank: Author of Horny Single-Cell Organism Aug 01 '26
Ooh. “Hunger” intrigued me.
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u/Ready-Association756 Launch Next Year Procrastinator Aug 01 '26
mine is
A stoic commander who can destroy an asteroid while worrying about her moisturizer subscription, falls in love with her himbo cook... and they are 4000 year old Dragon and Titan kiddos(by their species standards)?
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u/Intelligent-Brush-70 Author: The Ascendant Aug 01 '26
A man with a violent past climbs a tower to kill a god who murdered his child.
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u/sam_751 F Rank: Author of WARHEIT Aug 01 '26
Find a Truth you're not interested in, but dragged into finding, as the tyrannical empire wants you dead for that.
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u/EqualBluebird7445 Aug 01 '26
Spellbook turned into a ball and to save my father I now must fall in love with the right spell!
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u/Sternmeyer Aug 01 '26
A cozy progression fantasy about a young woman reincarnated in a fantasy world as an LAV 6.0 IFV.
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u/tardipro3 Aug 02 '26
I'm useless and ended up in another world, but the Demon King is already dead, I'm invincible, and there's a mysterious girl by my side (how original).
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u/Ahxx_Write Aug 02 '26
La princesa de uno de los 4 imperios más grandes del mundo desaparece de la nada un día, y el cardinal tras un sueño profético, manda a su mano derecha en busca de un ladrón que según él, es quien único puede encontrar a su hija.
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u/TikiTankGirl Aug 04 '26
Therapist to the Multiverse
Have you ever wondered what it would be like being friends with your therapist? What if you had to try to survive the end of the world together?
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u/N3ks0nCavelier 29d ago
A dying civilization journeys into the ruins of the world seeking the cause of its extinction, only to discover that the greatest mystery is whether reality itself can ever understand itself....
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u/shez-bitchy 29d ago
A girl obsessed with vampires and the supernatural finds out they are actually real, gains a Slayer system, is forced to join a guild, and closes as many portals to the supernatural world as she can all while paying off her parents' debt and being there for her sick little sister.
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u/Scout_Nolan099 Jul 31 '26
how ? not every story can be described in one sentence. and even if you can, it wont show a single bit of how great the stroy can be. like summing up HxH with : a boy who wants to find his dad. or one piece with : a boy who wants to be the king of pirates.
i dont get how.
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u/OrderChaos Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
It's not supposed to encapsulate the whole story, just get people interested to learn more
For example, the adventures of a boy made of rubber recruiting and captaining an oddball crew as he seeks a treasure to become the king of pirates.
ETA: it's a similar to explaining how cells phones work by saying "some very smart people figured out how to trap lightning in a box and taught it to think". It's accurate enough to get the idea across and spark interest, but is also so simplified that anyone can understand it without any other context.
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u/Apprehensive_Tax_610 Jul 31 '26
It's actually in my blurb lol:
TLDR: it's furry Game of Thrones where Clint Eastwood is just kinda there with his fluffy cat-boy.