Let's Practice Pitching!

Last Thursday, I did a post for The Writer's Alley, the group blog I'm a part of, and talked about pitching. If you missed it, you can find that post here. In that blog, I discuss in detail the elements of a successful pitch and outline the differences between a short pitch and a long pitch. I also gave some tips to give you an idea what to expect in your conference appointments and help you feel more prepared.

Today, I want to take all this information to an application level and actually work on brainstorming a few pitches with all of you. Something I love about pitches is that each person will highlight different parts of a story, consistent with their own particular writing voice. It's so interesting to see what people come up with!

So first let's review. An ideal pitch should include 1) Something your characters are moving toward 2) Something that's holding your characters back 3) Enough detail that we get a feel for your voice.

Remember that editors and agents are not out to to humiliate you. They genuinely want to hear what your story is about.  That's why they're attending the conference in the first place, and why they got into the book business. But they are also often tired from people who haven't spent time crafting a quality pitch... don't be discouraged by that.

Now I'm going to give a couple examples of famous movies and books to help break this down. First let's think about Pride and Prejudice. What is Elizabeth Bennett working toward? Well, two things come to mind. She would like a way to take care of her family, and she also wants to find true love. Unfortunately for her (but great for us as readers), her two goals work against each other when loveless prospects of marriage come. What is working against her? Well, pretty much everything about Mr. Darcy. He treats her as inferior to him, and yet throughout the book, a little part of her sees that he is the answer to both her goals at once.

So how can we get these concepts into a short little quip? Here's one idea that comes to mind...
Her family's ruin or her own? 
And then the long pitch could further articulate the story...
Elizabeth Bennett wears her independence like her custom-sewn clothes. But when her family needs financial stability, she must consider a marriage of convenience to provide for them, no matter the cost to herself. She'd love to find an alternative... if only it didn't involve that man. 


Let's take another example from the movie Casablanca. You know the one... brooding restaurant owner Rick has never gotten over his first love, but when she walks into the door of his bar with a patriot, he must decide who gets the exit visas... and who stays in Casablanca. How about something like this?
Two men. One woman. One stays, one goes.
Longer pitch...
Putting past love behind him was easier before Elisa walked into Rick's Cafe with her husband on her arm. Elisa and her patriot husband need the exit visas in Rick's possession in order to leave Casablanca. But before Rick hands out the visas, he's got some questions that he'd like answered. Like what really happened in Paris when she left him.



Isn't this fun? Allow yourself to brainstorm while you are working on your pitch, and don't get frustrated if it doesn't come right away. I've found that idea sometimes come at the strangest times. I thought up the pitch I used at last year's conference in the middle of the night!

Okay, so here comes the really fun part! Your turn! Everyone loves the movie You've Got Mail... I'd love to see what pitches you can come up with for it. Feel free to use a short pitch and/or a long pitch.

Also, if you want to include a pitch you are working on right now for one of your own projects, feel free to do that as well! I'm so interested to see what everyone is working on and would love to help if you if you have any questions!

Photos from http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20570221_21120217,00.html and http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Casablanca?from=Main.Casablanca

Creating a One Sheet

Creating Hooks That Catch the Reader

So, you've got a great story. You're a really interesting person, and you have fabulous shoes. I have some unfortunate news you may have already discovered: no one cares.

I'm just kidding! But it can feel that way when you're trying to catch the attention of an agent or editor, can't it?

But think about it from the editor's perspective. They get a lot of material sent their way, and frankly, much of it (maybe even the majority of it, depending on who they are and where they work) is simply not very good. I'm talking "I've never heard of punctuation" not-good. So imagine that you're the one getting hundreds of these less-than-stellar pitches and proposals every single day. You want to find the diamond in the rough, but would someone just give you a brownie first, because sending so many rejections is exhausting! What is going to finally catch your attention? What is going to make someone stand out from the crowd?

A good pitch. A hook. Something that makes you say, "Wowsers."

I love writing hooks for my books as well as for chapter endings. I don't know why. I think something about it feels like a challenge to me, and I like the tease factor of it. You don't have to put every little piece of information into your hook. In fact, you don't want to. So ask yourself, "How can I make this idea the most interesting, even if that means leaving out some important information?" You don't want to be deceptive about the way you describe your book, of course, but it is okay to leave out the character's darkest secret or the seventeen jobs your character goes through in the book.

When you're pitching to someone, you've got about five seconds to make a good impression. Let's face it, we all have short attention spans. So while the details of the characters' lives--your character's favorite cheesecake flavor, for instance--may seem relevant, they're probably not relevant to an agent unless the cheesecake was poisoned. I struggle with this each time I write a pitch, because all the details seem so important! You've spent all this time crafting your characters, and you want your audience to know it. But don't despair. If you get the attention of an agent or editor, the details will come in the proper time. Giving away too much too soon would be like going on a first date and spending the whole time talking about your genealogical history.

So how do you craft a solid pitch?

1) Brevity breeds interest. Generally speaking, the shorter the better. Less for the listener or reader to process.

2) Use your voice. Your writing voice, that is. Whether it's humor or suspense, get your voice in your pitch one way or another.

3) Only include the most relevant details.

4) Clearly set up the stakes for the highest point of conflict in your story. Does someone die? Is someone left at the altar? These things are interesting. Say them first. Your reader/listener will be saying to themselves, "I want to hear more about what happens."

5) Give us a reason to worry about your characters. We can't worry if we don't care.

For this week's Fiction Friday postings, we'll be focusing on hooking the reader. So start thinking of a hook for your novel this week, or even for an idea you'd like to write a novel about, and get it ready for submission next Friday!

Questions for Comment: Do you enjoy crafting pitches and hooks? Do you have any "tricks of the trade" to share?

What to Bring to the ACFW Conference

This is my very first vlog attempt. Hope you enjoy it!

Do you have anything to add to my list? What are you bringing to the conference this year?