When
I and my co-author launched the first edition of How to be a Fantastic Writer (back in
wheneveritwas) our publisher treated us to a frenetic 2-day launch event
online. They canvassed for short submissions that we had to critique as part of
the launch, using the pearls of wisdom we aimed to pass on as part of the
toolkit in the book.
I
think we critiqued about 40 short pieces. It was a demanding, intense,
constructive and enjoyable exercise. We were also asked to pass on some
specific practical advice on writing and selling commercial fiction. We did
this via articles, tutorials and discussions.
One
of the tutorials was entitled: A MINI TUTORIAL - THE SHORT SHARP FOCUSED PITCH
and this is reproduced below.
In
the actual launch, this was published in three parts with people joining in
over the course of the first day. You can see the interactive discussions by following
the links given at the end of each section.
THE
SHORT SHARP FOCUSED PITCH
PART
I
The
aim of this mini tutorial is to give you the tools to create a short, focused
pitch for your commercial fiction novel.
Write
down the following three things about your novel
1. The name of the main character.
2. This character's goal or objective.
3. A sticky situation in which this character finds him/herself.
Usually
in commercial fiction there is a clearly identifiable main character, but there
may be more than one. Pick one. The character you choose may have different
goals at different points in the story. Note however that the main character
usually has an overarching goal and this is the best one to pick. Likewise your
character will go through several sticky situations as the story progresses.
Pick one that really threatens the goal.
Example
1. Jack Smith.
2. To climb Mount Everest.
3. The summit is 20 minutes away but time is tight.
In
the online tutorial, participants were asked to have a go at listing out these
three elements for their own novel and saying why they picked each one. Those who
wanted then posted their lists as comments on the tutorial itself and we
commented on their choices. See these discussions HERE.
PART
II
Add
the following two elements to the list you created in part one.
4.
Something or someone who stands in the way of the character you listed in part
one.
5. The potentially disastrous consequences that could result if the character
doesn’t overcome this opposition.
Again
there will be several answers to these questions. Your character will meet
different types of opposition and will face different consequences at different
times in the story. Try to choose something that could really spell disaster
for your character.
Example
(continued from the example in part one)
4. The clock stands in Jack’s way. It says that Jack must turn back in 25
minutes or he will not be able to descend safely before night falls.
5. Another climber in difficulty asks for his help, which will take precious
minutes from his available time.
If
you end up with several different versions for the five elements, that’s good.
You will be able to experiment and see which pitch works best.
Again
in the online tutorial, participants were asked to have a go at listing out
these two elements for their own novel and saying why they picked each one. Those
who wanted then posted their lists as comments and we commented on their choices.
See these discussions HERE.
We
also recommended that participants try out several variations, noting that it
is usually easy to decide on 1, 2 and 3, but it gets harder to figure out 4 and
5 as there will usually be many more alternatives.
PART
III
Take
the first three of the elements in your list and turn them into a single
statement.
Using
the example given, we can turn this into the following:
Jack
Smith has sold everything to fund his attempt to climb Everest and he stands
within sight of his goal.
Now
take the last two elements in your list and turn them into a question.
Using
the examples given, we can turn this into the following:
Will
he lose this only chance to fulfil a lifetime ambition when a stranger calls
for help?
Put
these together and you have a short, focused pitch:
Jack
Smith has sold everything to fund his attempt to climb Everest and he stands
within sight of his goal. Will he lose this only chance to fulfil a lifetime
ambition when a stranger calls for help?
These
short pitches don't tell the story of the book in any detail. The important
thing is that they introduce the main character, say something about his or her
motivation and then they raise a question, hopefully leaving the reader curious
enough to read on.
This
is the technique I used to write the pitch for the novel Like False Money. It
caught the eye of several publishers who asked to see more of the book, even
before the book itself was well enough written to warrant publication. However,
when the book was accepted the publisher took the essence of the pitch and used
it in the cover blurb.
The
original pitch around the five elements was as follows:
Annie
Raymond [1], desperate to be taken seriously as a private investigator [2],
finds herself in an impossible job with a boss who hasn’t a clue who she is
[3]. Will her career be over before it starts when a schoolgirl [4] accuses her
of unprofessional conduct [5]?
Participants
were invited to post their own short pitches for people to comment on. See
these discussions HERE.
If
you found this mini tutorial useful, please leave a comment, spread the word and buy the book.
