I’m emulating my good friend Danita today. She likes to rehash hooks, while I have IMMENSE trouble understanding/getting- Theme/premise. The current WIP doesn’t have murder, mayhem, kidnappings, chases, or even fights (well unless we have a barroom brawl, but that isn’t in the picture at this time). It is a purely emotional book. The characters and their pasts are the catalyst of the whole story.
On the blog about pitching CJ Lyons wrote , she said to start with your theme or premise to begin writing your pitch. Okay, but I feel like I've already failed because of my denseness when it come to this particular topic.
These are the theme/premise I came up with: Learn to love again; Conquer your past. They’re kind of weak. How do I build something around that? I like the second one the best. Not so syrupy sweet, something that I can maybe use to draw in readers with a hook or high concept.
Then she says boil it all down for your high concept which should be: “one and only one unique concept--whatever it is about your story that will create an immediate emotional connection or spark interest.”
CJ says this about finding the hook: “This is the unique spin that you have put on your story. This means narrowing your search to one small part of your story. Start with your blurb, usually the hook will be apparent there. If not, keep looking.”
My blurb: A workaholic ER nurse with plans to build a camp for sexually abused children finds herself drawn to a rodeo cowboy and his art. Has she found unconditional love or will her past tear them apart?
What I came up with for high concept is: High emotions and high stakes or Can your past dictate your future?. Both tap into emotions; the first with the high stakes, which could mean anything from monetary to emotionl, the second tells you something about the past is going to come into play, and who hasn't wondered "what if I'd done this differently?".
What is the unique spin on your WIP? Can you boil it down to a high concept statement? If so, please share maybe it will flip the light bulb on for me.
8 comments:
Ah, the good ole log line exercise. It really is a good exercise, the one-liner. Or two. It's that immediate connection someone makes to your story idea.
When someone would ask what my story was about, I'd usually just say "It's about a thief who becomes a hero." That seemed the capture attention the best, though the book is so much more than that. Thematically, it's about freedom.
Here's a more complete one-liner, but it's a work in progress:
Cursed to change into a gargoyle if she disobeys her master's orders, Chalice is a thief who becomes a hero, as she risks her life to remain human.
Oooh, Paty. When I see the word theme my eyes start to glaze over and I'm transported back to high school lit. I never understood why a teacher would take a great story and make us dissect it until it was roadkill. I just wanted to enjoy the story.
In a class I recently took, the author said theme is an emotional element that can usually be boiled down into one word. Like redemption, self-acceptance, justice, or responsibility. It's the overarching emotional context of the book that is generally tied in with the H/H internal conflict.
I have a major difficulty trying to step back far enough from my books to see this magic arch. Then I start to worry that the internal conflict isn't strong enough because I can't see the theme.
So I lazily picked one from her short list for my current WIP. Redemption. I like 'revenge' better, but that only accounts for my hero.
High concept is one of those phases for which different people have different definitions. I've thought of it as that unique hook that immediately triggers an emotional response in the reader. This seems in line with CJ's definition.
I'll use Allison Brennan's high concept as an example.
"An earthquake releases a flood of dangerous criminals from San Quentin."
My immediate response to this is "Oh s#*t! What's going to happen?"
Karen, you always see to know exactly what your theme is and how to tease a reader. Can I rub your head? LOL
Kendra- LOL- I am the same way whenever this topic comems up either about my own work or someone elses- I don't get the overall theme- I just read and enjoy or write and enjoy- I don't care about all the other junk- but it seems to be a good writer you are supposed to know this stuff. ~sigh~
As for a one word, I guess it would be Self-acceptance. Both the H/H have to accept their pasts, what they did/happened to them and move on.
See that's my problem I can't use a natural disaster or bad guys/monsters to trigger and oh sh*t from a person. I have to find an emotional antle that intrigues.
Pitching, high concept, and all that is the bane of my existence. You'd think that being a PR person, it would be easy, right? No. Way. I can't do it without it sounding beyond idiotic in my head. I assume that will get better in time, as I get more comfortable with my ideas.
It helps me to see what other people write. I appreciate what y'all have put so far :)
Karen, I agree with Paty about your one-liners: You're very good at writing them.
Kendra, loved your analogy about dissecting stories until they are roadkill. LOL! I know a lot of writers say that's a great way to learn to write but I, too, just like to enjoy the stories.
Paty, there's also advice from many writers that says use what works for you and don't worry about the rest. If the theme/premise angle doesn't work for you to write a pitch, don't use it. You have definitely not "failed" nor are you "dense" just because this particular way of pitching a book doesn't click with you. Look at all the wonderful stories you have written!
Here's a suggestion that might (or might not!) help. Start asking why. Why is your heroine a workaholic? Why does she want to start a camp for sexually abused children? Was she abused as a child herself? Was someone close to her abused and she felt powerless to intervene, so she works to try to ease her guilt and make up for that?
Why does your hero use art as a creative outlet? By the way, that's a great twist for a career as "macho" as being a cowboy. Was his deceased mother/sister/other relative an artist who died from abuse and he wants to keep her memory alive? Is he conflicted by what he does or is he trying to prove something? He loves his art but is a rodeo cowboy to prove his masculinity?
Why would the heroine's past tear them apart? If she couldn't/didn't intervene when someone was abused and someone dear to him died from abuse because no one would help her, that would ratchet up the hook for your story.
Don't know if any of that fits your story or not, but perhaps more specifics about your story would make your pitch stronger. As always, these are just suggestions to "use what works and don't worry about the rest." :)
Here's a blurb about one of the stories in my nine-book series: "A woman left to die in a fire must relive her nightmarish memories to find out if the fireman she has come to love is a hero or an arsonist."
Thanks, Paty, for a wonderful blog reminder. It will help me develop my series to come up with a one-liner for each of the books as well as the overarching theme of the series.
I'm not a big theme fan, actually. I never know what mine is until after I've written the book. Part of the journey is writing the story, so I'm learning what happens as the characters do. How can you know what the theme is until it's done? I know writers who do, but I can't. And I don't agree with CJ that your theme needs to figure into your pitch.
I think a pitch needs to be clear, strong and specific. You don't want to be vague, and you don't want to ask rhetorical questions (some agents will auto toss a query that has even one rhetorical question in it).
If you can answer these three questions, your pitch is done: What does your character want, why does she want it, and what's standing in her way of getting it? GMC.
Thank you all for your suggestions and sharing your oneliners.
Karen said, What does your character want, why does she want it, and what's standing in her way of getting it?
She wants to set up a program where they use music therapy to help children of sexual abuse. She wants it because music is what helped her through her own abuse. Money and proving to herself she can help others heal emotionally when she is still fragile.
BTW- my outgoing e-mail isn't working so- Lisa, I can send to The Hearts Through History online RWA chapter, WRP loop, EPIC loop, and the Central Oregon Writers Guild. I can also post to the Western Romance Writers loop.
And I am willing to judge for us and RCRWA in an exchange.
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