A couple of weeks ago we visited family in Alabama.
My father-in-law offered to take the kids and me to see the new Harry Potter movie. Of course they were delighted (it was all sold out here in Charlotte) and we headed off to the theater.
We settled into our seats, put on our 3-D glasses, and I leaned over and asked my father-in-law if he’d seen part one of the movie, prepared to set the stage for him a little if needed.
“No,” he said. “I haven’t seen any of the movies.”
I froze. “None of them? And you haven’t read the books, either?”
“Not a one.”
The previews were starting. I leaned closer and said, “Okay. Harry Potter is with the good guys. The bad guys want to kill everybody. It’s good versus evil.” It was all I had time to tell him.
He nodded. “Got it!”
Amazingly, although obviously he missed a lot of references and the whole wand thing at the end might have been confusing, he was able to really enjoy the movie and not be totally lost. Because it did boil down to a suspenseful question of whether the good guys were going to beat the bad guys. A familiar scene whether you’re talking about Macbeth or Lord of the Flies or an episode of Law and Order.
The nice thing about writing traditional mysteries is that the theme is very basic and understandable. I can quickly summarize my books: someone rubs people the wrong way. This person is killed. A sleuth investigates and learns who did it.
But all books should be able to be fairly easily summed up. This is important for pitching a book in person or writing a query letter. It’s also important if you’re writing sales copy for a self-published book. Because readers usually want a book that sounds like something they can understand.
Looking at the New York Times’ bestseller list right now, there are super-short descriptions of each novel. Some of them are better than others:
PORTRAIT OF A SPY, by Daniel Silva. (HarperCollins.) To stop a network of death, an international operative must reach into his violent past.
NOW YOU SEE HER, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Nina Bloom, who years ago changed her identity to save her life, is forced to confront the past and the killer she thought she had escaped.
THE CONFESSION, by John Grisham. (Knopf Doubleday.) A criminal wants to save an innocent man on death row, but he must convince the authorities he’s telling the truth.
Can you sum up your story super-briefly? How have you boiled it down to just the bare bones?
It’s relatively easy to describe a _plot_ in one sentence. The problem is describing the appeal of the story: The difference between a basic logline and a pitch.
My WIP:
THE MAN WHO DID TOO MUCH: a compulsive secret agent and a quirky spinster join forces to solve a kidnapping case.
Not a bad logline, but the problem will come when I try to move up to the “product description” or book jacket length.
I did a post the other day on the “premise” in a cozy mystery series, and how hard it can be to really nail the appeal in a description. With the great series, you just say the detective’s names, and that’s all the description anybody ever gives.
Elizabeth – What an effective way to sum up the essential question in the Harry Potter series! Of course there’s much more to it, but still, that is the essential point. It is important to be able to get right the bare bones of what our story is about – the core. My feeling is that doing that helps publishers and agents get the point of the book to sell it, and readers to understand it. It also helps the writer keep a story coherent.
Boiling it down to the basics is a great idea – in fact it’s probably a good way to start the whole process :)
Hmm, okay…
First Novel, due out next year: Nathan Shepherd, a reborn hero, must use past-life knowledge to destroy a creature feeding on the innocents of New York.
Current WIP: Nathan Shepherd must forge new alliances and repair damaged friendships to stop an ancient evil from being unleashed on the city.
I think for a writer, boiling down their book is one of the hardest things to do. How do you sum up a 90,000 word novel into ten? Maybe it’s easier to have someone else do it.
Thanks for the reminder about the importance of being able to sum up your story in one or two sentences. I learned about loglines a long time ago when I took my first screenwriting class, but they are still hard for me to write.
This is what I did for my latest mystery, Open Season: Embroiled in a serial murder case, Dallas homicide detectives Sarah Kingsly and Angel Johnson must come to terms with public and personal racial unrest as they track a serial killer who has his own race card to play.
And this is the one for my suspense novel, One Small Victory: Life can change in just an instant. That’s the harsh reality that Jenny Jasik faces when her son is killed in an automobile accident, but never in her wildest dreams did she ever expect to be working undercover as a member of a drug task force.
OK, I’ll try and rise to the challenge!
True – Libby fights convention to keep her brain injured husband at home and recovers her understanding of family.
The Rock Walker – When a quirky artist finds a baby on the rocks of Peggy’s Cove and the mother’s body is discovered a day later, RCMP officer, Kitty MacDonald, must overcome her own prejudices about small towns, to find the killer.
Actually I did a one line tag before I even wrote the full synopsis! Wasn’t great, but I managed.
Oh, this is so hard for me! I should probably finish my WIP before I try this, since right now the bare bones seem to be changing as I go …
The Daring Novelist–You’re so right–there’s persuasive copy and loglines. In fact, the New York Times description of “The Help” (currently #1 on the list) was awful, I thought: A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s Mississippi. I thought, “Well, YES, but that doesn’t make me want to read it.” I guess we’re supposed to infer the conflict. I do think that we have to be able to easily encapsulate our story before moving to step 2 and make it sound interesting. Something the NYT is hit or miss at. :)
I love compulsive people!
I’d love to get to that point where the series is just identified with the sleuth! Yeah, I write Sherlock Holmes books. Nuff said. :)
Paul–Sounds scary and intriguing! Well done!
Margot–There are soooo many details in Harry Potter. But the basic premise is pretty easy to grasp. Good point about keeping coherence.
Jemi–Sometimes it can be! Sometimes it changes, too, though.
Clarissa–It sure is for me! But then people ask me what I’m working on. I usually tell them who gets murdered. :)
Jan–Fantastic! Wow, you did that really well.
Alex–I do something similar–write the back cover copy before I write the book! Of course, that changes, too, a few times. But helps me focus on what I’m aiming for.
Louise–Which happens during a first draft!
Thanks, Elizabeth. I know they could use some spicing up. I’m just never sure what to give away and what to keep as a surprise when it comes to taglines and log lines.
I agree with The Daring Novelist; it is relatively simple to describe the plot of “The Cosy Knave”, but if I just do that, it doesn´t sound fun.
When the prodigal son comes home to roost, the vicious attacks on the Knavesborough gossips begin.
The one sentence pitch so many of us writers dread is a huge help with this! It taught me how to get to the point and include the important stuff. I certainly haven’t perfected it yet, but I’m getting better at it!
One line – I don’t know if I could do that.
Paul–I think giving away a little info just as a teaser can work pretty well. But I know what you mean–we need to have some surprises!
Heather–I’m so, so glad I never had to do a 1-sentence pitch. Because I can easily boil my stories down to a sentence, but I’m not sure how great they sound!
Maryann–I love them! You’re really good at it. I think all my screenwriting friends do especially well.
Sounds like a great suspense novel!
Diane–I think you could do it!
Dorte–I don’t know…sounds pretty enticing to me!
Ah, the joy of the log-line. Blake Snyder (Save the Cat) describes this as a single sentence that explodes a vision of the story or book into someones mind as soon as they hear it.
My current WIP: A terrorist is awakened after centuries of interment to save the future of humanity from his former jailer.
Gene–Sounds intriguing! I need to read “Save the Cat”–I keep coming across it.
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