Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Best of the Best



Over the holidays, I was asked on a few different ocasions what I was writing about.  I love to talk about writing.  I love it even more when someone is interested enough to ask me about it.  But to briefly sum up the thing I've been bleeding my heart and soul into for over a year (I don't want to say how long it's really been)? 

My response usually goes something like, "Um, well, there's this girl and these beasts, and the Protectors, and there was a meteoric rain that destroyed the planet, um..."   

My brain spasms, my mouth sputters incoherancies, I feel like a failure because now my writing sounds like a bunch of hooey.

This should be simple. After all, I'm the one who made it up.

Try as I might, I cannot clearly state the gist of my manuscript.  In light of this, and the several blog competitions/contests coming up on the subject, I have dedicated this week's Best of the Best to writing a clear pitch/logline and hopefully soon I will be able to write one myself :) 


33 comments:

  1. I have the SAME problem! You start explaining and the person you're explaining too gets this weird look like 'how the heck did you come up with that idea?'

    And then they ask you when it's going to be published...

    Which I just answer with 'Hopefully soon...'

    Haha

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  2. I do that too, lol. I write a lot better than I talk. I end up saying stuff like 'the bad dude' and 'this one kid'. I've memorized my one sentence pitch now so I don't go sputtering off incoherencies. :)

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  3. This is hard for me too--I dread it actually. Hey thanks for signing up for the character blogfest. I'm excited about yours too!

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  4. Hope, I am absolutely grateful to have found your blog through the Easily Flushed (I think) blog hop! You have the best links, and always timely, too, for some reason.

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  5. In my case, I've found that I have the most difficulty writing a good pitch/query/etc. when I don't even know what my own story's about. ;) I have that problem a lot... haha

    Thanks for this latest lot of links!!

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  6. Ahh.. I struggle with this as well.. majorly... thanks so much for the great links :)

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  7. Hey! I left you an award on my blog :) http://readingwritingandlovinit.blogspot.com/2012/01/wow-links-take-huge-chunk-of-time-lol.html

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  8. I am soooo bookmarking this page - I know this feeling all too well!
    Laura x

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  9. Definitely bookmarking! It is so hard to sum it up well. Thank you Hope.

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  10. Great post! I'm a new follower--excited to read about your adventures! :D

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  11. I'm sure this was a great and helpful post, but the moment my eyes locked onto the sweaty, muscled up Ice Man, I lost focus. Sorry :)

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  12. I have the same trouble, and force myself to come up with the "elevator pitch" - the one line you could give someone in a short elevator ride. Then two more lines, if they want to hear more. But there is also that thing that says it's best NOT to say too much about a WIP - it takes the energy out of it. You can say what genre is but that you prefer not to talk about it while it's in the formative stage. Or something that sounds better than what I just said. :-)

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  13. I have the same problem! It definitely helps to have a logline prepared!! Thanks for the links.

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  14. Drafting a succinct pitch is a challenge in and of itself (such an obvious statement, right?). That's where practice comes in. I've read some of those links before. Now to read the others. Thanks! :)

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  15. Thank you everyone and I'm glad these links are helpful! I'm working through them one at a time to get my description more focused. Then I think I better recite it a million times so I don't sound like a blundering idiot the next time someone asks me what I'm writing :)

    Bethany, you crack me up! That's why I put Val on there, to lure you in :)

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  16. I tend to not go out with people very often, but I randomly chatted up the dad of one of the other kids in daycare at an event. Turns out, we're both interested in writing, and we go out every few weeks just to talk about writing. It was fantastic during NaNo to bounce ideas off of him, even though he wasn't participating. So, yes, fantastic to talk to someone else who is interested in writing.

    Also, I'm cracking up because I used that same Iceman image once.

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  17. Found your post via the WORD + STUFF blog... perfect timing. Last night I found myself in the position of trying to succinctly explain the story in my ms. It was not pretty. *hides face* Thankfully they (writers too) understood and gave the "oh, yes that elevator pitch is a tough one to nail" nod.

    Thanks for the links - I'll check them out.

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