The other day, Query Shark posted a query that she said broke all the rules, and still worked. It's short, and you really should read it. It's here. I'll wait a moment while you go read.
Done? Cool.
So, Query Shark reckons this breaks the rules. With all due respect, I disagree with her. Query Shark says this query works despite the fact that it breaks all the rules; I think it works because it transcends the rules. The query is perfect not because it lacks the necessary elements and makes up for it in voice, but because every single one of the elements is there, and the query still manages to avoid being formulaic. It’s such a perfect example of rising above the rules, rather than breaking them.
So what are the rules? Show your main character. Show your main conflict. Show the choice they have to make, and what's at stake. Show who or what opposes the main character in their quest to fulfil their goal. (Note that in every instance here I've said 'show', not 'tell'? Important. Take note.)
This query does exactly that. Main character? Claire. Conflict? Her cousin committed suicide and she wants to know why. Choice? Hunt down the boy responsible. Stakes? Life and death. Opposition? Claire ditches her entire persona, becomes someone obviously not her usual self, to hunt down a boy responsible for her cousin's suicide - and the query hints at death, both in the actual text and in the title of the novel.
Looks to me like this is a gorgeous-in-its-simplicity example not of breaking the rules, but how to follow them. Rules don't have to be formulaic, or constraining, or anti-creativity. Yes, queries are hard - but put some steel in your spine and dare to transcend the rules, rather than dismissing them.
I wish I knew the author of the query's name, so I could shout 'Go [name]!!' properly. I don't, but still: go you, author. Thanks for showing us how it's done :)
Showing posts with label querying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label querying. Show all posts
12 January 2011
27 July 2010
Pitching Head First
Dear Inky,
I need you to help me write a great pitch. Everyone says you need one, and I'm really failing at writing one that's intriguing.
Help,
Lifeless.
Heh. It's funny how topics go through cycles on the internet, and how some weeks it seems like everyone is asking the same thing. This week, it's pitches. The good news is, the basic elements of a pitch are dead easy, and if you've been reading this blog long enough, you already know them, because they're the same elements you use to create a sizzling Sentence.
So, the answer.
Without knowing anything about the story itself, here are the ingredients you need:
Protagonist and their driving need
Antagonist and their driving need
Compelling conflict, arising from the clash of needs
Interesting setting (as in, just include the interesting bits; the setting itself doesn't necessarily have to be fascinating; but what are the things that make it relevant to this story, that mean the story couldn't be told elsewhere?)
Twist - for the novel as a whole, this is kind of your climax - it's the key change that makes the story worth telling, the reason the end is different from the end, etc. For a pitch, though, you probably don't want to give away your ending necessarily, so it's pretty common to use your inciting incident here for this.
The inciting incident is the 'everything changes' moment, the one event that kicks the protag into action and forces them into the story.
Of course, there is one other thing that a great pitch needs that a good pitch doesn't have: voice. The pitch has to sound like the story, somehow. It needs to convey the same tone and mood as the novel so people know what to expect - and so it's not just a lifeless description on the page.
And the exciting news is, a great pitch can actually work to get you and your writing places - a friend I know just had requests for pages from an agent AND an editor, based solely on the pitch she delivered during her five minute pitch session at a conference.
And of course, these days, it's more and more common for authors to have input into their back cover copy - and if you've got a stellar pitch for the novel all polished and ready to go, what better place to start?
Pitching. It's not just for baseball ;)
I need you to help me write a great pitch. Everyone says you need one, and I'm really failing at writing one that's intriguing.
Help,
Lifeless.
Heh. It's funny how topics go through cycles on the internet, and how some weeks it seems like everyone is asking the same thing. This week, it's pitches. The good news is, the basic elements of a pitch are dead easy, and if you've been reading this blog long enough, you already know them, because they're the same elements you use to create a sizzling Sentence.
So, the answer.
Without knowing anything about the story itself, here are the ingredients you need:
Protagonist and their driving need
Antagonist and their driving need
Compelling conflict, arising from the clash of needs
Interesting setting (as in, just include the interesting bits; the setting itself doesn't necessarily have to be fascinating; but what are the things that make it relevant to this story, that mean the story couldn't be told elsewhere?)
Twist - for the novel as a whole, this is kind of your climax - it's the key change that makes the story worth telling, the reason the end is different from the end, etc. For a pitch, though, you probably don't want to give away your ending necessarily, so it's pretty common to use your inciting incident here for this.
The inciting incident is the 'everything changes' moment, the one event that kicks the protag into action and forces them into the story.
Of course, there is one other thing that a great pitch needs that a good pitch doesn't have: voice. The pitch has to sound like the story, somehow. It needs to convey the same tone and mood as the novel so people know what to expect - and so it's not just a lifeless description on the page.
And the exciting news is, a great pitch can actually work to get you and your writing places - a friend I know just had requests for pages from an agent AND an editor, based solely on the pitch she delivered during her five minute pitch session at a conference.
And of course, these days, it's more and more common for authors to have input into their back cover copy - and if you've got a stellar pitch for the novel all polished and ready to go, what better place to start?
Pitching. It's not just for baseball ;)
29 April 2009
High Concept: What, Why and How?
When I first heard the term 'high concept', my first thought was 'literary'. I assumed, because of the word 'high', that high concept novels were those outstanding literary-style (although they may be genre fic too) books that go on to win prizes, that talk about the deep and meaningful of life, that everyone loves and adores because they matter - the books that become 'literary classics'.
In a way, I was right.
But in another, bigger way, I was wrong. Because the sister assumption to my definition assumption was that there was no way I could write high concept fiction. Not yet. Not without learning a whole lot more about life and people and literature.
Beep. Wrong!
I, as I am right now, and you, as you are right now, can write high concept fiction. Because it isn't actually as complicated as it sounds.
But first, why do we want to write high concept fiction? Never mind what it is - why do we have to care? Well, morals and creative impulses and desire to matter and all that aside, here's one very good reason why you want to write high concept fiction:
Because it's what agents are looking for.
Seriously. It's true. Everyone wants something high concept, because high concept sells.
So, what is high concept fiction? Basically, it boils down to this:
"Story ideas, treatments and screenplays can all have High Concept premises. But only High Concept projects can be sold from a pitch because they are pitch driven. Non-High Concept projects can’t be sold from a pitch because they are execution driven. They have to be read to be appreciated and their appeal isn’t obvious by merely running a logline past someone."
It's instantly obvious, reading this, that high concept is what agents want, and what can make your story stand out to the agents who read your queries. The gang over at Murderati put it this way, in what is perhaps the single best explanation of it that I've ever read, the one that made all these nebulous ideas I had about it click into place:
"If you can tell your story in one line and everyone who hears it can see exactly what the movie or book is - AND a majority of people who hear it will want to see it or read it - that’s high concept. ... Here’s another indicator. When you get the reaction: “Wow, I wish I’d thought of that!” or even better, “I’m going to have to kill you” - you’ve got a high-concept premise."
Isn't that exactly the reaction we all want from agents, editors, publishers and readers?
So, how do we learn which ideas are the ones that will illicit this reaction? How do we learn what a high concept idea looks like? One word.
Practice.
If you read through the rest of that article on Murderati, you'll see that the author learned high concept in a script-writing course where students had to come up with a pitch a week, which they presented to the class. For every pitch that was made, the pitcher added a dollar to the prize jar, and the pitch the class voted as the winner received the prize.
With that kind of motivation you learn pretty quickly what works and what doesn't.
So, as of today, I'm giving us all an opportunity to practice coming up with high concept pitches. If you look over in the sidebar, you'll see there's a poll. Those are this week's sentences: three pitches for three brand new ideas I invented off the top of my head this week, just for this purpose.
Each week there will be a new three sentences, and every forth week I'll post the three previous winners to come up with a 'grand winner' for each almost-month.
How does this help you learn? Well, you can learn simply by observing which sentences win - but I'm also giving you the chance to participate. At any time, you can email me at blot.of.ink(@)gmail(.)com with a pitch - or several - and I'll put it in the queue of sentences to appear :) Please include the word 'pitch' in your subject heading - and remember, a pitch is one or two sentences only!
As an interesting addendum, while I was creating these sentences I learned something very important: like creating The Sentence (a very similar concept to the logline, only a bit stricter in its parameters), it's not just the idea, it's how you phrase it. Take the first sentence for example. The original version was:
A newly orphaned girl sets out to determine whether she belongs to the tribe of the ocean or the age-old forest, but discovers the answer is much larger than either.
which I think we can all agree is a lot more boring. Why? Because the focus is on a passive conflict, not an active one. The key verbs are determine and discovers. However, in the new version:
At her father's funeral the people of the sea and the creatures of the forest both arrive to claim the newly orphaned girl for their own - and neither side is willing to let her get away.
the focus switches from her decision (totally internal, potentially very boring, and at the very least cliched) to the fight between the clans for her (external, potentially exciting, a lot less cliched; after all, not every girl is fought over by the ocean and the forest ;)).
Here's to high concept pitching, and to learning how to grab agents' attention! :)
PS - Love this quote from an excellent related article:
"Forgive me as I shrink a few inches, apply some lipstick, don a print dress and look at you from over my glasses as I mix a bowl of cookie dough. Yes, I have become your mother, in order to say this: 'It's just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor man.'
Meaning: It's just as easy to be passionate about a story with some known elements as it is to be passionate about a story with no known elements."
What do you think? Should we be choosey about which ideas we fall in love with? Or is it art for arts' sake?
In a way, I was right.
But in another, bigger way, I was wrong. Because the sister assumption to my definition assumption was that there was no way I could write high concept fiction. Not yet. Not without learning a whole lot more about life and people and literature.
Beep. Wrong!
I, as I am right now, and you, as you are right now, can write high concept fiction. Because it isn't actually as complicated as it sounds.
But first, why do we want to write high concept fiction? Never mind what it is - why do we have to care? Well, morals and creative impulses and desire to matter and all that aside, here's one very good reason why you want to write high concept fiction:
Because it's what agents are looking for.
Seriously. It's true. Everyone wants something high concept, because high concept sells.
So, what is high concept fiction? Basically, it boils down to this:
"Story ideas, treatments and screenplays can all have High Concept premises. But only High Concept projects can be sold from a pitch because they are pitch driven. Non-High Concept projects can’t be sold from a pitch because they are execution driven. They have to be read to be appreciated and their appeal isn’t obvious by merely running a logline past someone."
It's instantly obvious, reading this, that high concept is what agents want, and what can make your story stand out to the agents who read your queries. The gang over at Murderati put it this way, in what is perhaps the single best explanation of it that I've ever read, the one that made all these nebulous ideas I had about it click into place:
"If you can tell your story in one line and everyone who hears it can see exactly what the movie or book is - AND a majority of people who hear it will want to see it or read it - that’s high concept. ... Here’s another indicator. When you get the reaction: “Wow, I wish I’d thought of that!” or even better, “I’m going to have to kill you” - you’ve got a high-concept premise."
Isn't that exactly the reaction we all want from agents, editors, publishers and readers?
So, how do we learn which ideas are the ones that will illicit this reaction? How do we learn what a high concept idea looks like? One word.
Practice.
If you read through the rest of that article on Murderati, you'll see that the author learned high concept in a script-writing course where students had to come up with a pitch a week, which they presented to the class. For every pitch that was made, the pitcher added a dollar to the prize jar, and the pitch the class voted as the winner received the prize.
With that kind of motivation you learn pretty quickly what works and what doesn't.
So, as of today, I'm giving us all an opportunity to practice coming up with high concept pitches. If you look over in the sidebar, you'll see there's a poll. Those are this week's sentences: three pitches for three brand new ideas I invented off the top of my head this week, just for this purpose.
Each week there will be a new three sentences, and every forth week I'll post the three previous winners to come up with a 'grand winner' for each almost-month.
How does this help you learn? Well, you can learn simply by observing which sentences win - but I'm also giving you the chance to participate. At any time, you can email me at blot.of.ink(@)gmail(.)com with a pitch - or several - and I'll put it in the queue of sentences to appear :) Please include the word 'pitch' in your subject heading - and remember, a pitch is one or two sentences only!
As an interesting addendum, while I was creating these sentences I learned something very important: like creating The Sentence (a very similar concept to the logline, only a bit stricter in its parameters), it's not just the idea, it's how you phrase it. Take the first sentence for example. The original version was:
A newly orphaned girl sets out to determine whether she belongs to the tribe of the ocean or the age-old forest, but discovers the answer is much larger than either.
which I think we can all agree is a lot more boring. Why? Because the focus is on a passive conflict, not an active one. The key verbs are determine and discovers. However, in the new version:
At her father's funeral the people of the sea and the creatures of the forest both arrive to claim the newly orphaned girl for their own - and neither side is willing to let her get away.
the focus switches from her decision (totally internal, potentially very boring, and at the very least cliched) to the fight between the clans for her (external, potentially exciting, a lot less cliched; after all, not every girl is fought over by the ocean and the forest ;)).
Here's to high concept pitching, and to learning how to grab agents' attention! :)
PS - Love this quote from an excellent related article:
"Forgive me as I shrink a few inches, apply some lipstick, don a print dress and look at you from over my glasses as I mix a bowl of cookie dough. Yes, I have become your mother, in order to say this: 'It's just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor man.'
Meaning: It's just as easy to be passionate about a story with some known elements as it is to be passionate about a story with no known elements."
What do you think? Should we be choosey about which ideas we fall in love with? Or is it art for arts' sake?
21 April 2009
Queries and Character Tweets
First up, my characters now have a Twitter profile! You can follow them here, at InkysCharacters. Jessana Peakes, MC of my WIP Jesscapades, has been the first to speak so far :)
Now, on to queries. I apologise for this being late, but I had to delay my analysis of the queries because I ended up being out of town on the weekend, and spent yesterday and the day before (very thrillingly) catching up on uni work. Blech!
Sadly, I missed the deadline to post my comments on my final picks on Nathan's blog, which I feel bad about... So I haven't actually picked my top 5 yet. But that's okay: I can do that as I analyse here, and you'll get to see my thoughts as I think them! Oh, hoorah!
*eyebrow* Stop looking at me like that. You know this will be fun. Really.
#20 In The Driver's Seat
I liked the honesty behind this one. I could see it being an interesting, fresh memoir. But ultimately there's not enough sense of voice here to outweigh things like the newbie mistakes in the final paragraph, and to compete against some of the other queries.
#22 Star Fragments
This one had hints of a great snarky voice, but ultimately the topic's just too cliched in my mind compared to some of the others. Also, 88k is rather long for YA. Pass.
#28 Long Shot Lost
In the end, this is an example of having to reject because something's not right for me. I can see that this might have potential as a solid sci fi novel, but without the familiarity with the genre that a real sci fi lover would have, I can't say whether it's cliche or just... standard. Either way, there's nothing here that zings that makes me reach for the yes button.
#26 Glyph
Pretty much, this is a terrible query. More than half of it isn't even about the story, it makes all sorts of unsubstantiated claims (tell us it's got dark humour in it? why not just show us?), I have no idea who the MC is or what the core conflict is - but I held onto this one in the hopes it might improve miraculously, because both the title and the fact that it's modern mythology and a thriller/mystery really grabs me. But in the end, pass.
#33 Beneath The Heart of Beauty
Good premise with lots of potential, but the query doesn't really flow, which makes me assume the novel wouldn't either. Thus, rejection.
It's at this point that you begin to realise the real importance of a good query letter (although an imperfect letter can still receive requests, if the right things show through - see Nathan's summary posts); it might be totally unfair of me to dismiss #33 on the basis of a clunky query. In actual fact, the novel might be gorgeous - but when it's up against 13 others, and I'm only allowed to pick 5, I'm looking for things I can use to narrow down my options, and it's just not worth taking a risk that the novel might be better than the query for anything less than an outstanding premise.
Lesson here: make sure your query letter is professional, and reads like someone with an excellent command of the English language wrote it. Not just a competent command - an excellent command.
#30 XLI
I'm so torn on this one. On the one hand, it's packed full of squee - the MC is just FABulous - but on the other, 136k seems long to begin with, and when I read the sample pages, I found out why: the writing really needs trimming. If the first few pages are anything to go by, this could easily be cut back to 110k. So, I guess that's my answer: Dear Author, cut 20k and requery me :D
Another lesson: You REALLY want to make sure those first few pages sparkle.
#37 Secluded Alleys
In the end, this is reject, though the idea/premise has a lot of possibility. The query is just too messy for me to make real sense of the plot.
#40 Becoming Emily Novak
This is a well-written query, which is what got it into my final list, but rereading it in light of trying to pick only 5, it just doesn't sizzle at me the way some of them do. I guess it's mostly a matter of just not my genre.
#1 Watcher's Web
I so wanted to like this one, since it has a promising premise, but in the end I'm rejecting because the only two paragraphs in the query that discuss the book a) outline the girl's powers and b) tell us she's caught between two forces, blah blah, cliche. There isn't really a strong sense of plot at all, nor of the central conflict. So, reject :(
#38 Birthright
It's right about now that I'm feeling the pinch of only being allowed to ask for 5 partials. Can't I have 6? Please? No? Drat. In which case, this one gets rejected because the query is a bit difficult to follow, and it's mostly tell, not show. Drat.
#27 Ghostland
Again, with the wanting-to-request. HOWEVER, on really really close scrutiny, I discover that although this has a super-shiny idea, nothing about the voice captures me, and I'm not too sure if the central conflict (that the MC isn't allowed to love) does either. Regretful rejection.
#43 The Lion's Mane
This is the complete opposite to #28 for me. While the query isn't especially elegant - it's a lot more tell than show, simply listing events - I know enough about the fantasy genre to see that this story could work, and work well. Partial request from me.
#36 Rosie's Child
I'm not 100% sure what it is about this one that draws me to it. The query isn't the best, but there's a quiet sense of mystery about it that I like. It's a solid concept, and I just... *waves hands* I dunno. This one's a gut request :D
#9 If It Ain't Broke
Unique premise, promise of a good solid voice, neat and tidy query with a solid conflict = request for partial. Yay :)
And finally, there's the fifteenth in my list, the query that had me hitting 'request' even before I'd finished reading the other queries:
#17 Inugami
The sheer squee value of the premise had me hitting 'request' before I even remembered that I could only request 5. Looking at it now, the query itself isn't especially noteworthy: it tells rather than shows, and while it's technically correct there isn't actually that much of a sense of voice. So I guess this is an instance of the subject matter winning out for me.
You'll notice in the end I only picked four to request, because I really can't narrow it down between 38 and 27 (though the writing in 38 is stronger, so I'd probably go with that?).
And now, a quick summary of What We've Learned:
And that's it! Just in case you're not satiated by today's laaaarge discussion on queries, check out these great links:
Nathan Bransford on the query letter formula; the anatomy of a query letter; more on the anatomy; and Kristen Nelson has links to a whole bunch of queries that worked for her in the sidebar, about halfway down. There's also the Query Shark :)
So, who of you participated in agent for a day? What did you learn? And to everyone - is the stuff I've pulled out here useful? Did you know this kind of thing already, or is this new for you?
And the big question, do you actually plan to query one day?
Now, on to queries. I apologise for this being late, but I had to delay my analysis of the queries because I ended up being out of town on the weekend, and spent yesterday and the day before (very thrillingly) catching up on uni work. Blech!
Sadly, I missed the deadline to post my comments on my final picks on Nathan's blog, which I feel bad about... So I haven't actually picked my top 5 yet. But that's okay: I can do that as I analyse here, and you'll get to see my thoughts as I think them! Oh, hoorah!
*eyebrow* Stop looking at me like that. You know this will be fun. Really.
#20 In The Driver's Seat
I liked the honesty behind this one. I could see it being an interesting, fresh memoir. But ultimately there's not enough sense of voice here to outweigh things like the newbie mistakes in the final paragraph, and to compete against some of the other queries.
#22 Star Fragments
This one had hints of a great snarky voice, but ultimately the topic's just too cliched in my mind compared to some of the others. Also, 88k is rather long for YA. Pass.
#28 Long Shot Lost
In the end, this is an example of having to reject because something's not right for me. I can see that this might have potential as a solid sci fi novel, but without the familiarity with the genre that a real sci fi lover would have, I can't say whether it's cliche or just... standard. Either way, there's nothing here that zings that makes me reach for the yes button.
#26 Glyph
Pretty much, this is a terrible query. More than half of it isn't even about the story, it makes all sorts of unsubstantiated claims (tell us it's got dark humour in it? why not just show us?), I have no idea who the MC is or what the core conflict is - but I held onto this one in the hopes it might improve miraculously, because both the title and the fact that it's modern mythology and a thriller/mystery really grabs me. But in the end, pass.
#33 Beneath The Heart of Beauty
Good premise with lots of potential, but the query doesn't really flow, which makes me assume the novel wouldn't either. Thus, rejection.
It's at this point that you begin to realise the real importance of a good query letter (although an imperfect letter can still receive requests, if the right things show through - see Nathan's summary posts); it might be totally unfair of me to dismiss #33 on the basis of a clunky query. In actual fact, the novel might be gorgeous - but when it's up against 13 others, and I'm only allowed to pick 5, I'm looking for things I can use to narrow down my options, and it's just not worth taking a risk that the novel might be better than the query for anything less than an outstanding premise.
Lesson here: make sure your query letter is professional, and reads like someone with an excellent command of the English language wrote it. Not just a competent command - an excellent command.
#30 XLI
I'm so torn on this one. On the one hand, it's packed full of squee - the MC is just FABulous - but on the other, 136k seems long to begin with, and when I read the sample pages, I found out why: the writing really needs trimming. If the first few pages are anything to go by, this could easily be cut back to 110k. So, I guess that's my answer: Dear Author, cut 20k and requery me :D
Another lesson: You REALLY want to make sure those first few pages sparkle.
#37 Secluded Alleys
In the end, this is reject, though the idea/premise has a lot of possibility. The query is just too messy for me to make real sense of the plot.
#40 Becoming Emily Novak
This is a well-written query, which is what got it into my final list, but rereading it in light of trying to pick only 5, it just doesn't sizzle at me the way some of them do. I guess it's mostly a matter of just not my genre.
#1 Watcher's Web
I so wanted to like this one, since it has a promising premise, but in the end I'm rejecting because the only two paragraphs in the query that discuss the book a) outline the girl's powers and b) tell us she's caught between two forces, blah blah, cliche. There isn't really a strong sense of plot at all, nor of the central conflict. So, reject :(
#38 Birthright
It's right about now that I'm feeling the pinch of only being allowed to ask for 5 partials. Can't I have 6? Please? No? Drat. In which case, this one gets rejected because the query is a bit difficult to follow, and it's mostly tell, not show. Drat.
#27 Ghostland
Again, with the wanting-to-request. HOWEVER, on really really close scrutiny, I discover that although this has a super-shiny idea, nothing about the voice captures me, and I'm not too sure if the central conflict (that the MC isn't allowed to love) does either. Regretful rejection.
#43 The Lion's Mane
This is the complete opposite to #28 for me. While the query isn't especially elegant - it's a lot more tell than show, simply listing events - I know enough about the fantasy genre to see that this story could work, and work well. Partial request from me.
#36 Rosie's Child
I'm not 100% sure what it is about this one that draws me to it. The query isn't the best, but there's a quiet sense of mystery about it that I like. It's a solid concept, and I just... *waves hands* I dunno. This one's a gut request :D
#9 If It Ain't Broke
Unique premise, promise of a good solid voice, neat and tidy query with a solid conflict = request for partial. Yay :)
And finally, there's the fifteenth in my list, the query that had me hitting 'request' even before I'd finished reading the other queries:
#17 Inugami
The sheer squee value of the premise had me hitting 'request' before I even remembered that I could only request 5. Looking at it now, the query itself isn't especially noteworthy: it tells rather than shows, and while it's technically correct there isn't actually that much of a sense of voice. So I guess this is an instance of the subject matter winning out for me.
You'll notice in the end I only picked four to request, because I really can't narrow it down between 38 and 27 (though the writing in 38 is stronger, so I'd probably go with that?).
And now, a quick summary of What We've Learned:
- Make sure your work is up to scratch before you query. You don't want to come across as a newbie, and you want to know basic things like how to punctuate, how to spell, and you want to be able to write with some degree of finesse.
- Know your lengths! Know what the acceptable lengths for your genre are, and stick to them!
- Have voice, whether it's funny or snarky or lyrical or quirky. Yes, it's a business letter, but that doesn't mean bland, dry and boring.
- Know what it is that's fresh about your work; know what's different in your story to others in your genre, and let the agent know this too!
- Make sure your query clearly mentions the central conflict of the plot (the inciting incident, often), the hook, and the key theme. If you can, SHOW these rather than telling them (see links below). Give us plot, give us conflict!
- Make sure your query is easy to read and understand; if an agent has to read it twice to figure out the twists you're describing, you better hope everything else is fantastic enough to prevent a rejection.
- High concept: this is such a difficult thing to define, but what it means in this context for me is make sure your conflict is a worthy one, something people will actually care about - not just, will I find raisins for my breakfast or not? That sort of thing ;)
And that's it! Just in case you're not satiated by today's laaaarge discussion on queries, check out these great links:
Nathan Bransford on the query letter formula; the anatomy of a query letter; more on the anatomy; and Kristen Nelson has links to a whole bunch of queries that worked for her in the sidebar, about halfway down. There's also the Query Shark :)
So, who of you participated in agent for a day? What did you learn? And to everyone - is the stuff I've pulled out here useful? Did you know this kind of thing already, or is this new for you?
And the big question, do you actually plan to query one day?
12 January 2009
InkfeverPLUS and Goals
First up, I'm playing with the back end of the site a lot in prep for a big change. Because of this, I've changed the url of the InkfeverPLUS site to http://inkfeverplus.blogspot.com - and because of this, all of the links on the InkfeverPLUS site are now broken.
I'm sorry about this in that it's a huge inconvenience to you all, but I'm not sorry in that it provides me the excuse I needed to do the site redesign I've been thinking about. So, from now until maybe the end of February, the InkfeverPLUS site will be down. I'll post again when it's back up again. Thanks for bearing with me :)
Now, on to goals...
Hmm. I haven't really had a chance to give this a lot of thought prior to right now. So I'm kinda making this up as I go along. I think, though, that I'm going to make them very simple; the year is going to be insane enough what with a new job, a new uni, a new course.... etc.
Right.
1) Finish Jesscapades. Edit. Polish.
2) Query Jesscapades to at least 5 agents. (Yes, I hope to do a ton more. But like I said - aiming simple: I already know 5 agents I wish to query.)
3) Roll out the new 'website' and get InkfeverPLUS up and running properly. This is not complex - just time consuming.
4) Blog regularly.
5) Start and finish Jesscapades' sequel.
6) READ. 50 books in the year would be good; I think I did about 35 last year. I'll settle for 40, though, if the year gets crazy on me O:)
7) Oh yeah, big one - finish 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Dogs, and get it out there for sale! :)
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is it, I think. It doesn't look like a lot - but on the other hand, blogging regularly is pretty big for me, and the list does include finishing two novels, which is one more than I finished last year :D
I'd also like to increase my total word count again, and hit 200,000 words. If I finish both novels that will give me ~140,000 right there, so it should be doable...
Wish me luck! :D
--> What's your top goal for the year?
I'm sorry about this in that it's a huge inconvenience to you all, but I'm not sorry in that it provides me the excuse I needed to do the site redesign I've been thinking about. So, from now until maybe the end of February, the InkfeverPLUS site will be down. I'll post again when it's back up again. Thanks for bearing with me :)
Now, on to goals...
Hmm. I haven't really had a chance to give this a lot of thought prior to right now. So I'm kinda making this up as I go along. I think, though, that I'm going to make them very simple; the year is going to be insane enough what with a new job, a new uni, a new course.... etc.
Right.
1) Finish Jesscapades. Edit. Polish.
2) Query Jesscapades to at least 5 agents. (Yes, I hope to do a ton more. But like I said - aiming simple: I already know 5 agents I wish to query.)
3) Roll out the new 'website' and get InkfeverPLUS up and running properly. This is not complex - just time consuming.
4) Blog regularly.
5) Start and finish Jesscapades' sequel.
6) READ. 50 books in the year would be good; I think I did about 35 last year. I'll settle for 40, though, if the year gets crazy on me O:)
7) Oh yeah, big one - finish 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Dogs, and get it out there for sale! :)
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is it, I think. It doesn't look like a lot - but on the other hand, blogging regularly is pretty big for me, and the list does include finishing two novels, which is one more than I finished last year :D
I'd also like to increase my total word count again, and hit 200,000 words. If I finish both novels that will give me ~140,000 right there, so it should be doable...
Wish me luck! :D
--> What's your top goal for the year?
07 January 2009
A Bit Of A Ramble To Kick Off The New Year...
So, it is Wednesday. Yes, uh huh, it is. And I was supposed to post on Monday.
...
I did, didn't I? Can't you all see that lovely book review down there, saying it was posted on Monday? O:)
Well, it's the 7th already: an entire week into the New Year. How exciting. How tremulous. How... odd. I've been thinking about 2009 for so long now that it's strange to think I'm now actually here. This year will be a very different year for me: I've got a new job, and am supervising people (scary but good), I'm starting a new uni course at a new uni (hoorah, I'm nearly done!), my mum and baby sister are moving away (sniff, tears) - and I plan to query.
Yes, that's right. It's 2009, the year in which I intend to make my query debut. Hoorah! Ideally I would like to start doing this mid-year. It will depend on how busy the new uni course ends up being, and consequently how much time I will have to write - a lot more now I have the new job!
Writing for the last month has been nearly non-existent. I mean, I did write a 10,000+ word play, and add about 3k to the 33dogs book, but nothing on any novel. I'm absolutely itching to get back to Jesscapades - but alack, that shall have to wait until February. This month the 33dogs book is due, the play is being performed (in a week and a half, argh-argh!), I'm going away for 8 days without internet access (during which I'll be directing the play and helping run a banquet). I have to create about 40 characters with profile and motives and goals for a murder mystery night, keep the house in a saleable condition (hoorah, open day on Saturday!), help my Mum move, and create Dad's birthday present which is now only 1.5 months late :S
Argh. This month is going to be insane.
I'll do my best to keep up with blogging, but consider this forewarning: you might be getting a disproportionately large number of book review posts O:)
On Friday I'll recap what I achieved officially last year, and ponder on what goals I'll be setting for the coming year.
Thanks to all of you who regularly read Inkfever - it's truly heartwarming to watch my little visitor counter at the bottom of the page slowly ticking its way towards 2,000 :) The blog is now officially one year and one month old, and I know a couple of you have been following it right from the beginning.
To readers old and new, to readers writerly or not - thank you for sharing in my life, my dreams, my goals and my opinions. May 2009 be good for you (yes, good for you, not kind to you - sadly, two very different things ;)), and may you blossom through all adversity.
Here's to making our way through another year, and celebrating once again at the end :)
~Inky
...
I did, didn't I? Can't you all see that lovely book review down there, saying it was posted on Monday? O:)
Well, it's the 7th already: an entire week into the New Year. How exciting. How tremulous. How... odd. I've been thinking about 2009 for so long now that it's strange to think I'm now actually here. This year will be a very different year for me: I've got a new job, and am supervising people (scary but good), I'm starting a new uni course at a new uni (hoorah, I'm nearly done!), my mum and baby sister are moving away (sniff, tears) - and I plan to query.
Yes, that's right. It's 2009, the year in which I intend to make my query debut. Hoorah! Ideally I would like to start doing this mid-year. It will depend on how busy the new uni course ends up being, and consequently how much time I will have to write - a lot more now I have the new job!
Writing for the last month has been nearly non-existent. I mean, I did write a 10,000+ word play, and add about 3k to the 33dogs book, but nothing on any novel. I'm absolutely itching to get back to Jesscapades - but alack, that shall have to wait until February. This month the 33dogs book is due, the play is being performed (in a week and a half, argh-argh!), I'm going away for 8 days without internet access (during which I'll be directing the play and helping run a banquet). I have to create about 40 characters with profile and motives and goals for a murder mystery night, keep the house in a saleable condition (hoorah, open day on Saturday!), help my Mum move, and create Dad's birthday present which is now only 1.5 months late :S
Argh. This month is going to be insane.
I'll do my best to keep up with blogging, but consider this forewarning: you might be getting a disproportionately large number of book review posts O:)
On Friday I'll recap what I achieved officially last year, and ponder on what goals I'll be setting for the coming year.
Thanks to all of you who regularly read Inkfever - it's truly heartwarming to watch my little visitor counter at the bottom of the page slowly ticking its way towards 2,000 :) The blog is now officially one year and one month old, and I know a couple of you have been following it right from the beginning.
To readers old and new, to readers writerly or not - thank you for sharing in my life, my dreams, my goals and my opinions. May 2009 be good for you (yes, good for you, not kind to you - sadly, two very different things ;)), and may you blossom through all adversity.
Here's to making our way through another year, and celebrating once again at the end :)
~Inky
30 September 2008
Addendum to Think Sideways
Just as an addition to the previous post, if you are considering trying the Think Sideways course, and want more info, Holly has opened one of the student discussion forums (read-only) so that non-members can see what we're getting up to :o) And if you want more general information, you can check out the curriculum and the FAQs , plus a really interesting survey on how much it costs to write a novel, and why learning to generate ideas and plan projects on a deadline is a critical career writer's skill.
And even if you aren't considering signing up, here's a lovely freebie for you - lesson 11, which discusses in detail how to put together the dreaded query letter, proposals, synopses, and editor outlines. Just click here :) (Yes, this is a legal give-away!)
And don't forget to check out my review of month two below :)
And even if you aren't considering signing up, here's a lovely freebie for you - lesson 11, which discusses in detail how to put together the dreaded query letter, proposals, synopses, and editor outlines. Just click here :) (Yes, this is a legal give-away!)
And don't forget to check out my review of month two below :)
18 July 2008
Super Largely Huge Congratulations...
... to my good friend Windsong, who's just received a request for a partial on her first novel after only two queries! And from a very well-known agency, too! :D
Fingers, hair, toes and eyes are all crossed for you, girlie! Rah rah!
Fingers, hair, toes and eyes are all crossed for you, girlie! Rah rah!
07 July 2008
Welcome to my Sidebar: Folio
"Thinking beyond the page."
Who: This is Folio Literary Management's shiny new blog. Folio represents a wide range of genres. Their author list includes Caitlin Kittredge (Night Life), Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain) and Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely). The blog is run by several of the members of the agency.
What: This is a fairly new blog - it's been running since late April - but it looks set to be a winner. Another 'industry' blog, it's crammed full of delicious tidbits about the business side of writing, and those all important, elusive creatures - agents :)
Where: Right here, or here: http://foliolit.blogspot.com/
Why: This blog looks set to be chock full of goodies for the wanna-be writer wanting the inside scoop on agenting. Topics covered so far include query letter tips, the top 5 things writers can do to help their in-house publicist, ten pieces of advice to improve your writer-agent relationship, and how to get the most out of writers conferences. There are also some 'opinion' pieces, such as what gets particular agents going with regards to characters. It may be new, but it's already home to a wealth of information - check it out ;)
When: Looks like once a week :)
Who: This is Folio Literary Management's shiny new blog. Folio represents a wide range of genres. Their author list includes Caitlin Kittredge (Night Life), Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain) and Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely). The blog is run by several of the members of the agency.
What: This is a fairly new blog - it's been running since late April - but it looks set to be a winner. Another 'industry' blog, it's crammed full of delicious tidbits about the business side of writing, and those all important, elusive creatures - agents :)
Where: Right here, or here: http://foliolit.blogspot.com/
Why: This blog looks set to be chock full of goodies for the wanna-be writer wanting the inside scoop on agenting. Topics covered so far include query letter tips, the top 5 things writers can do to help their in-house publicist, ten pieces of advice to improve your writer-agent relationship, and how to get the most out of writers conferences. There are also some 'opinion' pieces, such as what gets particular agents going with regards to characters. It may be new, but it's already home to a wealth of information - check it out ;)
When: Looks like once a week :)
01 July 2008
June in Review
So, happy July everyone! Already - can you believe it? I'm not sure I can. The year is half over, and it feels like it's only just begun.
Anyway. What did I accomplish in this last month of the first half of the year? Let's have a look:
* Finished 1 short story, Not Fantasy. Would like to have done more, but that's okay. It's been a busy month.
* Made two submissions, SFB and Shoe. SFB required MASSIVE rewrites to get it to a sub-able stage, and I'm awfully proud of how it's turned out :)
* Very, very nearly made my goal of 15k of writing, almost all of which was done on The Project.
* Outlined a story that's been bouncing around for a while, temporarily titled Fairy Tale Ending.
* Finally, after much struggle and heartache, pegged down an outline for The Project. Am immensely happy about this.
* Began a new play, Where Your Treasure Is.
As for the year as a whole, I'm rather proud of the work that I've done so far. I think I've come quite a long way from the writer I was at the end of December - some of the highlights being the completed first draft of my first ever novel, To Be An Evil Overlord... and my entry into the world of submissions - thus far I've made 5 submissions of plays and short stories :)
I've learnt important things about structure, I'm slowly learning to pare back my overwriting, and I've managed to write more than one short story that has not only stayed short, but that I'm actually quite proud of. My total word count for the year so far is nearly 74,000 words, which is fast approaching last year's total of 102,000, which included 50,000 for nano in November. I've got plans for Nano, outlines for novels, I'm learning to recognise which stories will work and which won't, and I've discovered that I really do have something to say after all - to which end I've started and been running with reasonable success (I think ;)) this lovely blog (yes, despite the archive record, this blog was only started at the very beginning of the year).
So, what would I like to achieve in the second half of the year?
* 2 submissions per month, which is what I've so far been achieving since I began submitting in late April.
* Finish and complete at least one revision of The Project. I'm working on a TP blitz at the moment and hope to have a draft done in mid-August.
* Pare back my writing even more - stop over-writing - learn to recognise what is significant to the story, and what is not.
* Win Nano again. I'm fairly sure I'll be starting my mid-grade fantasy series for this, as it will be a big incentive to actually be able to complete a novel in under 50k.
I'm sure I'll think of more goals month-by-month, but for now, those are the big things.
And more than anything, I hope I'll continue to grow both as a writer and as a person, and that I will never lose sight of the bigger picture and what I have to say.
Thanks to all of you who read my often-rambly comments here. Your support and comments make this endeavour worthwhile :)
Anyway. What did I accomplish in this last month of the first half of the year? Let's have a look:
* Finished 1 short story, Not Fantasy. Would like to have done more, but that's okay. It's been a busy month.
* Made two submissions, SFB and Shoe. SFB required MASSIVE rewrites to get it to a sub-able stage, and I'm awfully proud of how it's turned out :)
* Very, very nearly made my goal of 15k of writing, almost all of which was done on The Project.
* Outlined a story that's been bouncing around for a while, temporarily titled Fairy Tale Ending.
* Finally, after much struggle and heartache, pegged down an outline for The Project. Am immensely happy about this.
* Began a new play, Where Your Treasure Is.
As for the year as a whole, I'm rather proud of the work that I've done so far. I think I've come quite a long way from the writer I was at the end of December - some of the highlights being the completed first draft of my first ever novel, To Be An Evil Overlord... and my entry into the world of submissions - thus far I've made 5 submissions of plays and short stories :)
I've learnt important things about structure, I'm slowly learning to pare back my overwriting, and I've managed to write more than one short story that has not only stayed short, but that I'm actually quite proud of. My total word count for the year so far is nearly 74,000 words, which is fast approaching last year's total of 102,000, which included 50,000 for nano in November. I've got plans for Nano, outlines for novels, I'm learning to recognise which stories will work and which won't, and I've discovered that I really do have something to say after all - to which end I've started and been running with reasonable success (I think ;)) this lovely blog (yes, despite the archive record, this blog was only started at the very beginning of the year).
So, what would I like to achieve in the second half of the year?
* 2 submissions per month, which is what I've so far been achieving since I began submitting in late April.
* Finish and complete at least one revision of The Project. I'm working on a TP blitz at the moment and hope to have a draft done in mid-August.
* Pare back my writing even more - stop over-writing - learn to recognise what is significant to the story, and what is not.
* Win Nano again. I'm fairly sure I'll be starting my mid-grade fantasy series for this, as it will be a big incentive to actually be able to complete a novel in under 50k.
I'm sure I'll think of more goals month-by-month, but for now, those are the big things.
And more than anything, I hope I'll continue to grow both as a writer and as a person, and that I will never lose sight of the bigger picture and what I have to say.
Thanks to all of you who read my often-rambly comments here. Your support and comments make this endeavour worthwhile :)
11 June 2008
Officially A Writer
In other news, I'd like to welcome myself officially into the world of Real Writers. Why? Because I received my very first rejection today B-)
I'm extremely excited, and spent the morning doing happy dances :D :P ;)
I'm extremely excited, and spent the morning doing happy dances :D :P ;)
08 May 2008
More Queries
Just a quick post to share that I sent off my first short story (Murder) on Monday. Very fun :)
01 May 2008
April in Review
This is a little late I know, and yes I am back dating this entry - but I have to at least pretend that I'm up-to-date with something in my life at the moment O:)
So, here's what I accomplished in the month of April:
* 17,388 words total. I am absolutely stoked about this - this is my best word count ever, apart from Nano :)
* Of which, 8,842 on Logan. A little shy of the 10k I'd hoped for, but the total w.c. is so shiny that I don't really mind.
* Edited 1.5 chapters of TBAEO. Pathetic. Really, I mean pathetic. I blame it on the fact that it was all-new material, so it was in effect first draft writing, not editing. :S
* Polished In Search of Freedom. FINALLY. This was on my to-do list for JANUARY. But, happiness, I also submitted it to a publisher - my first ever query.
* One of my CC friends, in a determine attempt to teach a few of us 'I Can't Write Anything Short' people how to write shorts, started a queue where we have weekly prompts and have to write 1 story per week to a maximum word count of 3000 words. I wrote 2 stories for this (The Dress and Murder, though Murder I'd started last year). I also finished Bran prior to the establishment of this queue, and...
* Wrote something that was supposed to be a short but has turned into a new novel, now called The Project. I'm summarising it as Huxley's Brave New World meets Wells's The Time Machine, plus magic. Much fun :D
* To top it all off, I critiqued an entire novel for a friend, and stayed on top of all my uni assessment.
So, all in all a very productive month :) Here's to May! :D
So, here's what I accomplished in the month of April:
* 17,388 words total. I am absolutely stoked about this - this is my best word count ever, apart from Nano :)
* Of which, 8,842 on Logan. A little shy of the 10k I'd hoped for, but the total w.c. is so shiny that I don't really mind.
* Edited 1.5 chapters of TBAEO. Pathetic. Really, I mean pathetic. I blame it on the fact that it was all-new material, so it was in effect first draft writing, not editing. :S
* Polished In Search of Freedom. FINALLY. This was on my to-do list for JANUARY. But, happiness, I also submitted it to a publisher - my first ever query.
* One of my CC friends, in a determine attempt to teach a few of us 'I Can't Write Anything Short' people how to write shorts, started a queue where we have weekly prompts and have to write 1 story per week to a maximum word count of 3000 words. I wrote 2 stories for this (The Dress and Murder, though Murder I'd started last year). I also finished Bran prior to the establishment of this queue, and...
* Wrote something that was supposed to be a short but has turned into a new novel, now called The Project. I'm summarising it as Huxley's Brave New World meets Wells's The Time Machine, plus magic. Much fun :D
* To top it all off, I critiqued an entire novel for a friend, and stayed on top of all my uni assessment.
So, all in all a very productive month :) Here's to May! :D
24 April 2008
Welcome to the Land of Queries
Well, it's officially official. I just sent off my first ever query letter :)
The slippery little suckers are, unfortunately, much harder to write than they look, but with some help from my pals over at Critique Circle, hopefully I've done well enough :)
The query was for my play, In Search of Freedom, and has marked my official transistion from 'Person who likes writing and dabbles in it occasionally, and daydreams about being able to do it as a career' to 'Person who is determined to make this her career no matter what'. Okay, maybe not 'no matter what' - I mean, I'm not going to go jumping off cliffs or alienating my loved ones or overdosing on honeysuckle or anything stupid like that. But I AM proud of the fact that I've made another step along the path to 'going pro'. It feels... shiny.
So now all that's left to do is sit back, cross my fingers, and hope like mad that they like it :)
Wish me luck!! :)
The slippery little suckers are, unfortunately, much harder to write than they look, but with some help from my pals over at Critique Circle, hopefully I've done well enough :)
The query was for my play, In Search of Freedom, and has marked my official transistion from 'Person who likes writing and dabbles in it occasionally, and daydreams about being able to do it as a career' to 'Person who is determined to make this her career no matter what'. Okay, maybe not 'no matter what' - I mean, I'm not going to go jumping off cliffs or alienating my loved ones or overdosing on honeysuckle or anything stupid like that. But I AM proud of the fact that I've made another step along the path to 'going pro'. It feels... shiny.
So now all that's left to do is sit back, cross my fingers, and hope like mad that they like it :)
Wish me luck!! :)
06 February 2008
'Black Gates' Wins Out in the Portalverse...
So, after all my fluffing around, it seems The Black Gates has finally won over Logan in the 'Which Book Gets Written Next' competition.
Why?
Simple. It may not have as complete an outline, but it does have that one thing that Logan sorely lacks - world-building. And now, also, a beginning, which came to me last night as I lay in bed struggling to sleep. Teaser, anyone?
Athara tensed under the blankets and strained her ears in the darkness. Was that the gate?
I'm horrified by the fact that it begins with the MC waking up, but at this stage, it'll just have to cope. Besides, it's not waking up so much as being woken up. And that's completely different, right? *sheepish grin* At least it has a beginning now.
In other news, my universe finally has a name. A nickname, anyway, something quick which I can use to refer to it. It came to me this morning as I was driving to work.
Yesterday, I spent a lot of time reading agent Kirsten Nelson's blog, and subsequently doing some actual agent research (cue scary music... dun dun dun...). It was interesting, though I bemoan the fact that so many more US agents make themselves accessible through the web - I'm yet to find a single Australian agency that even lists bios for its agents :\
ANYway. My universe.
Somewhere in the mountains of advice I read yesterday, an agent spoke of a story she'd taken on - to her suprise, a 'portal story'.
*shock* and *surprise* on my part. Prophecies? Chosen Ones? Sure, they're overdone in fantasy, that's a no-brainer.
But portals?
Well, yes. I suppose so.*
*cringes*
Any of you that know the background that ties my stories together will understand that this is crushing news for me. (Though I don't really care; see footnote below). In my universe, portals abound. They're pretty much a staple, you could say.
And all this rushed through my head this morning as I drove, distracting me from focussing on the on-coming traffic (O:) don't tell my father!)... and the perfect name appeared.
My universe is, officially, the Portalverse.
:D
*(A large part of me wants badly to argue that they're only as overdone in fantasy as space ships are in science fiction... People need to travel after all. But is this self-defence or logic at work here? Who's to say...)
P.S. Say hello to my hundredth post. Hoorah! Aren't I verbose *beams*
Why?
Simple. It may not have as complete an outline, but it does have that one thing that Logan sorely lacks - world-building. And now, also, a beginning, which came to me last night as I lay in bed struggling to sleep. Teaser, anyone?
Athara tensed under the blankets and strained her ears in the darkness. Was that the gate?
I'm horrified by the fact that it begins with the MC waking up, but at this stage, it'll just have to cope. Besides, it's not waking up so much as being woken up. And that's completely different, right? *sheepish grin* At least it has a beginning now.
In other news, my universe finally has a name. A nickname, anyway, something quick which I can use to refer to it. It came to me this morning as I was driving to work.
Yesterday, I spent a lot of time reading agent Kirsten Nelson's blog, and subsequently doing some actual agent research (cue scary music... dun dun dun...). It was interesting, though I bemoan the fact that so many more US agents make themselves accessible through the web - I'm yet to find a single Australian agency that even lists bios for its agents :\
ANYway. My universe.
Somewhere in the mountains of advice I read yesterday, an agent spoke of a story she'd taken on - to her suprise, a 'portal story'.
*shock* and *surprise* on my part. Prophecies? Chosen Ones? Sure, they're overdone in fantasy, that's a no-brainer.
But portals?
Well, yes. I suppose so.*
*cringes*
Any of you that know the background that ties my stories together will understand that this is crushing news for me. (Though I don't really care; see footnote below). In my universe, portals abound. They're pretty much a staple, you could say.
And all this rushed through my head this morning as I drove, distracting me from focussing on the on-coming traffic (O:) don't tell my father!)... and the perfect name appeared.
My universe is, officially, the Portalverse.
:D
*(A large part of me wants badly to argue that they're only as overdone in fantasy as space ships are in science fiction... People need to travel after all. But is this self-defence or logic at work here? Who's to say...)
P.S. Say hello to my hundredth post. Hoorah! Aren't I verbose *beams*
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