"Beautiful essay, Sarah! My own contact with some of the best books ever written took place mostly before I was 24 years old. Maybe I'll give some of those classics another try."
Talking for Writers
Every so often, I’m asked to speak about pitching to a group of writers. This is easy for me because I love pitching and I love writers. I also love making people cry, and that happens, I am not kidding, about sixty percent of the time. Not everyone, of course – it’s not like I force them to sit through Terms of Endearment. But one person in the room, one person with a story she believes to be unpitchable, oh, yeah. Pass the Kleenex.
Why? Why is it so amazing to hear your story pitched? I do think there’s a certain amount of relief in realizing that it can be done. But I also think we are all desperate to be heard. When a pitch is right, it conveys exactly what you want the world to understand about the heart of your story. You get heard. That’s very powerful.
So how do you get to that? How do you pitch your story? Here are the steps:
1) Be accurate. Do not worry about what the elusive “they” want to hear. Be honest. No one likes a bait-and-switch.
2) Set up their listening. What I mean by this is, prepare them for what they are about to hear. Is it a book, a webseries, a feature, a play? If the form is understood – if you’re at a mystery book convention, for instance – let them know the subgenre: thriller, cosy, procedural, paranormal. If they don’t know what to expect, they won’t be able to connect to your story. I once found myself performing in a gruesome, dark, emotionally-exhausting scene in what the judges expected to be a comedy competition. Funny only in retrospect, trust me.
3) Take the time to tell your story. There is a difference between a logline and a pitch. A logline is usually a sentence long and its only job is to get them to say, “Tell me more.” Your pitch is what you say after that, and its job is to get them to request the script or book proposal or manuscript. Don’t rush, don’t skimp. You’re a storyteller; you’re already good at this part.
4) Only tell the essence of your story. This is the tricky bit. Figure out what the heart of your story is and convey that, and only that. The details, even the character names – they don’t matter as much as you think they do. Take whatever time you need, but don’t squander their good will by being unfocused.
5) Don’t be afraid to insert your own passion and your connection to the material into the pitch. What drew you to tell this story in this way? That’s fascinating and engaging. Share.
Speaking of sharing, that’s how you’ll know if your pitch works. Share it with friends and family. Watch their eyes. Notice when they start to glaze over. Rework those bits. Also, say it out loud to yourself. If you get goosebumps, you’re on the right track.
Feeling brave? Share your logline or pitch here!
Comment
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Comment by A. Michelle Navarro on March 20, 2012 at 8:26pm
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Laura, thanks for the advice! I see what you mean. Logline is a new term, but I understand. I appreciate the encouragement. and Joy, I also write Erotica so if you ever need help pushing that written envelope let me know. I will definitely send you the draft once it's done...rough as it may be.
Namaste
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Comment by Laura Brennan on March 20, 2012 at 9:29am
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@Michelle - yup, what Joy said! Clairalience sounds fun - and I love the title.
Also, two quick things: First, you need a logline. This is great for a pitch, but you need to have something shorter to open the conversation and gauge their interest. Something like, "You know how sometimes you can smell something and it connects you instantly to some great memory - your grandmother's perfume, summer evenings on the porch, greasy oil and your first car? The Scent of Jasmine is a Paranormal Romance about a mixed-race orphan-turned-heiress with clairalience - the ability to connect to events and emotions through the scent they leave behind."
It's a bit long, but since clairalience is so new, I think it's worth setting up their expectations before giving the actual logline.
Second, read your pitch out loud to yourself and to others. You want to simplify; it has to be easy to say and to understand verbally. "Smell" is a tricky word - it never sounds good! "Sense" is better and words like fragrance or odor.
That's my two cents!
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Comment by Joy Amber on March 20, 2012 at 9:18am -
Michelle, I love romance as well...swooning, heavy breathing, true loves, the whole pink tutu with the tights, that's me. In my writing, I am trying to decide how much umm romance I am willing to explain. I seem to be able to read it, but I am a big ole wimp when it comes to writing out the "scene." I can do the romantic stuff, so I may have just admit defeat hehehe
Yes, send me your draft! I am a good eye, and I give supportive insight.
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Joy, I have a few chapters and an outline. I had it on hold when an imprint company stopped their paranormal series.
But I really feel drawn to write it. Thank you for the encouragement. I will send you a copy of the rough draft. And thank you for the comment. LOL that's exactly how I see Jonathan...but shoulder length hair, stil long enough to tie back...yeah. <sigh> I love romance!
Namaste
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Comment by Joy Amber on March 20, 2012 at 8:34am
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Hi Michelle,
I have never heard of Clairalience so I like the idea already. I have read hundreds of paranomals so I enjoy something new and fresh.
I also enjoy interracial romance so Riley is right up my street and conflict with the cousin sounds interesting.
Please let Jonathan be hot hot hot with sexy long hair and a great body...please! Do you have a rough draft completed?
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Hello everyone. I have been quitely lurking, taking in all the wonderful insights, ideas, comments. I love this community and cannot thank you all enough for sharing.
That said, I will share this story I am developing. I have it outlined and some of the chapters written. Here's my pitch:
The Scent of Jasmine is a Paranormal Romance set in modern times. Riley Dupois Henderson has a past she doesn’t even know about yet. Upon her adopted parent’s death, she learns about her birth family inheritance. A three hundred year old Manor in the Deep South and a lineage of secrets passed down from female to female.
She was born with the gift of Clairalience, the ability to psychically smell events and emotions. The scent of jasmine that surrounds her manor sparks a series of trance-states revealing history of her family.
Jonathan Pierce Wimbley is the Dupois Manor groundskeeper and predestined mate of the owner of the home. Which reality seems moot since the legal owner has never seen her home. Besides he didn’t want to be a puppet for a fate he didn’t choose.
Riley’s mulatto skin is the bane of her Cousin Davis’ KKK existence. Not only does he have to see her, he has to give up use of the Manor he feels is rightfully his.
His hatred creates a resolve in Riley to stay and learn all the Dupois family secrets. The increasing trances, taunt her to piece together her family traditions. Riley knows Jonathan is the key to her future and is determined to earn his trust and love.
Can Riley and Jonathan find true love without the aid of secret rituals and family tradition? Can they survive the tragedy her arrival in the Deep South instigates? Will the scent of jasmine teach Riley how to find Jonathan in time to save him? Will she find her love is enough to keep them together?
I'm open to any and all comments, suggestion, questions and ideas.
Namaste,
A. Michelle
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Jo Anne, I'm so pleased! And Heather, I'm equally delighted to have been of service. I can't wait to see both of your memoirs take the bestseller lists by storm.
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Comment by Jo Anne Valentine Simson on March 16, 2012 at 7:10pm -
Laura, What a beautiful encapsulation of the spirit of the book! And you're right, retirement only provided the opportunity; it has no further bearing on the story. Thank you.
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Hi, Jo Anne!
It is fascinating and I love that you tie in Isabella Bird Bishop - but it's too long! Things I do not need to know include "after retiring" and anything in parentheses. It's so funny - my friend Suzanne Lyons is afraid writers are going to hate her after reading my interview with her, but she's right - we do love details! It makes for terrific writing but unfocused pitching.
Try starting with something like: You wouldn't think a modern woman scientist and a Victorian travel writer would have much in common, but in my memoir, "Korea, Are You at Peace," I find myself channeling Isabella Bird Bishop. She traveled the same Korean countryside and felt the same initial culture shock I would a century later - only my Korea was no longer her mysterious Hermit Kingdom of Asia, but a divided and dangerous world.
And then go on to talk a bit about the political intrigue - always a favorite topic! - and maybe give a sense of the shape of the story you're going to tell.
Does that make sense? I reserve the right to be wrong! But think about what they need to know in order to get a real sense of your story. If your retirement, for instance, is a major part of it, then keep it in. But if it's not a motif running through the book - as Isabella, I'm guessing, is a major theme - then leave it out.
Thanks for sharing!
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Comment by Jo Anne Valentine Simson on March 16, 2012 at 4:20pm
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Laura, I am writing a travel memoir of two years spent in Korea. A pitch I have worked up using your suggestions is:
The scientist in me always wants to explore, to observe, and to understand. After retiring, I had the chance to do this halfway around the world, teaching biology to American military personnel in South Korea. In “Korea, Are You at Peace,” my initial culture shock yields to an emerging understanding as I live, work, and travel, largely on my own, throughout South Korea. For the narrative, I channel an unlikely kindred spirit, Isabella Bird Bishop, a well known and fiercely independent Victorian travel writer. She, too, traveled the Korean countryside, a century previously, when Korea was the backward and mysterious Hermit Kingdom of Asia. During the intervening (twentieth) century, Korea, suffered the greed, international intrigue and political posturing of much more powerful nations. The now divided country has emerged onto the contemporary stage as both a success story (the South) and as a political tinderbox (the North). This is the story of what it’s like for a Western woman to live and travel in this little-known Eastern land, observing and trying to understand Koreans and their culture, unavoidably sensing their pain and anger, and marveling at their extraordinary energy and resilience
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