In a few words...

Posted by Lisa Marnell

It may be the toughest couple of sentences you ever write – and it won’t be fun, at first. But it’s crucial. That all-important, difficult to write, answer to the dreaded auestion: “So, what’s your story about.”

Once, in writer’s group, we talked about theme. One of our members spoke with such confidence saying, “How could someone try to write a book without knowing the theme ahead of time.”

Oops!

I didn’t admit it at the time, but I wasn’t sure what my book was about. I am in a better position now, but that’s only after a painful conversation with a close friend, explaining my story and asking this person to read a couple pitch lines. It didn’t go well. As we talked more, after I explained the plot and the ending, this friend said, "Hey, your story is about friendship, between a rich girl and a poor girl." Light bulb moment.

Pitch and theme go hand in hand. To have a story, I believe you need a theme. Internal struggle, such as in the novel I am reading, Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld, has the enticing eye-catcher on the back of the book: "Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?" Good, isn't it?

Being able to write a short pitch sentence or two help me, now, as I struggle to finish my WIP. Also, it's a must-have for a conversation with an editor.

I went to my trusty Verla Kay website to search for some thoughts on the topic. I wasn't disappointed.

Take a look at this to see some winning pitches, taken from a contest for winnning pitches.

Here's a pretty amazing "how-to" for writing a premise.

try, now, to write a pitch. It's a pleasure-pain thing, but it will help your story.