Am filling in for a colleague who is ill, and teaching two sessions at Author Extravaganza this Saturday in Castle Rock (Used to be called "The Castle Rock Writers Conference).
At 12:40, "Playing Spider: Enticing Your Web Audience," which will focus on the use of internet technology in a variety of forms as it can assist authors in promoting themselves...
and
At some point later in the day, time unknown, a teen-focused session "See It, Twist It, Write It," on finding inspiration for compelling fiction all around us.
http://www.douglascountylibraries.org/Events/WritersConference for more information on the conference
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Log Line Dilemma
Your manuscript is done. Edited, Spit-shine polished and ready to go. You are on your way to a writers conference, where you will undergo an experience which, if not completely terrifying, at least has you shaking in your shoes a bit -- an actual pitch appointment with an agent or editor.
How will you ever make it through? Convince them of the worthiness of your prose such that they give you what you want -- the ask to see it?
Two words: Log Line.
Simply put, log lines are short, 1 - 2 line descriptions of your project. They encapsulate the character, the conflict, the stakes and the resolution in around 25 words. And they are not easy to write.
Here's how your pitch session likely will go: you will enter a room along with several other folks. The room will be set with a number of tables or stations. You find your assigned agent or editor, take a seat, and introduce yourself.
Then they will request that you 'tell them about your work.'
And all that comes tumbling out is a jumble of themes and explanation of your character's life and backstory and your personal life experience. Or (shudder) you discuss what advance your book, a sure best seller, should get.
And really, all the agent or editor wanted was a concise description of the particular project you are pitching, in order to determine whether or not they have interest enough to a) ask further questions about it; or b)ask to see it.
Log-lining is a convention which is more clearly related to screenwriting, and to television guides, than it is to either novels or non-fiction books, but it serves a straightforward purpose in relation to the latter two items: it clearly demonstrates that you, writer, know what your project is about, and can articulate same.
Some writers decry the need to a log-line of any sort, and truthfully, there may be a better name for it with regards to books, but call it what you will, summary, mini-synopsis, primary description, the form works.
More to the point, to get through a pitch session, or to write the perfect query letter, you will need some version of a log-line. Think of it as one more step on your quest to transition from writer to author. You'll be glad you did.
How will you ever make it through? Convince them of the worthiness of your prose such that they give you what you want -- the ask to see it?
Two words: Log Line.
Simply put, log lines are short, 1 - 2 line descriptions of your project. They encapsulate the character, the conflict, the stakes and the resolution in around 25 words. And they are not easy to write.
Here's how your pitch session likely will go: you will enter a room along with several other folks. The room will be set with a number of tables or stations. You find your assigned agent or editor, take a seat, and introduce yourself.
Then they will request that you 'tell them about your work.'
And all that comes tumbling out is a jumble of themes and explanation of your character's life and backstory and your personal life experience. Or (shudder) you discuss what advance your book, a sure best seller, should get.
And really, all the agent or editor wanted was a concise description of the particular project you are pitching, in order to determine whether or not they have interest enough to a) ask further questions about it; or b)ask to see it.
Log-lining is a convention which is more clearly related to screenwriting, and to television guides, than it is to either novels or non-fiction books, but it serves a straightforward purpose in relation to the latter two items: it clearly demonstrates that you, writer, know what your project is about, and can articulate same.
Some writers decry the need to a log-line of any sort, and truthfully, there may be a better name for it with regards to books, but call it what you will, summary, mini-synopsis, primary description, the form works.
More to the point, to get through a pitch session, or to write the perfect query letter, you will need some version of a log-line. Think of it as one more step on your quest to transition from writer to author. You'll be glad you did.
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