Once Upon A Pitch

So, you find yourself in a conversation with an old friend, co-worker, random stranger and it comes up that you are writing a story. "Oh, what's your story about?" they ask. If you are anything like me, then this dreaded question sends you into shudders, stammers and hyperventilation.

Pitching my work in progress is the hardest thing for me to do. One would think I should be able to pitch my own story but actually, it is hard to give a description of a story without rambling and giving it all away. Well, it is hard for me.

I have joined quite a few groups, blogs and forums, looking for ways to develop the art of pitching books. I get a lot of practice reading other pitches over on Susanna Hill's blog. She has a wonderful weekly blog post called Would You Read It, where writers post a pitch of their work in progress. Readers are given the opportunity to say why they would or would not read a book based on the given pitch. The exercise gives the writer help in tightening their pitches. It is also great for people like me to learn just what makes a good pitch.

But I was even more thrilled a few days ago to find a really super and simple way to pitch a story plot. This wonderful example comes from Mandy over at Picture Book Academy. Her post, Plotting Your Picture Book with a logline or pitch is quite informative. She begins with the basic elements of a character based/plot driven picture book. Then Mandy gives an example of a generic pitch.

Character wants to do something but can’t because there are obstacles. But when something drastic changes or happens, the character is able to do something and solves the problem.

_________________________ wants to _______________________ but can’t because _____________________ .But when _____________________, he/she is able to_________________ and __________ .

Visit Mandy's blog post and download her awesome worksheet that outlines the basic structure of a story pitch.

Happy Pitching!!!