WRITING A PITCH STATEMENT (FICTION WRITING)

PITCH STATEMENT:  My Novel theme in a single sentence. 

When writing non-fiction, essay, journalism, it is easy to answer when asked, "What are you writing about?"  I could just repeat my Thesis Statement using two easy formulas: Aristotle's 3 part Minor Premise, Major Premise, and Conclusion; or an abbreviated Toulmin method of Warrant, Support, and Claim. And journalism requires that the first 37 words answer who, what, where, and when.

But what about Fiction? How do I cut away the side-stories and get straight to the main plot?  Here's an exercise I did that helped me to do just that. This is a process, as my WIP (Work in Progress) is in progression from a Nanowrimo draft to a first draft. 

Within the first ten pages of her non-fiction book Goosing the Write Brain, A Storyteller's Toolkit,  Chris Rogers, Author and Writing Instructor challenges the reader to state their idea in twenty-five words or less.  She advises to create a "one-sentence concept" which defines the character, goal, and conflict.  Rogers provides a detailed exercise which is easily followed.

Then I started brain-storming.  I started writing by hand, with a cup of morning joe and a spiral notebook.  I wrote three pages of various statements (some of which are repeated below). Many were the same story with different words. I set it aside for a while, came back to it. Wrote some more.  Set it aside again.  Reviewed again. Wrote some more...then rinse. Repeat. You get the idea.

Meanwhile, I pick the best one to date, and USE IT! When someone asks what my book is about, I have a one sentence answer (though just try to stop me there...).

Second, I put it out there. On social media, in conversations, at writing groups, workshops and write-ins (you know the drill, tell us your name and what you're working on).  I'm observing how people react to it, making tweaks, and repeating again. 

In doing this, I have discovered another very helpful and motivating advantage from this process.  With this concise, focused, oft-repeated statement on my mind, I am always aware of the main story line as I write.  Even if I am in the middle of an intense sub-plot related scene, the Pitch statement is unconsciously guiding me to remain focused and true to my main story. 

I have also found this useful on a smaller scale, too.  I started using this formula in my first re-write, one for each Part and Chapter, and even when writing Scenes. 

This is a sample of some of the pitch statements I came up with for my WIP, "GUAXU" (working title).  My protagonist has a goal, BUT there is a conflict that must be overcome.

An enchanted Meso-American princess with a cursed destiny wants to free her people from their wandering existence, but must first battle the witch who controls the tribes sustainability.

 The princess of a pre-historic clan tries to overcome a cursed destiny and free her people from a dependent existence, but she must first outwit a powerful and controlling witch.

A predestined Meso-American Princess of hunter-gatherers, sees agrarianism as the sustainable future of her clan; but, she must first outwit the  powerful, controlling witch, who refuses to release the secret magic of the seed.

In Meso-America, a princess envisions an agrarian existence for her people; but, she must first outwit and battle a powerful witch for the secrets of the seeds. 

A tribal princess in Meso-America envisions agrarian sustainability for her hunter-gatherer clan, but must first overcome the dictatorship of a powerful witch.

In early Meso-America an enchanted girl wants to free her people from their hunter-gatherer existence, but must fight a powerful witch.

An orphaned girl raised by a Meso-American tribe dreams of an agrarian society, but must overcome her destiny and outwit a powerful witch.

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Giving Thanks to Nanowrimo, Happy Writing!  Tell me YOUR experiences, processes and ideas with Pitch Statements!  And while you're here, join the Green Association for Sustainability to help promote and support Social Sustainability through the Arts. 

AG

Am I Good Enough? NaNoWriMo supporters say...

Facebook weaves in and out of my life, depending on my mood and schedule.  I sometimes go weeks without opening the program on my computer, posting small comments, updates or pictures by telephone.  I may use Facebook to see if there is anything going on in town, especially on the weekends.  My initial reason for opening a Facebook account was to promote my blog writings; I find, though, that previewing my feed almost always uncovers a thread that I feel I must comment on, and often those comments trigger a larger thesis.  This was the case when I read this post from the Nanowrimo blog during the April 2014 Camp Nano:

What if one becomes fairly certain that he or she just is not a good writer half way through NaNoWriMo... should he or she finish anyway?

Naturally, this frustrated Camper writing to a group of passionately committed wordsmiths, received much supportive advice:  Keep going; Don’t stop before you get to the hard stuff; and my favorite, do it because you love it!  For myself, this wavering esteem is all too familiar, and so I write this to both the original status poster and to that part of myself that is forever procrastinating and denying my true nature.  I suffer from the malady of moderation.    Then I would suggest that he or she should not concern themselves on the specific technique or outcome of their writing but rather on the passion with which it was written.  I would suggest that one’s proclivity towards putting words on a page is more important than the order that the words were placed.   Although my writing was encouraged and praised in college and Graduate School, and I have been writing consistently before, during and since then, the success I seek for my writings has not yet come to pass.  Still, I continue to write.  Some of my prose might end up on a blog and perhaps even read by a small group of curious Twitter followers or Facebook ‘'friends”.  Do I ever think that I am wasting my time, and life would be so much easier if I didn’t put this much pressure on myself or open my self so vulnerably to criticism from those who may read it? Every day.  Can I stop writing?  Never.  It is what I do.  I may not yet be noticed, I may not yet know the formula for a fiction novel, and my non-fiction may digress occasionally; but I keep writing.  When you have completed your Nanowrimo Word Count Goal, note how you feel.  Proud? Accomplished?  Ready for the next step?  Do you feel like there are things you need to finish or change?  Plot holes so big you can drive a truck through them?  Not only is writing a passion, and an art, writers are both teachers and learners.  The community of support that one finds with Nanowrimo will spill into your life.  I had no idea how big the writing network was until I started Nanowrimo in 2010.  From there, I found support and opportunities right in my own backyard, and my writing circle began to expand from my virtual world into my reality.  It has colored and infused it with creativity, support, and when you need or ask for it, critique.     
Don’t ever stop doing what you love.  “Good” is subjective.