The Power of Distraction

Week of March 18, 2012—LIVING AND WRITING IN BETWEEN

Tuesday, March 20, 2012—The Power of Distraction

When I told my critique friend, Dionna, that I was in an in-between time in my writing, she was surprised. “But you always have new ideas and you’re always writing,” she said. That’s mostly true. But writing something that I connect with, and somethingI think my agent will connect with, and something I think he can attract an editor to connect with can be daunting sometimes. I can write a lot. But it doesn’t mean I am writing what I should be writing, want to be writing, or need to be writing.

For some time now I’ve had a picture book character in my mind. I’ve written a detailed character description of her, changed her name two or three times, and written paragraphs and scenes about her . . . but I haven’t been able to write a story with her as the main character. It’s because I’m in-between. I’m in between projects I’ve written and loved and the time when I find out if someone else loves them, too. And I’ve been stuck. Have you ever been there?

This past week was spring break and I wrote lots and lots and lots. But that character still was out there and I had nothing to write with her as the star. On the last day of spring break my sister and I drove to Sanibel Island to meet our cousin, Jacqua, and her husband, Kevin, who were just beginning their spring break vacation. As soon I’m around my Missouri relatives, I start feeling more countrified. I talk with more of a drawl. I tell lots of stories like our family members always have.

Jacqua insisted we visit two restaurants for dinner. At the Mucky Duck I ate barbequed shrimp wrapped with bacon, garden vegetables, and red potatoes roasted in butter. Down the street was a restaurant named Bubbles. Jacqua led us there for after-dinner appetizers and dessert. She ordered Bubble Bread (a bubbling, cheesy, dough mixture) and Sticky Buns. We sat at a picnic table eating our appetizers as the sun set over the gulf. Then we ordered cake. Fortunately, Jacqua anticipated we would be full by this point, so she had brought a cooler along so the icing on our cake slices wouldn’t melt.

Then we were off to the Herb Strauss Theater to see Das Barbecu, a musical-comedy set in Texas with a Wagneresque story line and five actors who played thirty roles. It was a hoot. I got home around 1:00 a.m. and couldn’t stand it any longer . . . I had to eat my slice of Red Velvet Cake from Bubbles.

So what’s the point? Well, the point is that on Sunday I outlined the story for that character who had been haunting me for so long. And I drafted the story later that day. All the distractions of Saturday (and immersion in some Midwestern, beach-y, and Texas-style culture) had gotten me over that bit of in-between-ness . . . at least for the time being.

Find a distraction, whatever it might be. Try dinner out, watching people at the mall, gazing at airplanes as they land, or visiting with old friends. Do something. Take yourself out of the routine of in-between-ness. I can’t guarantee that you’ll find yourself suddenly on the other side of your situation, but you will have rejuvenated your psyche, aligned your chakras, given yourself some breathing room, and otherwise made life a little bit better for yourself.

Go on, now. Go distract yourself.

Quotes to Inspire and Motivate When You're In Between

Week of March 18, 2012—LIVING AND WRITING IN BETWEEN

Monday, March 19, 2012—Quotes to Inspire and Motivate When You're In Between

A few weeks ago, I visited with my old friend, Bobbie Maloney, who was in Florida with her husband, Mike, for a little vacation from the winter in Missouri. When I was working in my first church staff position (long story) during seminary (even longer story), Bobbie was one of the volunteers who worked in the children's religious education programs I managed, staffed, and conducted. That was over thirty years ago, but Bobbie and I remain in contact. Bobbie always wants to be reassured of my spiritual condition, and I always want to make sure I can bring some of the old heathen out in her. We enjoy our visits.

Bobbie and I talk about things from thirty years ago, our lives today, our hopes and dreams, and more. Something I said during this visit caused Bobbie to reply, “I think you’re living in the in-between right now.” She went on to say she had been reading about those times in life that are in-between and how challenging those times can be. I’ve thought a lot about living in the in-between since then. Most of us are in between something.

In my critique groups I have two friends going through divorce—that’s certainly an in-between time in life. Another critique group member’s fiancé passed away recently. Others are in between jobs. One is dealing with her own medical issues and those of her son. We can be in between relationships, in between times of happiness, in between jobs, in between career paths, in between doing what we have to do and doing what we'd love to do, in between periods of health, and more.

As writers, we have lots of in-between times, too. We can be in between a completed project and the beginning of a new one, in between ideas, in between periods of inspiration, in between the time we send off a manuscript and the time we hear back, in between the time a manuscript is sold and the time a book is released, in between sales of books, in between agents, in between critique groups, and more.

This week, I’m exploring ways to live in the in-between times and how to move on to the next stage (whatever that might be). So today, I want to share some inspirational quotes. I hope they have as much meaning for you as they do for me.

Living involves tearing up one rough draft after another.

—Unknown

When you’re stuck in a spiral, to change all aspects of the spin you need only to change one thing.

—Christina Baldwin

The important thing is this: to be willing at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.

—Charles Du Bos

As important as “hanging on” is knowing when to let go.

—Sherri Dewitt

Dissatisfaction is the basis of progress.

When we become satisfied, we become obsolete.

—J. Willard Marriott, Jr.

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting; for in movement and change there is life.

—Alan Cohen

How will you know if your mission on earth is finished? If you’re alive, it isn’t.

—Richard Bach

My writing friend, no matter what you are in between today, be encouraged. And keep writing!

Manuscript Critique Service

Picture Book Critiques

By Rob Sanders

I’ve been staying busy with my critique service, but now have a few openings. If you have a picture book manuscript in need of an in-depth critique, please check out my services. Reasonable, realistic, and reliable!

WHAT YOU RECEIVE IN A CRITQUE

n I begin with an overall list of the things I love about your story and your writing, possible concerns, and possible fixes.

n Then I provide a line-by-line critique, which may include suggested cuts, additions, and comments.

n I will also look at the BIG PICTURE of your plot and story development.

WHY YOU CAN TRUST ME TO PROVIDE A QUALITY CRITIQUE

n I am a published picture book author and have been published in other genres as well—educational resources, inspirational books, and magazine articles to name a few.

n I critique nearly a hundred picture book manuscripts a year.

n I have taught creative writing to children for years.  I know how to teach and coach as well as critique.  And I know what kids love and what they don’t.

n I have worked as an editor, editorial group manager, and a coordinator of children’s product development for a major not-for-profit publisher.

For more information visit http://robsanderswrites.com/Critique_Service.html

For availability, email me at rob@robsanderswrites.com

4 . . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1

Week of March 11, 2012—20 Tips for Great Picture Book Manuscripts

Friday, March 16, 2012—4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1

TIP 4—REVISE YOUR WRITING

Yes, revision and editing are two different things. Revision deals with the meat of your writing. Revision is tough work—sometimes it takes a scalpel, sometimes a butcher knife, sometimes a chain saw, and sometimes a sledge hammer. During revision you look for continuity, flow, sense, plot, and so on. I teach my students a revision strategy that I often use with my picture book manuscripts. (It’s less effective with longer works.) I call it “cut-and-tape revision.” Student writers (and many adult writers) hate to start over, so this method allows them to use what they have and add to it. Here’s the process in a nutshell. Read through your writing, when you see where something needs to be added, stop. Cut that part off of your writing, tape it down to a new sheet of paper, and add in the new section of text. Then you simply re-tape the rest of your writing back into place. You can also juggle sections in your writing this way . . . cut, move things around, and then tape things back together. Warning: You will end up with a l-o-n-g sheet of paper, but that can easily be used to type your changes into your manuscript. Find the revision method that works for you and go for it. Learn more about revision at:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/07/specificity-of-words-nouns-and-verbs.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/07/cracking-open-words-and-phrases.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/07/point-of-view.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/07/start-in-middle.html

TIP 3—DUMMY IT UP

When you’ve written, edited, and revised your picture book manuscript, you begin to feel as if you’re finished. But you’re not. Next, you need to make a dummy of the book. Illustrators use the dummy to show their “draft” of art as well as text. Authors who aren’t illustrators make a dummy of their book to see where page turns will come, to see if they have too much or too text, to see if the beginning is to long and the middle too short, etc. Authors who aren’t illustrators make the dummy for themselves—not for an editor or illustrator. The dummy is our way of seeing if we’ve got the text “right” before going any further. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve revised a story once I’d dummied up the book. Diane Muldrow, editor at Golden Books/Random House, says to choose a favorite book and to use that as the model for your dummy. Staple paper together to form the needed pages, number them, see where the text begins in the book you chose as your model, and begin to cut and tape your manuscript into the pages. This is trial and error—you’ll change things many times. No worries. Remember, the dummy is for YOU! Read a bit more about making a picture book dummy at:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-all-about-dummy-dummy.html

TIP 2: HAVE YOUR WRITING CRITIQUED

I cannot tell you how important this step is. Others must read your writing. You must hear others read your writing aloud. Then, and only then, can you actually know what works and what doesn’t work with a manuscript. The community of picture book writers is a friendly and helpful one. Find a critique group (or form one of your own), participate regularly, and learn to give and receive critiques. What most of us find is that we’re able to locate problems in the manuscripts of others long before we’re able to recognize those same problems in our own writing. You also join a critique group for camaraderie and support. I love my critique groups and I wouldn’t write without them. The links below will help you learn more about critiquing and critique groups:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2012/02/finding-critique-groups.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2012/02/beginning-critique-group.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2012/02/receiving-critiques.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2012/02/giving-critiques.html

TIP 1: WRITE YOUR PITCH

Yes, we spent all last week talking about pitching your book. The pitch is the synopsis or summary that you will include with your cover letter when you mail/email your manuscript to editors and agents. Don’t wait to write your pitch at the last minute. Put time and effort into it so it shines. Theoretically, an editor or agent could stop reading once they see your pitch. So make the pitch enticing, accurate, and appealing. Below are links to last week’s posts about pitches.

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2012/03/plot-pitch.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2012/03/synopsis-pitch.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2012/03/hybrid-approach.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2012/03/pitch-practice.html

8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . .

Week of March 11, 2012—20 Tips for Great Picture Book Manuscripts

Thursday, March 15, 2012—8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . .

TIP 8—USE LITERARY DEVICES

Here’s yet another thing I love to teach to students—literary devices. Some literary devices used frequently by picture book authors include: alliteration, assonance, consonance, idioms, irony, juxtaposition, metaphors, onomatopoeia, personification, puns, rhyme, rhythm, similes, and more. Some literary devices are used throughout a piece (for instance a rhyme scheme or a certain rhythm). Others, however, are used only for effect in a particular portion of the manuscript. (For instance, a metaphor to establish the setting, or a onomatopoeia to interrupt the action with an unexpected sound.) I tell my students that literary devices are usually sprinkled throughout a manuscript. If you’re going to use more than a sprinkle, you should have a plan in mind to ensure that the literary devices complement the story and don’t compete with it. To learn more about literary devices, visit:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/03/idioms-familiar-wise-and-fun-sayings.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/03/personificationgiving-legs-to-words.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/03/alliteration-and-assonancefabulous-fun.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/03/similes-and-metaphorscomparisons-r-us.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/03/onomatopoeias-i-love-sound-of-it.html

TIP 7—MAKE PERFECT WORD CHOICE

It should go without saying that if you’re only working with 500 words, each word is extremely important and must be chosen carefully. There can be no wasted words in a picture book. Our earlier tip about vivid verbs and specific nouns was one reminder about word choice. But there’s more to think about—the names of characters, words that set that correct tone or feeling, words that add humor, words that are clear and precise, and so on. A picture book writer has to evaluate his/her manuscript word by word. We look for ways to be concise and communicate the same information in fewer words. We look for opportunities to let our words paint pictures. And we delete words in order for the illustrator to have room to tell his/her half of the story.

TIP 6—COOSE AND EFFECTIVE ENDING

I love a surprise. I love an ah-h-h-h-h moment. I love reading a last line and immediately hearing, “Read it again!” Each of those feelings can be accomplished through a wonderful ending. On the other hand, nothing is more disappointing than a disappointing ending. You’ve read books that just seem to stop, or don’t give you the emotional pay-off you were hoping for, or don’t resolve all the issues raised in the book. When fourth graders get tired of writing, they will do one of two things. Sometimes they just write THE END. It’s like saying, “So there. Take that. I’m stopping and you can’t do anything about it.” Or, they will write, “To be continued . . .” They know it’s a lie, and so do their readers. The author never plans to continue that story, he/she just stopped and left you hanging. For heaven’s sake avoid those fourth grade tricks. If you do, I promise to keep teaching fourth graders to avoid those tricks, too! Read more about endings at:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/02/effective-endings.html

TIP 5—BECOME YOUR OWN EDITOR

I worked as an editor and editorial manager for years. So I love to edit. As a writing teacher, I’ve had to retrain myself because the job of editor and writing teacher are much different. Editors improve writing. Writing teachers improve writers. Marking up someone else’s paper never teaches that person to edit his/her own work. Each writer has to learn those skills for himself or herself. Editing deals with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word choice. Revision (which we’ll talk about tomorrow) is where the “meat” of the writing is improved or altered, but editing really deals with improving the conventions of the writing. I’ve written more about the difference between editing and revising at:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/07/difference-between-revising-and-editing.html

12 . . . 11 . . . 10 . . . 9 . . .

Week of March 11, 2012—20 Tips for Great Picture Book Manuscripts

Wednesday, March 14, 2012—12 . . . 11 . . . 10 . . . 9 . . .

TIP 12—USE EFFECTIVE TRANSITIONS

Okay, this is my second most favorite thing to teach—transitions. Transitions are those magical words and phrases that move a story from time to time, place to place, event to event. Transitions seamlessly move the reader through time and space. You can easily locate lists of transition words and phrases with an simple Google search. Begin building your list today. Be sure to add one of my favorite transitions to your list . . . ellipses. What would our writing life be without dot, dot, dot (as my students call it)?

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/05/transitions-and-time-compression.html

TIP 11—ACTION PACKED

Character driven and action packed—that’s what I hear editors say they look for the most. The deadly word “quiet” often describes picture books that are void of action. Now action doesn’t have to mean exploding chickens or dancing dinosaurs (though it certainly could). Action means something is happening. The two easiest ways to ensure action is happening is through the rising and falling action of your plot and through the verbs you choose.

TIP 10—SPICE UP YOUR WRITING WITH SENTENCE VARIETY

I know I keep saying it, but this is another topic I love to teach. Sentence variety. Short. Long. Complex. Statements. Exclamations. Questions. Dialogue. Purposeful sentence fragments. All combine to add variety to your writing. Sentences all structured the same give your writing a plodding feel. Sentence variety moves the text along and keeps the reader engaged. However, sentence variety is never used for variety’s sake alone. You vary sentences in an attempt to find the perfect way to communicate each part of your story. Read more about sentence variety at:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/05/sentence-variety.html

TIP 9—LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD

There is no higher compliment than to be told, “I knew that was your writing the minute I heard the first sentence” or “I’d recognize your voice anywhere.” Voice is the element of your writing the shows who you are—it’s you coming through. Perhaps it’s your unique turn of phrase, your humor, or your word choice. Maybe it's the way you combine words, weave together a story, or surprise your readers. This is no way means, however, that your writing is predictable or routine. Quite the contrary. But voice does mean your personality and individuality sing out, shine through, and shout for attention. Read a bit more about voice at:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/05/dialogue-vs-voice.html

16 . . . 15 . . . 14 . . . 13 . . .

Week of March 11, 2012—20 Tips for Great Picture Book Manuscripts

Tuesday, March 13, 2012—16 . . . 15 . . . 14 . . . 13 . . .

TIP 16—CREATE A MEMORABLE SETTING

One of the least discussed topics at picture book seminars, intensives, and boot camps is setting. We know every story has a setting—so why is this subject so rarely discussed? Simple—because in a picture book setting is often communicated through the illustrations more than the text. Once you’ve said the setting is a farm, unlike a novelist who needs to paint every aspect of the farm for us, the picture book author relies on an illustrator to do the painting—literally. When I wrote COWBOY CHRISTMAS I had a very specific setting in mind. I pictured the hills, mountains, and scrublands around Santa Fe, New Mexico. I pictured a chuck wagon and the campfire the cowboys circle around each night. But the only words I used to describe the setting were: range, campfire, cactus, chuck wagon. John Manders, the illustrator of the book, has painted the setting for me. As a picture book author YOU must determine the setting and YOU must lay the foundation for it. You may even have to write descriptions into your art suggestions. More often than not, you’ll rely on an illustrator to show the setting. For more information about setting, visit:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/01/settings.html

TIP 15—CAPTURE THE READER WITH YOUR LEAD AND/OR FIRST SENTENCE

Most established authors say they write their opening line last. Of course, they draft something to hold the spot in the beginning of the text, but once the book is written that is often when the most effective beginning becomes apparent. Most picture book purchasers pick up a book based on the cover and perhaps the title. They usually flip through the pages next to look at the illustrations. If they take time to read, they often make their purchasing decision based on the first page or two. So our openings must catch our readers' attention. The opening (like the title itself) is the promise to the reader of what they can expect. With picture books, the opening often encapsulates who the main character is and what the problem is. There are as many ways to begin a manuscript as there are authors, so experiment until you find the perfect opening for your book. Check out these links for more info:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/02/great-beginnings.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/02/golden-thread.html

TIP 14—SHOW DON’T TELL

Show don’t tell is the mantra of good writing. There’s tons written on the subject, though I have to admit I’ve never devoted posts to the subject on Picture This! (You can bet I will in the future.) An example of tell is when someone writes: Pam saw the ice cream. She chose one. Then she paid for it. These sentences don’t show us anything, but we can turn them into showing sentences quite easily . . . Pam studied the fifty-two flavors of ice cream staring up at her from the open-mouthed gallon containers inside the freezer. Her eyes scanned swirls and chunks, pastels and deep chocolate browns, chunks of nuts and sticky marshmallows. Then she chose her regular—one scoop of vanilla in a cup. She dug the $1.25 from her purse before she reached the counter. As picture book writers, we have to scale back our showing because of limited word count, but the need to show still remains.

Two great quotes on the subject:

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

—Anton Chekhov

“Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.”

—Mark Twain

TIP 13—USE SPECIFIC NOUNS AND VIVID VERBS

Nouns and verbs are among my favorite things to teach, to play with in my writing, and to critique in the writing of others. You don’t need a string of adjectives to make great writing. You need strong nouns and vivid verbs—words that put pictures in the minds of your readers. I often quote the great Georgia Heard on this subject: “If verbs are the engines of sentences, then nouns are the wheels on which that engine rides.” I circle my verbs in my manuscripts and then list them on paper, being careful to avoid being redundant in my verb choices. I use specific and proper nouns every time I can, never letting pronouns pile up and confuse the reader.

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/07/specificity-of-words-nouns-and-verbs.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/01/vivid-verbs.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/01/strong-and-specific-nouns.html

20 . . . 19 . . . 18 . . . 17 . . .

Week of March 11, 2012—20 Tips for Great Picture Book Manuscripts

Monday, March 12, 2012—20 . . . 19 . . . 18 . . . 17 . . .

TIP 20—START WITH AN ORIGINAL IDEA

Picture Book success very well may begin with the initial idea. Editors are looking for something they’ve not seen before that fills a need they have. Friendship books are always in demand—but the friendship between a shark and a minnow (as in the book Tammi Sauer recently sold) is a unique take on friendship. Bedtime stories are always in demand—but a bedtime routine of a dinosaur (as in How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) is a fresh twist. Find that unique idea and you are well on your way to a great manuscript. For more info, see:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-authors-say-about-gathering-ideas.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/08/listing-you-way-to-new-ideas.html

TIP 19: PLAN IT

I think this may be one of the first slip-ups picture book writers make—they fail to plan. You know the old saying—If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Still many of us (me included from time to time) jump into our writing with both feet without a plan firmly in mind. We may know how the story begins or how it ends. We may know who the main character is and what his/her problem is. We may know one or two funny things that will happen in the story. BUT . . . we have not planned out the story. Plan it first, my friends. Your plan may change as you write, but if you don’t have a plan, you’re driving blindfolded on a curving road atop a mountain cliff. Visit the following link to find a graphic organizer that can help you plan your next picture book.

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/12/plan-your-1-pick.html

TIP 18—PLOT IT

Here is the second stumbling block for many picture book writers—plot. Plot is more than a plan, plot is the problem a protagonist is solving, the catalyst, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, the denouement, and more. A well-developed plot is often hardly noticeable to the reader because the story flows logically and smoothly. But a poorly constructed plot is obvious to everyone. (Even though most readers wouldn’t be able to tell you what’s wrong with the plot, they know the story doesn’t “feel” right.) Plotting out your story and then looking for plot holes when you revise is essential to developing a great picture book. See these links for more information about plot:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/01/plot-and-story-arc.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/01/screenplay-approach.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/08/plot-clock.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

TIP 17—CREATE MEMORABLE CHARACTERS

Picture books are known for memorable characters. Picture book protagonists are often loveable, relatable, and real. And the antagonists are also memorable. Finding that unique, one-of-a-kind character can set your picture book apart. Fancy Nancy, Frog and Toad, Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, and Robot Zot are all very different characters, but each has been successful. What do they have in common? They're uniqueness, of course, To learn more about developing memorable main characters, check out these links:

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/06/finding-great-main-characters.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/06/relatable-main-characters.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/06/flawed-main-characters.html

http://robsanderswrites.blogspot.com/2011/06/anthropomorphic-main-characters.html

Coming This Week!

Week of March 11, 2012—20 Tips for Great Picture Book Manuscripts

Quote of the Week:

It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.

—Elinor Smith

To prepare my students for our annual state writing assessment, we used a 20-day countdown to help remind us of things we’d learned in class and used to make our writing great. Now that I’m on Spring Break and my mind has turned once again to my own writing, I’ve tried to determine the Top 20 Tips that would help a picture book writer prepare a stellar manuscript. Many of the tips on my countdown are things I’ve discussed at length on Picture This! so I’ll include links when I can to help you delve deeper into the Top 20.

Let’s count it down!

Pitch Practice

Week of March 4, 2012: Batter Up!

Friday, March 9, 2012: Pitch Practice

A big-league pitcher throws more pitches in practice than in all his games combined. The practice is what makes the game possible. A successful pitcher’s body pitches instinctually from hours and hours of practice that leads to muscle memory. Could the same apply to picture book writers and their pitches? Could practice be a key to our big-league success? Here are some practice tips that might help.

1. DON’T SETTLE—Keep in mind that your pitch might actually be the only aspect of your writing an agent or editor reads. Don’t settle for the first pitch you draft. Put as much effort into the pitch that you put into your writing. Proof it, reread it, read it aloud, revise, revise, revise.

2. TRY AND TRY AGAIN—While your first attempt at a pitch may seem great, try it again. Use a different voice. Start in a different place. Find the surprise element. Give yourself a handful of pitches to choose from.

3. CRITIQUE IT—Take your pitches to your critique group along with your manuscript. Get some objective feedback. My critique group has always encouraged us to bring pitches, but now we’re thinking we might just want to make it our routine to send our pitch along with our manuscript for critique.

4. START WITH A PITCH—Do you have a great idea for a story? Why not pitch it first? The pitch is succinct and summarizes your entire story. Beginning with a pitch can help you stick to your story line when writing. Of course, no one says that the story and pitch can’t change as you write, but pitching first could help you make sure the story is focused as you originally planned.

Are you ready to pitch? Batter up! Now pitch away!

A Pitch That Worked

Week of March 4, 2012: Batter Up!

Thursday, March 8, 2012—A Pitch That Worked

Ok, I hope you don’t think I’m weird (or I hope you don’t think I’m weirder than you thought), but I love writing pitches. When I worked for a not-for-profit publishing house, I had to pitch products to marketing teams, supervisors, sales reps, and customers all the time. As a matter of fact, books (and most products) are pitched in an idea stage, an acquisition stage, a costing stage, a planning and writing stage, when designing marketing materials and back cover (or book flap) copy stage, and a selling stage. A well-written pitch often can be used for any or all of those purposes.

Today’s post is short and sweet. I’m going to share one of my pitches that worked. A book that sold. Cowboy Christmas will come out this fall from Golden Books-Random House. The pitch was changed only slightly by the editor when she took the manuscript to acquisitions. This pitch illustrates the hybrid approach discussed in yesterday’s post.

A Successful Pitch/Synopsis

.

In Cowboy Christmas, Dub, Dwight, Darryl, and their cook, Cookie, are stuck roping steers, wrestling longhorns, and wrangling up strays on Christmas. “Santy Claus will never find us out on the range,” Dub moans. The cowboys try to recreate their childhood Christmas memories, but each attempt ends with a hilarious failure. A surprise is in store for the Circle D dudes when Santa (who looks a lot like Cookie) makes a visit.

It’s Your Turn!

1. Who has a pitch/synopsis to share? Come on, don’t be shy! Perhaps you have a pitch to celebrate, or a pitch you’d like help with. Feel free to post either as a comment.

A Hybrid Approach

Week of March 4, 2012: Batter Up!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012: A Hybrid Approach

Awhile back, I was working on a non-rhyming picture book that was heavily metered. As I played with the text I wondered how I would pitch the book. I emailed my friend and mentor, the great Joyce Sweeney, and asked, “What do you call a non-rhyming, heavily metered picture book?” Joyce wrote back: “A hard sale.” Thanks for that bitter taste of reality, Joyce! LOL! And thanks for reminding me that pitching a book is an art, not a science.

Hybrid Pitch Approach

I have tried to use everything I’ve heard and learned about pitches and combine the information into a hybrid approach to pitch/synopsis writing. Along the way I’ve found some things that I think can make a pitch/synopsis distinctive, for instance:

1.      Tell about the story in the same style/tone as the story. If you have a wacky, zany story, then the pitch/synopsis needs to depict that. If the story relies on alliteration, you might include that. If the story has a serious tone, reflect that in your pitch.

2.      Use some words from the text if possible. I sometimes pull a quote, a repeating line, or a funny line into my pitch. If the phrase is dialogue, I use quotation marks; but if it’s not dialogue, I use italics to set off the words that are contained in the manuscript.

3.      Think of book flaps and their intriguing, market-driven approach. They can help you organize your pitch/synopsis and find your voice in the process. In other words, think like a PR person—after all, you ARE your own PR person. Write that pitch/synopsis like you are selling your book to your favorite agent or publishing house. Imagine that this is your one shot (because it might be), and pitch that book!

4.      Show your writing style in your pitch/synopsis. If you write with lots of dashes, parentheticals, or ellipses, then show that. If your writing strength is your verb and noun choices, show it. If the distinctive flavor of your writing is in the sensory details, show it. If you have a unique voice let your pitch reflect it.

It’s Your Turn!

1. Write a pitch for one of your manuscripts using the hybrid approach. Or, do what we did yesterday—use a familiar story and write a hybrid pitch/synopses for it.

2. Post your pitches as comments so others can enjoy your work!

Synopsis Pitch

Week of March 4, 2012: Batter Up!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012: A Synopsis Pitch

How appropriate that we’re discussing pitches during baseball spring training. There are many kinds of pitches a big-league pitcher can use—four-seam fastball, forkball, curveball, slider, screwball, changeup, and more. Each pitch requires a different hold on the ball and a different release, and each has its own trajectory. But all of these pitches have one objective . . . STRIKE!

Similarly, there are different kinds of pitches used by picture book authors—the elevator pitch (a quick description of a piece of writing that you’re ready to share at the drop of a hat), the Twitter pitch (as shared by Heather in a comment yesterday . . . where we pitch a book with no more than the characters allowed in a Twitter message), and various forms of pitches used in cover letters. And like the big-league pitcher, we have one objective . . . SELL!

SYNOPSIS PITCH APPROACH

Joyce Sweeney and Jamie Morris lead many workshops in their THE NEXT LEVEL: Craft Intensives for Dedicated Writers series. When I attended their marketing workshop, Jamie told us that the pitch in a cover letter should be a synopsis. According to Jamie: “For the purposes of your [cover] letter, the synopsis is only a paragraph. Writing in third person/present tense, use this section to introduce your main characters, what they want, why they want it, and what stands in their way of getting it. Make sure your synopsis includes the resolution to your story, including what your main characters learn during the journey.”

This pitch approach is a step beyond the PLOT PITCH APPORACH discussed yesterday. This approach asks you to summarize the story, so it’s going to require (and allow) you to fill in a basic storyline from start to finish.

A great way to practice this kind of pitch is to take any book (picture book or other) that you know well, and summarize it in a paragraph. Let me try writing a synopsis pitch for the The Night Before Christmas.

The night before Christmas, the house was quiet and the family sound asleep. Dreams of Christmas fill each head, when suddenly there’s a ruckus on the lawn. Pa jumps from his bed and discovers a sleigh, eight tiny reindeer, and a driver (who must be St. Nick). In an instant, the sleigh flies to the roof and St. Nick comes sliding down the chimney. He’s a jolly ole fellow with rosy cheeks, twinkling eyes, and a suit covered with soot. St. Nick pulls gifts from the pack he carries and fills the stockings one by one. Then he turns, places a finger on his nose, gives a nod, and up the chimney he goes. St. Nick springs to his sled, whistles to the reindeer, and flies away calling, “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!”

It’s Your Turn!1. Choose a favorite book and write your own synopsis pitch. Don’t worry or fret—the book you are pitching has already sold!

A Plot Pitch

Week of March 4, 2012: Batter Up!

Monday, March 5, 2012: A Plot Pitch

Ask ten writers how to pitch your picture book in a cover letter and you’ll get ten different answers. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is more than one way to write a successful pitch. Some folks wouldn’t even call it a pitch, but rather, a synopsis. I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert on the subject, but I’m going to share some of the things I’ve learned/heard/been taught about pitches/synopses.

Honestly, some editors say they don’t even read cover letters (and thus, they don’t read the pitches contained in cover letters). These editors say they go straight to the manuscript. Other editors read the cover letter and pitch to determine whether to read on. But most editors say they make their final decisions based on the manuscript itself.

So what is the value of a pitch? Well, if an editor does read the cover letter, the pitch certainly can be a way to intrigue and snatch the editor’s attention. Many editors say that after they have accepted a manuscript or when they decided to take it to an acquisitions meeting that the pitch is the first thing they use to tell others succinctly about the book. And sometimes the pitch becomes the actual marketing copy and/or dust jacket copy.

Many agents use the pitch in the emails or letters they send to editors. Again, this is a quick way for the editor to see what the manuscript is about before reading it.

There are as many ways to write a pitch as there are editors who will read them. One of those approaches is based on plot.

PLOT PITCH APPROACH

In their Children’s Writing Boot Camp, Linda Arms White and Laura Backes advocate stating your plot using this structure:

This is the story of _________________________ who more than anything wants to _______________________ but can’t because _____________________ until _____________________.

This statement, when completed, gives a nutshell summary of your book and could be used as a pitch/synopsis in a cover letter. Often less is more, and this approach could adequately summarize your story without weighing down your cover letter with too much information. Give it a try and see what you think!

Coming This Week!

Week of March 4, 2012: Batter Up!

Quote of the Week:

I swing big, with everything I’ve got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.

—Babe Ruth

I promise that this week is not about baseball. But it is about pitching. In particular, we’ll discuss how to pitch our work in cover letters to tempt editors and agents to read further. I like Babe Ruth’s baseball and life philosophy. So we’ll learn how to swing big with our pitches.

Monday: A Plot Pitch

Tuesday: A Synopsis Pitch

Wednesday: A Hybrid Approach

Thursday: A Pitch That Worked

Friday: Pitch Practice