You may have heard about the need for an “elevator pitch” for your book. It’s a brief (usually one or two sentences) summary of your book–the main essence of it–short enough that it could be given during a chance 30-second elevator ride with the agent of your dreams. (Also useful when people find out you’re a novelist and ask what your story’s about.)

This is also sometimes described as the “high concept”, a term that originated in Hollywood to describe a movie idea, though an elevator pitch and a high concept have different nuances.

The elevator pitch is a short plot synopsis that intrigues the listener enough to want to know more. Character-driven stories do well as an elevator pitch.

The high concept is more of a big commercial plot (hence the reason that Hollywood uses it) that gives the listener an instant grasp of the “hook” in the idea. The stakes are usually higher (end of the world, city will blow up, plague will kill everyone) with more of an emphasis on plot events and action.

High concepts for movies usually use other movies as a reference because they’re so easily grasped, like “Pretty Woman (love story between businessman and hooker) meets Die Hard (cop must defeat terrorists who’ve taken over an office building at Christmas)”.

Example of an elevator pitch – A no-nonsense businessman hires a hooker to be his date for a week and then falls in love with her, but has to give up his heartless business practices to win her. (Pretty Woman)

Example of a high concept – Pretty Woman meets Die Hard on a cruise ship. (I think I’d like to read that book.)

Which Do You Use?

Which do you use for your novel? Start with the elevator pitch. Craft a good 30-second summary of your story. As you work on that, consider the stakes involved for the characters. Is an an end-of-the-world type of story? Or is there something amiss that will affect more than just the protagonist? You might have a high-concept story, if there is.

Identify the unique elements that take your story from beyond ordinary to amazing and see if you can craft a high concept from them. For help in creating an elevator pitch or a high concept, check out these links.

How to Create an Elevator Pitch

The 50-Word Elevator Pitch

Going Up! Honing the Elevator Pitch

The Importance of an Elevator Pitch

How to Create a High Concept

What is High Concept?

High-Concept Novels: Turn the Ordinary Into Extraordinary

Recipe for Success? High Concept

And for fun, check out these ultra-condensed plot summaries of some classic novels, Book-a-Minute Classics.

If you’re looking for more encouragement than an actual system for writing your novel, try out How to Write a Novel in 100 Days or Less.

Each day is on a separate page and contains a motivational message to keep you going along with occasional writing tips. Toward the end of the series, the tips change into revision advice along with instructions for finding an agent and preparing your manuscript for submission.

One day until National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts again. There are some fabulous writers around the web getting ready to start another fantastic month of noveling frenzy. In honor of the novel masterpieces soon to be under way, here are a few more links of NaNo tools and resources for you.

Low-tech tracking spreadsheet in three different formats from Simon Haynes along with some tips for NaNo and a One-Day Catchup Form to use if you fall behind.

If you need novel writing software, there’s an extended trial on Scrivener and a 50% discount on buying the software for all 2009 NaNo winners.

Jennifer Blanchard of Procrastinating Writers has a review on an ebook from Larry Brooks on story structure. She says it’s a must-read before NaNo starts. Cost is only $10 right now.

Here’s a Squidoo lens with lots of info and links to NaNo resources.

Lynn Viehl has Ten Things for NaNoWriMo’ers – a handy list of links, including NaNo images for your website.

Here’s a NaNoWriMo word meter for your website.

MacWorld has put together a list of novel-writing tools for the Mac.

Are you NaNo’ing this year? Add me as a Writing Buddy.

NaNo’s approaching rapidly and I’ve got some fun links for you.

The Writertopia Progress Meter. There are two available; get the second one with the writer. You can use it to set your “mood” to illustrate how your writing is going.

If you like to do timed writings, try the Online-Stopwatch. You can do a count down or a count up. For extreme fun, try the Bomb Countdown.

Need some plot ideas for your novel? Try the 36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations for some twisty ideas.

Draw a Basic Mind Map of Your Character with guidance form Deborah Woehr.

How about a Timeline Generator for your fantasy or science fiction novel?

If you need details on a religion, try the God Checker featuring over 2,850 deities.

If you need a break from writing, there’s nothing better than fun with Sticky Notes?

I’ve been busy at the Muse Online Writer’s Conference this week, giving a presentation on Using Social Media to Find and Attract Readers. Excellent conference with many great workshops and fabulous writer attendees. You should definitely sign up next year to attend.

Some great links from around the web:

Seven Questions from Jenny Crusie – Questions you can use when critiquing someone’s work or when evaluating your own.

What it Takes to Become a Master Writer by Mary DeMuth by way of Michael Hyatt’s blog – Do you have 10,000 hours in you?

Libraries, Authors, & Promotion: An Interview with RWA Librarian of the Year Deborah Schneider from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books – If you’re ready to think about promotion, check out this article on free promo at your local libraries.

Seven Things I’ve Learned From Querying by Johanna Harness – Good advice on the mindset and process of querying.

Jennifer Blanchard at Procrastinating Writers has a guest post from Joe Williams, Channel Your Emotions into Your Writing. Let your emotions fuel your writing and make you a stronger writer.

Don’t forget the importance of taking care of yourself as a writer. Read one writer’s cautionary tale in The care and feeding of the writer from Deadline Dames.

Read about a growing method of promoting your writing in Podcasting Your Work by Joe Nassise.

Another post on marketing – step by step instructions for Creating and Uploading Your Own Book Trailer by Marlayne Giron.

And a two-part series on revising your novel from Larry at storyfix.com – How to Cut Your Manuscript by 20%… and Love It and Part 2 – How to Cut Your Manuscript by 20% or More.

What great writing posts have you found around the web this week?

August has quite a few workshops being offered. Check each link for specific costs ($30 or under) and details on how to register.

***************

• Using Body Language and Vocal Gestures to Create More Believable Characters
• Edge of your Seat: How to add Suspense to your Writing
• The Plotting Wheel
• Homicide Investigation
• Conflict and Pacing
• Building Cohesiveness in Your Novel
• Her Story: Scottish Women from Ancient times to the Present
• Conflict Makes the Story
• Layering Your Scene One Element at a Time
• Happy Hooker: Engaging the Reader from Start to Finish

***************

Time is running out to register for the Muse Online Writer’s Conference. The conference is free and held entirely online during the week of Oct. 12 – 18. Read details here.

You must register before Aug. 1 if you want to participate in this year’s conference. If you miss the deadline, you miss the conference.

To sign up for the conference, you need to join the Yahoo group that Lea’s set up. Go to this page and click the blue Join This Group button on the upper right side of the page.

Sign up now!

Paperback Writer is running her Left Behind & Loving It 2009 workshop series this week. (The title is a reference to writers who don’t attend the Romance Writer’s of America national conference happening this week.) Stop by her blog to read each day’s workshop and leave a comment to be entered into her giveaways.

At the bottom of each of her daily posts are links to other writers around the web who are also hosting workshops on their blogs this week, so be sure to check them out. New workshops are being added each day so you’ll want to return and see the new ones added.

PBW has written 42 books over the last ten years in 5 different genres. She knows what she’s talking about when it comes to writing professionally, so don’t miss the workshops and the giveaways.

If you’d like to take a writing workshop this summer, here are some low-cost (under $30) options:

*************************
Cheryl St. John is offering a different class every month. Cost is around $25 per class. (Her blog still shows the info for the June class, but I expect she’ll update it when July arrives.)

A sample of what’s available:

• July – KEEPING UP YOUR SPIRITS AFTER REJECTION
• August – CONFLICT MAKES THE STORY
• September – CREATING A REAL FICTIONAL WORLD
• October – SETTING IS MORE THAN A BACKDROP
• November – CREATING UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS

*************************
The Romance Writer’s Association maintains a list of chapter workshops being held by their members. You don’t have to be a member of RWA or even write romance to take a class. Cost ranges from $20-30 for non-RWA members.

A sample of what’s available in July (there are a lot more listed on the site for different months, so take a look):

• CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATIONS AND FINGERPRINTS: THE TWO PART CLASS
• NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU ARE, YOU CAN FIND TIME TO WRITE!
• WRITING ROMANTIC SUSPENSE THAT WORKS
• SHOW UP NAKED: WRITING THE MALE POV
• WRITING COZY MYSTERIES
• HIGHLAND CLANS FROM MEDIEVAL TIMES THROUGH THE CLEARANCES
• GET IT UP AND RUNNING: ACTION THAT FLOWS AND GOES

*************************
If you write historical fiction, Hearts Through History offers classes on historical topics. Cost is $20 per class for non-HHRW members.

• July 1-31 – THE GREATEST CASTLES OF ENGLAND, WALES & FRANCE: 12TH – 13TH CENTURIES
• Sep 6 – Oct 3 – THE JOURNEY CYCLE: A STORY BUILDING TOOL
• Oct 1-31 – KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
• Oct 5-31 – AUSTEN TO ALIENS: HOW TO CREATE CLASSIC TOUGH CHICKS
• Nov 1 – Dec 15 – CASTLES OF SCOTLAND: 15TH – 16TH CENTURIES

Know of any other inexpensive online classes? Leave me a note in comments so I can include them.

Around the Internet this week we have some great posts, including:

Lilith Saintcrow answers some reader questions and talks about her writing process in Some Basic Questions.

Last week, JA Konrath shared his Amazon Kindle numbers – how much he’s making from books he’s offered electronically through Amazon. It’s an eye-opener for any author with good books that the publishing community doesn’t want. (Sell them yourself for an inexpensive price and keep a lot more of the money.) Keep in mind, these have to be quality stories. You can’t just upload the first novel you ever wrote and expect your beginning efforts to make you loads of cash.

But writers who aren’t published yet should keep e-publishing in mind. Publishing is changing the way the music industry changed with all the music sharing sites. There’s opportunity for writers to finally get a more substantial reward for their efforts, so keep your eyes open as new publishing opportunities and formats develop. Konrath explains more about how publishing should restructure itself (if they’re smart) in Should E-Books Be Cheap?

PaperbackWriter has a thought-provoking post on writer’s superstitions in Writing Avoidance. Are there subjects that you don’t include in your writing?

On the lighter side, Tess Gerritsen relates how research almost got her arrested. Lesson: Always carry one of your books with your author photo on it.