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.

Out of the Box & On the Page is a book to help you get unstuck when your writing isn’t going your way. It provides a series of exercises for 10 days to help you change your perspective on your writing and look at your story or your characters in new ways.

Candace Havens, the owner of the Write Workshop group on Yahoo, usually presents this material as a workshop, but has now put it into book form and it’s available through Lulu, either as a print book or an electronic download.

What I like about this book

The exercises are easy to do and interesting. For example, Day 6 involves using a piece of art to inspire new thoughts on your story. Day 7 guides you through reviewing another book to identify what works and what doesn’t work in that book. You can then apply what you’ve learned to your own book, to include the elements you like and to leave out the ones you don’t like.

One thing that confused me initially is that every other page in the book is blank. I wondered, why all the extra space? I figured it out later… it gives you plenty of room to complete the exercises right on the pages.

Because of this, I think the electronic copy of the book is the one to buy, so you can print another copy of it the next time you’re stuck and go through the exercises again. The exercises are broad enough that you can continue to apply them to each new story and still gain new insights into your writing.

I recommend this book for…

If you’re stuck on a story and thinking of just abandoning it out of frustration or sheer boredom with it, pick up a copy of Out of the Box & On the Page before you do. You might find that your story is a lot more exciting than you realized.

The print version is $16.97. The electronic version is $6.00. Buy a copy before December 31 and use the coupon code HOHOHO for another 20% off either format.

When I was younger, I was in love with Jonathan Brandis. You might remember him from some of his movies (Neverending Story II, Sidekicks, Ladybugs) or from SeaQuest DSV (my favorite).

As I grew up, I lost track of his career. In 2005 something reminded me of him and I went to the Internet to see what he was up to. I found out that he had committed suicide in 2003.

I was devastated. Why would a young man of such promise do such a thing? I couldn’t understand it.

As I searched the internet for more information I came across dozens of websites devoted to him from fans still grieving over his loss.

He was loved and admired by so many. How did he not see that? Would he still have committed suicide if he had known?

Out of these questions came a story of a young man, lonely, depressed and thinking of ending his life, and the young woman who makes him see how many people care for him, despite her own feelings of loneliness and despair. In the end, they save each other.

As I wrote I was consumed with my grief and the story spilled onto the page. I couldn’t get it out fast enough.

When it was done, I sent the story to my beta reader, my sister, Ronda.

It made her cry.

As writers, we know that good stories evoke emotions in readers. I believe that feeling the emotion as you’re writing can enhance the words on the page.

Getting Emotions Onto the Page

Start with remembering a time when you experienced a similar emotion. A time when you were sad or angry or elated. Get the memory of that time firmly in your mind and then start writing.

If you’re having trouble getting into the right frame of mind, sometimes music can help set a mood.

I think Robert Frost captured it best:
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”

What do you do to get real emotions into your writing?

My latest post over at the Saturday Writers blog tells the sad story of my experience with NaNoWriMo this year. Yes, I failed to reach 50,000 words this year.

But I learned some things about myself in the process:

Listen to your inner voice

It’s silly to take on a new project when you KNOW you don’t have the time to give it the attention it needs. I need to pay attention to that inner voice that says, “You don’t have the time and you aren’t going to make the time to get this done.”

Say no to peer pressure

It’s silly to let peer pressure guide your commitments. Peer pressure can be a great motivator to help you reach your goals. But making a commitment that you know you can’t keep just because of peer pressure is the dark path to guilt that you really don’t need. Do what’s best for you and your novel.

Writing in a group is fabulous

It’s incredibly fun to join in on virtual write-ins. The NaNoWriMo team held them on Twitter, as did my local NaNo Group, the Central Iowa NaNo’ers (#cianano). If you can’t make it physically to a local write-in, join a virtual one.

Did you finish NaNoWriMo this year? What did you learn in the process?

If you’re not signed up for Candace Haven’s Yahoo group Write_Workshop yet, you need to sign up today.

Candy provides writing classes through the group, as well as writing games to help you write more. She brings in top name authors, agents and editors to share their knowledge with you.

And she does it all for free.

That’s right, totally free. If you had to locate and sign up for information like this, you’d spend hours and a lot of dollars. Instead, you can get it delivered right to your inbox.

Recent classes include:

• Write Naked by Wendy Watson on how to define your voice, develop it and make sure it shines through in your story.
• A class by Nikki Duncan on how to balance romance and suspense in your novel.
• Notes from Deborah Blake’s class about writing witches in paranormals. (Deborah was teaching on another loop but shared info from her class for Candy’s group.)

There’s a new class starting on Dec. 1. Sasha White will be presenting material on Writing Dynamic Scenes.

Do you ever worry that your story is boring? That the pacing is off, or things might be dragging a bit. The sagging middle so to speak?

In this three day workshop National Bestselling author Sasha White will share some tips and tricks for making every scene count.

Joining Candy’s Yahoo group is free and the information is super valuable. The only thing she asks in return is that you support her and the authors she brings to the group by buying their books.

You won’t find better writing instruction offered anywhere at this great price, so join the group today.

(The Write_Workshop group is where Candy and the guest workshop leaders post their material. The students of the class chat about the material on this group – Write_WorkshopChat. You’ll want to join both.)

And if you like paranormal romance, check out Candy’s books – Dragons Prefer Blondes, The Demon King and I, the Charmed & Dangerous series, and Like A Charm.

The holidays are right around the corner and that’s usually a busy time for most folks. If you have a smidge of time to spare, get yourself a gift of a writing class to keep your writing moving forward.

Scottish Castles of the 12th and 13th Centuries – Learn about the castles, king and court, the nobility, and calendar feasts and pastimes.

Pitch Perfect (A Two Week Practice Workshop) – Learn the secrets to nailing your pitch, how to score a home run with editors, and how not to stop short of getting the results you want!

Muse Therapy – Discover what makes your muses tick, what ticks them off, and what makes them dance like nobody’s watching.

Rule of Six – Six Steps to Better Plots – Capitalize on this technique that marketing gurus have used for years to find the “thought not thought of yet” and avoid duplicating a plot line, character quirk or other idea already out there (that you may have seen subconsciously).

Geeky Stuff for Writers – This two-week course is for writers of all stripes who want to make their work more efficient, save time, and save money. Get hardware and software recommendations, outliners, organizers, some free, some cheap. Some not so cheap, but well worth it.

Introduction to Screenwriting – This 9-week course is free. You can bookmark it and work through the lessons at your own pace.

And finally, as an added resource, check out this article with tips on how to get the most out of a workshop. How to Succeed in an Online Writing Workshop

Continuing in the great vein of NaNo, here are some more NaNo tips for you. And they make great all-around writing tips.

These thoughts are from the #writechat on Twitter last Sunday. #writechat is a discussion of writing topics each Sunday afternoon hosted by @WritingSpirit. You don’t need a Twitter account to see the #writechat discussion (just do a search for “#writechat” on the Twitter site and keep refreshing), but you do need an account to participate in the #writechat discussion.

The topic: We’re halfway thru NaNoWriMo & Non-Fic offshoots. How are you doing? What are you learning? Where are you getting stuck?

I am learning you need to be focused on your NaNovel and not be multitasking IMHO @EngridE1

Learned the importance of index cards & skipping troubled scenes – Just keep writing. @KarlBimshas

And I’ve learned that outlines are your friend, lol. @FLAngel03

Although both help, I also learned that online writing friends are more supportive than offline writing friends. @KarlBimshas

I’ve learned that it’s difficult to write 2000 words everyday. @EvelynNAlfred

Rewarding yourself for even small stuff is good. I think that was the theme of my “Inspiration” message this week. @GLHancock

I wouldn’t be making as much progress on #nano without the bar charts. I LOVE measuring progress. @KarlBimshas

I think I need to learn the lesson of taking my time rather than making grand, dramatic word-count gestures. @impossiblecat

It’s so liberating to let your 1st draft be full of mistakes and still be okay. Life can be lead that way too. @KarlBimshas

My friend got me on to weekly wordcounts rather than daily ones. Seems to result in more writing somehow – like nano I guess @MustardPepper

If you feel “stuck” in a 1st draft, you’re not understanding the concept of a “1st draft.” @KarlBimshas

When I’m stuck I usually think about location/setting to spur a new scene. @mepowell

I prefer the term rough draft for writing without caring. First draft is removing everything that doesn’t work in rough draft. @cdreimer

A 1st draft is supposed to be a rough draft. Editing comes later, after you have the bones of the story down! @HeatherMcCorkle

As you can see, not all writers agree on the definition of first draft or rough draft, but the main thing is to pull out the pieces of advice that are useful to you.

If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo, what have you learned since starting?

I’ve learned that it is a mistake to take on a novel project when you’re already fully committed. I had too many things already scheduled for November and my NaNo novel progress is suffering as a result.

Writing a novel requires a commitment of time and mental energy. If you aren’t fully prepared to make that commitment, then save the novel-writing until you are. Guilt and frustration over your lack of progress won’t do your novel any good.

Where I’m at…

Not where I want to be, but I consider it decent progress when measured against the other things I have going on this month. How is your NaNo progress? What have you learned?

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.

I’ve been away working on my NaNo novel and some other projects. It may look like I’m behind on my word count, but that is all part of my strategy. Really. It is.

I do find that this NaNo seems a lot more effortless this year than in the past. I set my timer for 15 minutes and just start writing. Not in a hurry, but with the intent to keep my fingers moving for the entire time. And I can write 600 words in those 15 minutes, which is quite respectable. Three sessions and I have my word count for the day.

I’m anticipating it may get harder to get the words in as I progress through the story and the scenes aren’t so well-imagined yet.

How is NaNo going for you?

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.