Log lines

On Monday, I had a little reality check concerning what writers need to produce when they finish a novel.

And it isn't just a fantastic novel . . . though that is an important part of the equation.

A writer needs to be able to write a long synopsis (8-10 pages, double spaced), a short synopsis (less than five pages, double spaced), a one page synopsis (single spaced) a blurb (a couple of paragraphs, 500 words MAX, think back cover copy of a book for query letter), and an elevator pitch (one or two lines, roughly 25 words).

So I was trolling through the normal blogs that I check daily and I came across the Query Tracker blog, about pitching log lines and one of the genres requested was YA fantasy. I'm writing a MG fantasy, so I thought 'what the hay'. The contest is now closed and the results are pending, but it really brought the fact to mind that all writers, especially unpubs need to know how to do a one line pitch, or an elevator pitch. It turns out that my online goals group was presenting a log line class by my friend and CP Cindy Carroll.

Talk about synchronicity!

Uh, I didn't have a log line for this book. It isn't finished. I thought I'd wait until it was done, but I had managed to get myself stuck and couldn't figure out how to raise the stakes. (see Monday's blog) ;-) But I wanted to enter this pitch contest.

Why?

I don't know. Guess I just like rejection. Anyhoo, log lines originated in the screenplay world, but has now oozed over to other writing genres. Basically, you, the writer, pitch your story idea to an editor/agent/producer/etc. providing the essence of your story in 25 words or less. The log line should tell us WHO the story is about,WHAT he wants (Goal), and WHY he can't have it (Conflict). Names are not used. Descriptors tell the listener more than names anyway.

Cindy is really, really good at this. During the class many people posted their lines, and she waved a magic wand and clarified the statement usually using fewer words than the original log line.

Well, I wrote my line, had Cindy look at it, and submitted it. Now, the last time Query tracker did something like this, they had almost 600 responses. So I know I'm not going to get a request or any props, but coming up with a log line did one thing that I didn't expect.

It gave me the external conflict that I needed to continue with this story. The WHY. This isn't to say that the story won't change, but I now have a direction to go.

My log line? You want to see it? This is a middle grade fantasy novel, roughly 35,000 words long. Okely-dokely, here you go:

When a tween’s garden gnome disappears she enlists the help of her friend to investigate their cat-collecting neighbor and discover she’s a witch intent on wiping out mythicals to empower the coven.

Write on!