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Quick Tip #6 Can you sum it up?

Posted on | June 28, 2010 | No Comments

This is one of the nest bits of writing advice I’ve every been given (you can thank my Dad, Michael Brown for this one). Can you fit your story idea into a few sentences? It used to be one sentence, but I found that sometimes that just isn’t enough, so I’ve given myself a limit of three sentences.

At the moment, I’ve got it down to two sentences:  “A man who can’t die works as an occult salvage expert, keeping the supernatural hidden from the every day world. When the two worlds cross, he learns that even someone who can’t die has a lot to lose.”

Why is it so important? Two reasons…

First off, you will need a guide while you are writing. not an outline, but a central theme, a mission statement for your novel. If something you write doesn’t fit the mission, it’s out. I;ve had to throw out more than 100,000 words because I didn’t learn this early on.

Secondly, people are going to ask you “What’s your story about?” If you can’t tell them in a few seconds, you’ve lost them. If someone asked me this question now they’d get just the first sentence: “A man who can’t die works as an occult salvage expert, keeping the supernatural hidden from the every day world.”

I’ve made the mistake of trying to give people a blow by blow description of the plot as I have it planned out. Please learn from my idiocy. No one wants to hear your story like this. If it’s good, then they’ll want to read about it when your book comes out. until then, unless they are someone you bounce idas off, keep the plot to yourself.

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Category: Quick Tips

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