Friday, July 29, 2011

Sum it Up in One Line

A writer friend  asked me to break down her entire ms into one line.  She is preparing for a conference and trying to work on her elevator pitch.  I laughed.  I spent days trying to break my 65,000 word ms down into a 250 word query and she wants me to do it in 140 characters . .  at eight in the morning when I am under-caffeinated nonetheless

But that got me thinking.  There is one line in every book we can never seem to forget, that has such an emotional impact we find those few short words coming to the forefront of our minds at the mere mention of the title.  Here are some of mine.  I would love to hear yours!

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." ~ The Shining

"This is you life, and it is ending one minute at a time." ~ The Fight Club

"What a treacherous thing to believe a person is more than a person."  ~ Paper Towns

"NO animal shall sleep in a bed...:WITH SHEETS"  ~Animal Farm

3 comments:

  1. I got a really creepy visual from reading that line from The Shining :)

    AND, this was a great reminder that I need to read Paper Towns! Thanks, Trisha.

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  2. As time goes on I think you find that one line that comes from the book and it sticks!

    I've been working feverishly on lowering the word count for my novel. I sent it to the CP's and have since worked on my synopsis & query. Then I got creative... I am now writing a 2-3 sentence pitch AND a 140 character pitch.

    It'll help for upcoming contests. I won't have to think because I did the work in advance. Oh yea, look at this powerhouse! *giggles*

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