Welcome to Megrim's elevator pitch workshop, where I can help you hone your one-sentence description to catch people's attention. This is helpful for your own understanding of the story, for describing it to your friends, or for practice for pitching to publishers. I'd also encourage other members to comment on people's pitches to say if you found something particularly effective or ineffective!
What is an elevator pitch?
An elevator pitch is a succinct, one-sentence description of your novel (or business/product/whatever) to let people know what it's all about. The name comes from exchanging pleasantries with a stranger in the elevator--they ask you what your novel's about, and this is your reply before the elevator doors open.
Why should I have one?
In my opinion, the best reason to do this exercise is to crystallize in your own mind what the core of the story is about. This can be an eye-opener sometimes! It's also a handy thing to have in case anyone asks you about your writing.
How do I write one?
Write a single sentence that includes the following:
- The main character
- The main goal
- The main obstacle
Or another way of thinking about it: What does the main character want, and what's stopping them from getting it?
This sounds easy, but it's hard! Expect to try several drafts and explore multiple angles before you hit on a really good one. The important thing is to be concise and to the point. One thing to avoid is proper nouns; where possible, DESCRIBE the character or place rather than naming it ("a quirky professor," "an underwater city," "a high school misfit," "an abandoned mine,").
Posting Instructions
Post your elevator pitch and I will critique it. You may post revisions as well. If you'd like to participate without a pitch of your own, feel free to comment on someone else's pitch to let them know what you liked or disliked about it.
Example
You may be wondering if I know anything about anything. Fortunately, I do have some qualifications for you. My own elevator pitch led to two offers of representation from agents at top-5 agencies. (I like to brag about it because I STILL can't get over it
) So while maybe I just got super lucky, I like to think I know what makes a good pitch.Here's mine:
An idealistic revolutionary falls in love with the Emperor he's meant to betray.
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