One-sentence summary.

[KayJuran]

Here is a quote from the Snowflake Technique. Many of you may recognise this::

Take an hour and write a one-sentence summary of your story. Something like this: “A rogue physicist travels back in time to kill the apostle Paul.” (This is the summary for my first novel, Transgression.) The sentence will serve you forever as a ten-second selling tool. This is the big picture, the analog of that big starting triangle in the snowflake picture.

When you later write your book proposal, this sentence should appear very early in the proposal. It’s the hook that will sell your book to your editor, to your committee, to the sales force, to bookstore owners, and ultimately to readers. So make the best one you can!

Some hints on what makes a good sentence:

a) Shorter is better. Try for fewer than 15 words.

b) No character names, please! Better to say “a handicapped trapeze artist” than “Jane Doe”.

c) Tie together the big picture and the personal picture. Which character has the most to lose in this story? Now tell me what he or she wants to win.

d) Read the one-line blurbs on the New York Times Bestseller list to learn how to do this. Writing a one-sentence description is an art form.

The idea is that you start with one idea, and gradually add more and more detail, until you have a complete outline for a story. The above is just the first step, and if you'd like to carry on with this, the link is here.


Anyway, for this exercise all you have to do is write a one-sentence summary, following the guidelines above. It can be a new idea, or one that you're currently using. Don't worry, if you're not using the snowflake technique and have already started writing, it's not too late to start.

Have fun!

[Joeducktape]

OOH! Complicated. My story has a freaky plot, so this might take a bit of thought.

[KayJuran]

Remember, it's the whole story in less than 15 words (preferably). You don't necessarily have to give away the ending or anything though.

Here is mine::

"A group of alchemists use their new skills to slowly 'replace' the old monarchy."

[backgroundbob]

"Girl with emotional problems struggles to come to terms with life under the influence of her tyrannical psychologist."

[KayJuran]

Sounds interesting, Bob.

[Joeducktape]

A girl with pyrokinetic powers meets a young man who can help her escape her past, or so she thinks.

[bubblewrapped]

I have two - OK, three - stories I'm working on at the moment. Lets see if I can do this for each...

1. Obsessed with defeating evil, a young knight discovers his greatest enemy is himself.
2. A young woman destroys herself to save the land she loves.
3. Caught in the confines of society, a young woman fights for freedom - at any price.

Mahaha. Cool.

[Joeducktape]

OOOH! Sounds cool.

[sabradan]

Set in the war-torn post-ww2 middle east, follow two young men and their families as tehy struggle to establish a new state and start new lives

[Dream Deep]

Ohhh... I like the one-sentence for your novel, backgroundbob. Sort of creepy, sort of intruging, sort of cool.

Ahem, anyway, this is pretty heavy stuff. I've tried a million and a half times to cut down The Tower of Souls into a one-sentence summary, but WOW do I end up with run-ons. I'll try to do one properly here, though:

A fallen man loses a world that he feels responsible for, loses his love, his joy, his life and his pride, losing what he percieves as himself in the process, but through his pain finds himself again on a deeper level.

Okay, that sounded a little cheesy and dramtaic, but throw in a tower of souls and a war torn desert and a handful of really unthrilled demons and a major power struggle that's going on miles above this poor dude's head - which obviously draws him into it and majorly screws him up - and things get a bit more interesting.

Lol, I think I'll work on my one-senctence.

-Dream Deep

Ah, gotta go. I'll come back later, to annoy you some more.

[Dream Deep]

Ah, I have returned!

I pretty much just want to commend everyone else on getting their single sentence summaries so short. I'm not sure how to accomplish this... I have too much to say, I guess. As always, and most of it's probably superflous.

This is a good idea, though, KayJuran. I think I'll try it some more in the relative privacy of my notebooks.

^_^ Dream Deep _/)

[xanthangum]

eek. here goes nothing...for my children/young adult book:

"A teenage boy, along with his companions, grow mature as they face the complexities of their destiny."

[KayJuran]

Wow, there are some really interesting ones here!! I would like to echo DreamDeep and commend you all!

Oh, and DD, it seems to be a lot harder if the story has already been started, or if you have a huge idea in your head.

[Dream Deep]

kayjuran said:

Wow, there are some really interesting ones here!! I would like to echo DreamDeep and commend you all!

Oh, and DD, it seems to be a lot harder if the story has already been started, or if you have a huge idea in your head.

Ah. You may have a point. I do believe this idea may be rather large. ^_^

[KayJuran]

Hehe, then it may be a little harder. The idea is that you start with a pretty general, though not vague idea, and it gets more and more complicated as you go on.