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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Playing Around Some

So, I have been playing around a bit in my writing.

I am trying some one sentence explanations of some stories I am working on. (For two reasons: First, for focus. Second, for the simple reason that sometimes people ask me what I am working on and I give some long, convoluted explanation that ends up making the idea sound lame. I mean, as the author, if I can't even "sell" it to someone who asked, well......that's just kind of sad.)

So, here are some of my one sentence wonders:

Easy Chapter Books:
1. Chicken Wizard - A chicken with magical powers protects an ususual egg from a dastardly alien pig. (Substitute alien pig for unethical CEO or the like....not certain of the villian).

2. Extra Super Cranky Lady - A grumpy old lady with a set of super-human false teeth saves a bunch of cats destined for the pound.

3. Nix the Naughty - A naughty page who is too clever for his own good causes problems for the residents of Lemmingshire Castle in his quest to become the youngest knight.

Middle-Grade

1. The young daughter of a famed storyteller decides to follow in her vanished father's footsteps, collecting stories and solving the mystery of his disappearance.

YA

1. A teenage girl who works as a serving wench each summer at a renaissance faire falls in love with a cursed boy from the 16th century.

So, now that I've typed them up...I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. I am hoping they'll help me. Kind of like when you say the name of something, you summon it to you.


Let's see if it works.












Nope.



Oh well, I guess for now it is just enough that they exist.


hrh

20 comments:

Michelle D. Argyle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michelle D. Argyle said...

The cranky lady one is great great great! I'm still grinning and wanting to read that for sure!

Great sentences. I know these are harder to do than it seems.

Kelly H-Y said...

I've been doing the same thing. It's great to be able to summarize your manuscript in one sentence in your cover letter too!

Corey Schwartz said...

I am so impressed by anyone who can write across genres! Wow!

Natalie said...

I LOVE your chapter book ideas. They sound hilarious. It's so hard to write a one sentence description. I'm impressed

Susan R. Mills said...

Good for you! I've been trying to write a one sentence description of only one book, and I'm struggling. You did it for several. I'm impressed.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Wow. You did a great job. I know what you mean about rambling and confusion when someone asks what you're working on. I say, oh, I'm not ready to talk about it, or something else as lame. So now, you've convinced me to do as you do and write the pitch sentence.
I love these, especially Nix, the storyteller's daughter and the faire wench--all intriguing. I want more!

lisa and laura said...

OOh, that MG idea really caught my eye. Can't wait to hear what you decide to work on or are these already done?

MG Higgins said...

Writing these sentences is really hard. They give me a headache. So excellent job! I'm VERY intrigued by the YA.

storyqueen said...

Lady G- Extra Super Cranky Lady's real name is Ethel Bridges (which was the name of my old cell phone.)

Kelly-Ah, someone who feels my pain.

Corey-Well, I am playing around, as I said....who knows, though....

Natalie-thank you! They crack me up, too.

Susan-It is kind of hard, and upon rereading them, I am not all the way happy. It's a line you walk between saying too much and not saying enough.

Tricia-I could have guessed you'd be drawn to the medieval themed ones! I might need beta readers....interested?

L and L-The chapter books are about a quarter of the way done, except for Nix, he's done. The MG is done, the YA is about a third of the way there.

MC-thanks! Actually, when I read the description of the YA, it sounds a bit heavier than it is. Really, it's a little funny.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Okay, you are officially awesome for naming your phone. Especially that name. :)

Myrna Foster said...

"Nix the Naughty" is such a great picture book title!

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

let them brew - something will pop out

Katie Anderson said...

Hmmm... I agree, one sentence is quite hard but I really like the YA idea :-)

Julie Dao said...

I do this all the time for my stories! I'm very wordy and it helps teach me how to be more concise :) I love the sound of the dastardly alien pig. The missing storyteller tale and the Renaissance fair girl's romance sound very intriguing! One day I hope to be as comfortable writing a whole variety of genres :)

storyqueen said...

LG- My daughter named it...Her phone is named Spock. (Guess who has the phone that does more stuff?)

Myrna-Thanks! I have a thing for titles that sound fun.

Shelli-Oh, they're brewing. I'm still tinkering with a few, too.

Katie-I like the YA, too. I have a lot more to go, but it is just a fun thing to write.

Julie-My writing hero is Cynthia Rylant. She writes all kinds of stuff.

Dawn Simon said...

Like Corey, I'm totally impressed with people who can write across genres. I like your ideas! My favorite may be the MG one, followed by the YA. And the Chicken Wizard. But the pig one sounds fun too. And the Extra Super Cranky Lady. Okay, I like them all! I can't pick! :)

Tamika: said...

I love the idea of one sentences for each project- like a pitch. I need to work on that, people ask all the time what I'm working on and I would love not drone on forever.

I like #3! A must read.

Happy writing!

Anne Spollen said...

An editor once told me that writers should be able to explain their books in exactly one sentence. I never thought that could be done. I was wrong -

Stephanie Perkins said...

"A teenage girl who works as a serving wench each summer at a renaissance faire falls in love with a cursed boy from the 16th century."

Um, you HAVE to write that. Because I need to read it.

I am so serious, Shelley.