I recently reread James Scott Bell’s helpful little book, Write Your Novel from the Middle (Compendium Press, 2014). In it, he relates an easy process to write a three-sentence elevator pitch for your story or book. (It also helps in writing sales copy for your fiction.)
Here’s how to do it. I’ll use an example from my novel Death Perception.
1. Your main character’s name, vocation, and initial situation.
Kennet Singleton runs the local crematory and can discern the cause of death of those he cremates.
2. “When” plus the main plot problem.
When what he discerns differs from what’s listed on the death certificate, he finds himself in the midst of murderers.
3. “Now” plus the death stakes.
Now, to save the residents of his mother’s personal care home and avenge the dead, can Kennet stay alive to bring the killers to justice?
That’s all there is to it—a story in three sentences. For more about writing sales copy, see Getting Your Readers to Click “Buy Now”.
Wordsmithereens 