Comments | rj_anderson: Extract of Book, 1 tbsp.

rj_anderson

Extract of Book, 1 tbsp.

Sep 17, 2006 22:26

Some recent discussions in superversive's journal, plus an essay by alg about how to successfully pitch a novel to an agent or editor, got me thinking about a problem I've been struggling with for some time. To wit, what is the proper answer to give when relatives, casual friends, and just-met acquaintances ask you, "So what is your book about ( Read more... )

editing, knife, writing, publishing, fantasy

Comments 20

yunitsa September 18 2006, 11:26:13 UTC

Tell me about it - I still haven't figured out a good way out of that. For Paths of Glory, my answer was "It's about this guy...". For my current project it's "It's about this guy and his artist boyfriend...IN SPAAAACE!"

rj_anderson September 18 2006, 15:22:39 UTC

"It's about this fairy and her artist boyfriend NOT IN SPAAAACE!"

You know, that almost works.

yunitsa September 18 2006, 17:06:01 UTC

Together, they fight crime!

rj_anderson September 18 2006, 17:25:19 UTC

That too!

Gosh, you'd almost think you'd read the book!

Thread 5

dolorous_ett September 18 2006, 14:07:39 UTC

Why don't you say it's an intelligent, adult, modern take on fairies? I'm sure it is all of those things, and much more. And these are buzzwords that get people wanting more.

If you can put in "sophisticated" you get bonus points. Othe words will probably occur to you...

zakhad September 18 2006, 14:44:37 UTC

We're in the era of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its cohorts, and also Pan's Labyrinth (http://www.panslabyrinth.com/) which is about fairies and satyrs and is totally R rated (haven't seen it, not sure I want to). I don't think you'll have problems if you can convey that it's not for kids. Something like "If fairies were real, they might be less gossamer and more pragmatic, and they would certainly be facing the same changing world we live in."

zakhad September 18 2006, 14:46:17 UTC

And I totally didn't read through the comments before I posted, and hey, lizbee and I are pragmatic twins!

(The comment has been removed)

Re: Link Correction rj_anderson September 18 2006, 15:18:39 UTC

Fixed now, thanks.

izhilzha September 18 2006, 16:40:24 UTC

I feel for you. Writing screenplays brings me up against this way too often, because unless you have a pithy, interesting single sentence nobody's going to want to even *read* the screenplay.

And I'm absolutely terrible at it. I make my writer's group help me out. (I actually kind of like lizbee's take, but take that with caution, since it comes from untalented me, heh.)