Okay, I know it sounds like a bad sexual reference but shrinkage is on my mind. They tell me I need to be able to relay the gist of my novel in a short sentence. Short. It needs to be "catchy" and "have a hook" because it needs to be memorable. I tried '"When Alys, a 13th century herbal healer, is accused of wychcraft, three orphaned siblings along with several unlikely allies must rally to try and save her from the Inquisition." Far too long. Cut it in half.
First of all the confession. I took part of my sentence from a great review Barbara Machamer wrote. But now I must cut her good language and some of mine. It needs to "tweetable" (which sounds a little like a breakfast cereal, doesn't it?) and it needs to be "hooky"-- like the chorus of a bad country western song.
"Three teenagers rally to save an accused wych from the 13th C. Inquisition." What do you think? Or "Can three teenagers save an accused wych from the 13th C. Inquisition?"
The biggest problem of course is that what I hope will make the book a rich experience for the reader is not the main action plot. The plot's fun, it moves things along. But I hope readers will linger over the musings of Lyllie and Wyllym and Edric and Alys and even Father Odo as those characters ask the kinds of questions we all ask ourselves at one time or another.
Beyond that, I hope they feel the book is an E ticket ride into rural 13th century England. I even dare to hope they will see parallels between Edric's concern over the Church and our own concerns as we find ourselves dealing with huge almost corporate entities whose good works and values are open to question. When I have to wonder about the wage Goodwill pays their people, and whether the money I send the Red Cross ever means food on the table for flood victims, like Edric, I have to pause. I have to ask, are these really my people?
Of course that's a complicated question. In a huge organization some are, and some aren't. Who gets my support? But dealing with all that is not today's chore. Today's chore is to shrink a 350 page book into 6 or maybe 8 words. Any ideas?
First of all the confession. I took part of my sentence from a great review Barbara Machamer wrote. But now I must cut her good language and some of mine. It needs to "tweetable" (which sounds a little like a breakfast cereal, doesn't it?) and it needs to be "hooky"-- like the chorus of a bad country western song.
"Three teenagers rally to save an accused wych from the 13th C. Inquisition." What do you think? Or "Can three teenagers save an accused wych from the 13th C. Inquisition?"
The biggest problem of course is that what I hope will make the book a rich experience for the reader is not the main action plot. The plot's fun, it moves things along. But I hope readers will linger over the musings of Lyllie and Wyllym and Edric and Alys and even Father Odo as those characters ask the kinds of questions we all ask ourselves at one time or another.
Beyond that, I hope they feel the book is an E ticket ride into rural 13th century England. I even dare to hope they will see parallels between Edric's concern over the Church and our own concerns as we find ourselves dealing with huge almost corporate entities whose good works and values are open to question. When I have to wonder about the wage Goodwill pays their people, and whether the money I send the Red Cross ever means food on the table for flood victims, like Edric, I have to pause. I have to ask, are these really my people?
Of course that's a complicated question. In a huge organization some are, and some aren't. Who gets my support? But dealing with all that is not today's chore. Today's chore is to shrink a 350 page book into 6 or maybe 8 words. Any ideas?