Condensing Exercise #3

Nathan Bransford, agent, novelist, blogger, has an interesting exercise on his blog yesterday. He noted that queries (and other venues) would require one condense one's beloved novel into tiny tiny packages as pitches. He also noted it was difficult. (And it is, terribly difficult).

Trying it "his way" seemed to work better, than the way I originally started with (assuming, of course, that the novels are equally thrilling). I'm game. Here are some synopses of my third novel as Bransford suggested: (a) single sentence, (b) single paragraph and (3) two paragraphs.

Novel: Tarot Queen

(a) The world of Roxell, the Tarot Queen, is turned upside down when her fated lover whisks her into adventure to save his soul and her life, and find a way to fulfill the destiny the cards have foretold.

(b) When the 400-year old Tarot Queen, Roxell, finally finds her fated lover, Dante, she is nonplused to realize he is a demon. She must abandon everything she knows to find a way to remove his demon curse while they are chased by the army and Dante can be whisked away at any moment by anyone with his demon name, but consummating the love the cards have foretold could bring her life to an end. She will have to find capabilities and strengths she never suspected within herself if she is to help them find their destiny and the opportunity of a life together.

(c) When the 400-year old Tarot Queen, Roxell, finally finds her fated lover, Dante, he is everything she ever wanted—and a demon. She must abandon everything she knows to find a way to remove his demon curse or forgo her own humanity and accept his demon curse herself. She is ill-prepared for the real world and, though Dante is capable and protective, he can be whisked away at any time by anyone who knows his demon name. And it is apparently very popular.

To save herself and Dante, she will have to develop and use skills she never envisioned, find capabilities and strengths she had not suspected. She will have to be bold, even when it distresses her protective companion. In the end, she will have to save Dante from the army that wishes to control his skills and look within herself for the answers that will allow her to fulfill their joint destiny.

You know, I think this is a great exercise, if only to remind me what's most key in my own novels. I almost enjoyed that. :)

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Condensing Exercise #2

Nathan Bransford, agent, novelist, blogger, has an interesting exercise on his blog yesterday. He noted that queries (and other venues) would require one condense one's beloved novel into tiny tiny packages as pitches. He also noted it was difficult. (And it is, terribly difficult).

I tried it with my first novel yesterday. It's hard to tell how the results panned out. Jeff didn't like them, but I'm not sure he's recovered from the notion that I have kittens as central characters (though they are). Actually, almost as a trademark, I have at least one cat and one dragon (or dragon-like beastie) in every novel. But that's neither here nor there.

I need to try it again with the second novel, which I haven't started trying to market yet. Since I'd had a query on Curse of the Jenri, I had used that as a jumping off point and tried to whittle it down. Today, I'm going to try what Bransford original suggested. Start with (a) the sentence and then expand to (b) one and then (c) two paragraphs.

Novel: Beast Within

(a) When their ship of youthful refugees maroons on a strange and dangerous new planet, Xander and his shapeshifting clan, the Bete, will need to protect the rest of the humans from the planet's dangers, without being discovered by those humans who would treat the Bete as monsters.

(b) When their ship of youthful refugees maroons on a strange and dangerous new planet, Xander has to take charge of his shapeshifting clan, the Bete, and protect the healer they found among the humans on board. Somehow, Xander and his family will have to use all of their knowledge and supernatural skills to protect everyone from the man-eating plants and animals that about without revealing their true natures to the humans who would kill the Bete for being "demons."

(c) When their ship of youthful refugees maroons on a strange and dangerous new planet, Xander has to take charge of his shapeshifting clan, the Bete, to protect the healer, K'Ti, from the humans as well as his own clan. After Xander convinced the captain to let them be the first to set up camp outside, the healer quickly becomes key to survival and Xander defies his clan to let her live when she discovers their secret shapeshifting abilities.

Among humans, shapeshifting is equated with evil and their lives would readily be forfeit if certain fanatical factions discovered their ability. To defend themselves from the vicious predators of the new planet, the Bete are going to need every skill, shred of knowledge and capability they possess. How can they use them, however, without revealing their secret?

You know, I think that worked better. I'll try again tomorrow. Again, feel free to leave your opinions or suggestions.

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Exercise: Condensing for Marketing

Nathan Bransford, agent, novelist, blogger, has an interesting exercise on his blog today. He noted that queries (and other venues) would require one condense one's beloved novel into tiny tiny packages as pitches. He also noted it was difficult. (And it is, terribly difficult).

Just from the work on my query, I know it's true. Since I'm now sitting on three completed novels and need to get cracking on marketing (instead of falling prey the siren's song of "new" writing), I thought I'd try the exercise here. I'm going to need these short versions anyway. The idea is to condense the story into (a) one sentence, (b) one paragraph, and (c) two paragraphs.

So, today, I'll try it with my first novel: Curse of the Jenri.

(a) Tander has no choice but to use his unwanted magical ability, his six obnoxious kittens and a dangerous band of cutthroats, knights and sorcerers to rescue his wife and her sisters from an unknown villain.

(b) When Tander the swordsman is adopted by six kittens who demand he's really a sorcerer, Tander refuses to consider the possibility until his wife and many others from their camp are kidnapped. Now, he has to depend on his magic, his kittens and an angry mob of sorcerers and cutthroats to find her and even to save her. Too bad he has no idea what he's doing.

(c) Still stinging from the humiliation of being rescued by his wife, Tander, the swordsman, is adopted by a litter of demanding familiars who insist Tander is full to bursting with magical ability, as if he wasn't humiliated enough. Tander has no intention of lowering himself by dabbling in magic or spending his life saddled with six critical kittens, but, when his wife (and many of her camp) are kidnapped, he's going to have to depend on his magic to save them.

Tander has no idea who he’ll face or how long he has to get there. He’ll need to embrace the magic he despises, master it well enough that it’s a boon and not a liability. He’ll have to slog through near impassable mountains in winter, fighting fearsome creatures he didn’t even think existed. He’ll do anything he has to to reach Layla before the Jenri are destroyed. And, he'll need to get there before the impatient band of assassins, soldiers, and sorcerers he leads kills him—or each other.

Hmm. It is harder than I like to think. Feel free to give criticism and suggestions. I wish they were funnier. May have to revise and repost later. Any ideas would be welcome.

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