Selling Your Ideas

And I don't mean selling your ideas for money (though that is somewhat related). I mean, how do you go about describing your ideas in a way that sounds interesting to people?

This is something I've struggled with for a long time - whether it's in the form of a pitch, a proposal or even just a fanfic summary. There's a certain kind of art to it, that much I can tell - a way of thinking that skips to the best or most enticing part of the idea, but simultaneously leaves out enough to make people want to hear more.

Anyone out there have any tips or tricks? Or care to share their own stories about how you got people wanting to hear more?

I try to intertwine what makes the characters important to the plot and vice versa while implying what the general themes are.

~shrug~

Like you said, there's an art to it. Sometimes I put out good summaries, and some times (most of the time) I put out shitty summaries.

When people ask me what my books are about, I usually struggle but say "It's a story about the fundamental mysteries of existence and some people who discover them". Sometimes I add "also, it has robots, aliens from other universes and superpowers".

It's really Better Than It Sounds. I never go into too many details, as it's far too complex.

edited 14th Jan '12 6:18:38 PM by Teraus

I think the only where the summary consists primarily of its themes rather than its plot-and-character substance is American Armor, mostly because it's political allegory.

Most of the time, I think you'd ideally focus on the plot, characters, and setting.

It's complicated. I'm thinking how can I best summarize the first book...

edited 14th Jan '12 6:37:53 PM by Teraus

Summarize an idea in one reasonably good or higher quality sentence. Memorize it so you don't mess up talking about it. There you go.

Welp, you're all doing exactly what I do. It's hard, isn't it? Trying to worry about the - well, I'd guess you'd call it the marketing of the story, when so much of your head is just taken up by the story itself.

Maybe one of the tricky things here is that it requires you to figure out what - when you get right down to it - your story is about. Which is difficult, especially with bigger and more complicated plots. When you get right down to it, what is the essential element that makes your story what it is?

/* Summarize an idea in one reasonably good or higher quality sentence. */

Ah, but see, it's that first step that's the killer...

I don't know and it makes me a little depressed inside.

I honestly have no idea, which is kind of scary considering I apparently do it effectively.

I take shots in the dark explaining that kind of stuff. :/

Pot luck for me. I know this: avoid Powerpoint like the plague, though. Yup, seriously. I knew somebody who did this in an old writers' circle. I've never been so switched off.

edited 14th Jan '12 10:16:41 PM by Euodiachloris

/* I know this: avoid Powerpoint like the plague, though. Yup, seriously. I knew somebody who did this in an old writers' circle. I've never been so switched off. */

Yeesh. I bet.

/* I honestly have no idea, which is kind of scary considering I apparently do it effectively. */

So give us an example, then.

Err... so, yeah. Anything?

Any example would be useless considering I've not had direct and unequivocal evidence of its effectiveness since college. (And that's what, five years now?)

I've found being so close to my work, I will think of it in way, way overly complex ways. So in order to pitch, I give it to a reader first and have THEM tell me what it's about, and I refine it from there.