Sharp writing, Johnathan. Bleak and disturbing, seemingly void of hope.
If I understood correctly, this was an exercise in providing character background for your novel meant to entice readers to want to find out more. For Screenplays this is usually done with a pithy logline (max. 3 sentence summary). I found doing this for novels helps, too.
Reading the character piece, I was reminded of David Brin's short story Piecework.
Thanks for taking the time to read and analyse the piece, Alexander. Its core was originally in the novel but I later edited out. I know about hooks, pitches and loglines. A pithy one I'm including when querying this debut novel is: "a woman with a desperate plan, an unnecessary man and a limited lifespan".
Thanks! My tips on that: create a targeted shortlist, use a tracking spreadsheet, customise cover letter for each agent, send in batches, adjust with feedback, keep editing!
Sharp writing, Johnathan. Bleak and disturbing, seemingly void of hope.
If I understood correctly, this was an exercise in providing character background for your novel meant to entice readers to want to find out more. For Screenplays this is usually done with a pithy logline (max. 3 sentence summary). I found doing this for novels helps, too.
Reading the character piece, I was reminded of David Brin's short story Piecework.
Thanks for taking the time to read and analyse the piece, Alexander. Its core was originally in the novel but I later edited out. I know about hooks, pitches and loglines. A pithy one I'm including when querying this debut novel is: "a woman with a desperate plan, an unnecessary man and a limited lifespan".
Yep, editing can do that sometimes. I'm not there yet, need to finish draft zero first. Good luck with the querying!
Thanks! My tips on that: create a targeted shortlist, use a tracking spreadsheet, customise cover letter for each agent, send in batches, adjust with feedback, keep editing!
Yeah, this summer is going to be the summer of shortlists! 😅