What is that I hear?

Absolutely nothing. Well, almost. The dog won't stop licking herself and I can hear the trickle of the water filtering in the fish tank. But the house is quiet. *deep breath....and sigh* Mr. Chelle is finally home and took little man with him to run errands this morning after he took the man-child to school.

So here I am, enjoying my cup of coffee, hoping my toes will warm up. :) Did everyone have a great weekend? A good Valentine's Day? Mr. Chelle took me to a movie Saturday night and we met his dad and his girlfriend for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant. Yum. Yesterday? We just hung out and took it easy. Mom took little man to see a movie so we could have some quiet time. Overall? Not a bad weekend at all.

Ok. We talked about what elements are important in a pitch. I guess alot of it depends on what kind of pitch you are looking at as to how detailed it can be. Is it a logline? A basic sentence has to make an impact. I personally HATE loglines and think it's not a valid way to gather enough info about the story to make an informed decision. My first pitch was a one page, simplified synopsis. I was fortunate enough to have been chosen to pitch to a Harlequin editor and had a partial request. The next two pitches I participated in dealt with loglines. They suck. Or I guess I should say...I suck at writing them. You've got to pack alot of punch within just a few words, and you have to choose your words wisely. That's when it's especially important to know exactly who and what line you are targeting.

That's what we're dealing with today. Key words that pack a punch. A pad and pen is my friend at that point unless I'm having a day where I simply cannot hold or grasp small objects. But rolling with the punches is another post, another day. I'll sit down and try to write out descriptive words for each character, the conflict, and what their ultimate goal needs to be. Know your target audience. Use key words to acknowledge you've done your homework. Is your story about home and hearth, or inspirational? Full of desire and passion, exotic or erotic? Is your heroine a single mom struggling to survive only to have a billionaire boss that can give her a Cinderella HEA?

You don't have enough room in a logline for names or places. But the small amount of words used need to include key words to tempt an editor or agent. Know your story. Who are your main protagonists and what do they want/need?