Here is one take for writing pitches and queries. It's a sort of basic formula that can be applied to the process of creating them (though, if you recall from the previous chapter's examples, it isn't the only way to write them).
When AA happens to MC, BB happens, but now she must YYY or ZZZ will result.
This is my interpretation of the above basic linear query formula:
AA - Inciting Incident
MC - Main character (the aforementioned "she")
BB - turning point - default action fails / needs new default action / must learn to change
YYY - conflict
ZZZ - consequences
Go ahead and try your hand at making some short pitches. The more you practice, the better you get.
Just know that if you're having trouble narrowing your plot premise to these main things, you may have too many subplots and may not have set one major one as the absolute focus of your book.
When you can select just one and subjugate all other plots as secondary, and ensure everything in the book relates to the main, overarching reason for the book and everything therein, you will much more easily conquer this query / pitch thing like it was meant to be your personal blade, forged from the blood of your imagined enemies and blessed with the holy kiss of the muse.
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Writing Tips
Non-FictionNeed help developing your skills, or just need to brush up on some tips when you are having writers' block? I use these techniques everyday when I write, right from my own store of private writer's cheat sheets. Also included are posts on creating...
