Query Critique Wrap Up! (And another contest???)

mood: spinning head
pandora/ipod: "single ladies" by beyonce

June? Really? REALLY? Kill me.

No, seriously, I can't believe it's been over two months since I did my Query Critique contest! Life has been a little crazazy, both with writerly things I can talk about on the blog (BANISH getting finished, polished, revised and scooted out into the big, bad world) and non-writerly things with I'd rather not talk about on the blog. Either way, the time - it flew. And now here we are in June and I'm just getting to the wrap up. Insanity.

I had some fantastic queries from our winners - Phoebe, Nancy, Tere and Dawn - all in the YA and MG genres but each with a unique voice and story, which I thought was pretty awesome. Each query had its own set of strengths and weaknesses. One had great voice but the story was getting muddled in too many details and subplots. Another had a great, succinct plot pitch but I wasn't getting any sense of the character. One had too much information, one had too little, etc. etc. etc.

But all four queries had one common problem, which I thought it worth addressing in it's own blog post here. After reading each of them, I couldn't tell you in one, tight sentence, exactly what their story was about.

And I'm guessing the authors couldn't, either.

That sounds harsh, but I think it's more common than any of us realize. There is something to be said for the beauty of a complex, intricately woven plot with generations of characters and multiple timelines, just as there is something to be said for the starkness of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, for example. But even after reading an intricate, detailed, generational novel - um, a good one, mind you - I can probably boil the story down into one sentence. And because I can do it, the author probably could, too.

Why is this important?

Mostly because a rambling query can be solved by a simple paring back. Whittling your novel down to its essence and then building your query up around that usually makes for a clear, concise and compelling (ooo, alliteration is my friend...) query when, infused with some voice, will garner attention.

But if I wrote an awesome, kick ass novel, why does it matter if I can't boil down my plot into 25 words or less?

Oh, it doesn't matter TO ME. I'm not going to assume that your novel is a hot rambling mess just because your query is.

But an agent might. And that DOES matter.

So, I challenge you, query writers big and small. Can you write me ONE sentence about your novel? A simple sentence of 25 words or less, that gives me the essence of your story? If you can, you might win a query critique!

One sentence. 25 words or less. Your story. In the comments section. Winners get a query critique (and I think all four of our previous winners will attest to the help I gave) announced next Wednesday.