Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I love the ideas of opening hook contest and 'why is your book special' contest. Maybe it could be a good idea to combine them? It could be an opening paragraph contest, where the paragraph would be preceded by a short pitch.

For example: 'An urban fantasy about an ordinary boy turned wizard' -- "Mr. and Mrs Dursley of Number Four Privet Drive..."

Hmmm. The agent for a day thing was a big hit, which of course is working off the query slush. I wonder if there's a way to play editor for a day, where the quality of everything is up there, but decisions must be made on which of the good is actually good enough. Not really sure how this could play out but I like it in theory. Maybe work from the cover blurbs for books? Unless of course you could drum up agent letters to editors which probably crosses a few privacy lines, but that would actually be pretty cool to see. If people were playing editor, you could get to play editorial board or head honcho and randomly decide certain titles just aren't worthy, just for you know...fun.

Speaking of agent letters to editors, having people write one of those might make for a good contest. They are a very different sort of query and more difficult to write I think. At least from what I've seen/read they seem to be.

There's the usual suspects of first lines, short-short stories, etc., but I like the things that get folks thinking along other avenues and open up their eyes to the greater publishing world. They can be fun too, don't get me wrong, and folks like the chance to win the partial critique or what have you. My vote however, is for something different.

(Edited....) In honor of spring, best scene that includes eating a sandwich outside (any sandwich on Planet Earth: veggie burger, Greek hummas, McDonald's, meatball sub, classic egg salad, PB&J, the one your dog stole in Golden Gate Park...). One hundred words or less.

Haiku with a prompt.

(and if the prompt is publishing/agent related, fun for all!)

See, I'm trying to keep the word count LOW for you, Nathan. Never underestimate the importance of word economy!! ;)

What about what would your character do if...? And give a wacky situation.

100% credit for what???

Here's my pitch. I call it, "Humiliating Humanity." However gives their own family ebola, pisses in a pew, and kicks a puppy wins a free pencil sharpener.

Oh, 'nother idea. Supply a passage from a famous novel (Jane Eyre, Oliver Twist, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn--anything) to be edited for today's market. The way we write has obviously changed immensely; how would the greats be re-adapted to survive publishing nowadays?

Best last sentence, perhaps?

i vote for the best title idea (faux or otherwise) or the best last line (though what could beat "Poo-tee-weet" ...anybody? anybody?)

anyway, here's mine: if you could send a letter to yourself at the moment you realized you were a writer, what would it say?

i also think the person who comes up with the best contest idea should win something.

so what do i get?

Best knock knock joke.

The best X word example of show don't tell. (followed by the 'why' from NB.)

Another thread, about the importance and difficulty of gestures, in All Things Writing, got me thinking about gestures. I began examining the way I use gestures in my own writing, which made me think about better ways to use them. Do they always have to be little crutches, used when we don't know how else to show emotion or can they actually be important in making a scene or illuminating a character's personality? One person in the thread mentioned not using sighs etc. So I think a great contest would be to write a paragraph or scene inspired by one of these gesture crutches that turns the gesture from an unnecessary crutch into a crucial element of the scene.

Write the voice-over for a movie trailer of your book.

How about the best one sentence pitch? Your recent blog post has gotten me interested in seeing what everyone has.

Best short pitch given a prompt:

Given an interesting character or setting, we would create a unique twist and conflict in pitch form, with word limit. The pitch should not be about our current WIPs, but purely to practice pitching skills.