Pitch Wars

How to Write a Pitch

A pitch is a 100-word (or less) summary of a full-length novel, telling potential readers about the main character, the conflict, and the stakes in a compact, bite-sized manner. This is the heart of a story and something you would tell a stranger in an elevator ride if you want to talk about your story.

There are many ways to phrase a pitch, but some (if not all) key elements in it would be:

Characters
Who is your central character? What is different about them? What will make them stand out from a secondary character?

Goals
What does your character want to achieve? What do they want to get?

Action
What does your character do in order to achieve their goals?

Inciting Incident
What pushes the story forward?

Conflict and Stakes
What hinders the characters in getting what they want? What happens if the character does or does not get what they want?

Setting
What is the context of your story? Why do the conflict and stakes matter?

Examples include:

The Lion King
When Simba the lion cub witnesses the death of his father, the King, he abandons his family in the hands of his tyrant uncle. But to save his family, he must return home, defeat the usurper, and claim his rightful place on the throne. (46 words)

Moana
The daughter of the village chief, Moana, wants to explore the sea beyond the reef, but her father is against it. But when darkness and rot affects their livelihood, Moana has to journey beyond the reef, find the cause, and restore the balance before the entire sea dies off. (49 words)

How to Train Your Dragon
Hiccup cannot kill dragons, and when he accidentally shoots down an elusive dragon, he develops a friendship with it. Armed with a new understanding of the creatures humanity deemed as enemies, can he change everyone's minds before they kill his new friend? (42 words)

The thing about writing Pitches is that there are no rules! As long as you can sell your story in 100 words or less, you will be sure to attract readers who may be interested. Learning how to write pitches will help you trim your stories down to its core elements and in figuring out the heart of the tale you want to tell.

Is your pitch not working out for you? Revisit the story engine, the plot, or the characters and try to fine-tune them in ways that will make your story shine. For more resources, visit the Creators site here.

Click the next part to learn more about how Pitch Wars works!