You walk in, punch your floor number and just as the doors close, the Big Name Agent speaking at the writer’s conference you’re attending steps over the threshold to join you.  Big Name Agent turns to you and says, “So, what are you working on?”

You? Break out in a cold sweat.  Yeah – you’ve got less than a minute or two to convey your entire opus in the span of an elevator ride and you stammer, “Uh, uhm, well, see there’s this girl…”

That’s right. The dreaded “Elevator Pitch!” Have you figured yours out yet?

Here’s mine: A girl in Juvenile Detention for a crime she didn’t commit fights to escape and uncovers the truth about the Sheriff who put her there.

Story Title: Hell on Wheels

It took me most of seven months to come up with that one. Seven months for so few words. But that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? Fine tuning, cutting to the bone, smelting away all the excess until you’re left with concentrated writerly goodness. (I’d like to tweak mine still…)

Are you afraid of the Elevator Pitch? Have you tried to come up with one and given up? Or do you have a killer pitch you’re just itching to try out?