Describing your Novel

[Original Cyn]

Does anyone ever get tongue tied when you're asked to describe what your novel is about?

It should be the easiest thing right? You know what the book is about so you just tell it as such. But everytime I'm asked to discuss what I'm writing or have written I find I get tongue tied.

I did an interview recently and everything went fine until I was asked to describe my novel The Crescent. If I go back and count how many times I say 'yknow' I could make up a fine drinking game!

I even wrote out a 2 second pitch and still got lost in the weeds. I've heard that you're suppose to describe it as if you're telling your best friend the story...that doesn't always work though. Or am I thinking too much?

[CassieXO]

Well at least in what I write, there is one paragraph or chapter (depends on the length) that really captures what my story is about. So I basically describe the feel from that section.
I also before I write a book write a scentence that basically summarizes what the book is going to be about. After writing the whole book, things change and all, but I keep revising that scentence.
So then I kind of have a thesis of my book and I can describe how it feels too.

[Cadeyrn]

That seems like a cool method, Cassie.

Me, I do end up getting tongue-tied XD. How do I fix it? Truthfully, I haven't yet. My brother (also a writer, and I think a better one than me) always tells me to try to sum it up in like two or three words. But I think he's the only one who can do that properly.