How to create the perfect pitch?

Recently I submitted 2 pitches to a publisher, and it got me thinking on how to build a good pitch. Of course, the true insights came days after the pitch was submitted, but that's par for the course. One thing I did notice while creating my pitch, however, was that pitching can actually create a great feedback loop: the plot informs the pitch, which in turn, informs and enhances the plot. I realized that thinking about the pitch while drafting the plot can add valuable elements to the story.

So how do we create the perfect pitch?

Pitching 101

The Central Conflict

Look at your story and try to identify the central conflict. This central conflict can be either emotional or action-based, but a really good plot has elements of both. The central conflict usually forms around what the protagonist wants and what challenges s/he must overcome to get it. It also helps to determine the stakes: what is the COST if the hero fails to overcome the central challenges? In comics, the stakes are always high so it's usually a good idea to make the cost as big as possible (e.g. failing = dying).

Your job: write down the central characters under the heading "Characters." Next, identify the central conflict between the characters and their challenges. Write this down under the heading "Conflict." Next, determine the cost of failure. Write it down under the heading "Cost."

If you wrote Pirates of the Caribbean you would note it down as thus:

Characters: Blacksmith Will Turner, his love the governor's daughter (Elizabeth Swann), and an eccentric pirate “Captain” Jack Sparrow.

Conflict: Will's love is kidnapped by undead pirates.

Cost: The eternal loss and possible death of Will's precious lover.

Show Progression of the Plot

You must be able to see the whole story in your pitch. This means you need to have some idea of how your plot is going to progress from beginning to end. Great plot lines begin in what's known as the "status quo" (how your hero lives their life before the challenge presents itself), and then progress to a point where the status quo is undermined (usually by introducing the main threat or challenge).

Your job: determine the status quo of the characters and write this down under "Status Quo." Then combine all the notes you've made so far: Characters + Status Quo followed by Conflict (clearly demonstrating the Cost of failure).

For Pirates of the Caribbean this would tally up as follows:

Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with an eccentric pirate Captain (Jack Sparrow) to save the love of his life (the governor’s daughter) from the pirate's former allies, who are now undead.

This is a great pitch, because it sparks the imagination and creates the desire to see more. There's also a strong sense of plot progression: the lovers are torn apart when the the governor's daughter is kidnapped by undead pirates. Will must then team up with their pirate Captain (who is not undead) to fight them and recapture his love. In the end, we imagine, the lovers will be reunited and perhaps the Captain will be redeemed.

It doesn't matter if the reader of the pitch draws the right conclusion (perhaps you could delight and surprise the reader by subverting his or her expectations). What DOES MATTER, however, is that they can see a mini-story in their head just by hearing the pitch.

Extras

If the time frame matters in the story, be sure to include this in your pitch. Also, make sure that your pitch is worded in such a way that we can determine which story genre we are dealing with (action, drama, comedy, etc.).

Here is how this would work for the movie The Hangover:

Characters: 3 groomsman

Conflict: They lose their buddy right before his wedding to the Las Vegas underworld.

Cost: Embarrassment, failed wedding, failed friendship.

Status Quo: The final days before the wedding.

Time Limit: From day after bachelor party until wedding.

Genre: Comedy.

All this can be combined in this movie pitch:

In Las Vegas, three groomsmen lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken bachelor party, then must retrace their steps in order to find him and get hilariously embroiled in the city's underworld.

By adding the word "hilariously," we indicate that we are dealing with a comedy, not an action film. You get a sense of limited time by describing their buddy as about-to-be-wed and starting the adventure with the bachelor party.

Pitching your comic book

The above rules are universal and will work for your comic book pitch. I offer you an example pitch for The Killing Joke as an example:

The Killing Joke

Characters: Commissioner Gordon, The Joker, Batman.

Conflict: The Joker wants to force Commissioner Gordon to justify his own existence.

Cost: The corruption of Commissioner Gordon's soul.

Status Quo: The Joker has escaped, as per the usual.

Time Limit: Until Commissioner Gordon cracks.

Genre: Dark, sadistic story.

With the above summary of each component, we can already see the trigger words for our eventual pitch. We know the characters we have to introduce, how to portray the story (sadistic), etc.

The pitch could be as follows:

The Joker kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and systematically and sadistically ruins the life of his daughter in order to drive him insane and show to the world that the only difference between us and him is "one bad day." Batman must solve the clues and rescue Gordon before the Commissioner breaks.

If your pitch must include the ending, here's the spoiler you might not want to read -

Batman saves Gordon in time, but not before Gordon's life lies in ruins. Gordon, however, has held on to his sanity - disproving the Joker's theory - and tells Batman to arrest the Joker by the book.

As a clincher we could add:

We get a dark insight into Batman's personal wounded soul as the Joker and Batman both bond when they cackle maniacally at the Joker's joke.

This is the genius of Alan Moore's script: to show us that while Gordon held on to his humanity, we must question whether Batman has not indeed lost it.

In Conclusion

By examining the elements of our story: Characters, Conflict, Cost, Status Quo, Time Limit and Genre, and then combining them, we can create the perfect pitch. Not all of these elements need to be included, however. Use only those that create a compelling plot that helps the reader imagine the entire story.

You can probably tell by now how drafting a pitch can alert us to missing elements in our plot and/or possibly even help us elevate our plot to a new level. That's why it's helpful to start thinking about the pitch early on in the process.

In a future blog post I will share the publishers who you can send your pitch to. Stay tuned!