Oh yeah...I'm talking about those damn query letters. Okay, maybe my statement is based more on my own feelings than that of the general writing populace, but I'd be willing to bet that it's not too far off.
Why is it that as writers, we despise something as simple as a one-page document? Because our very livelihood rests on it. The query letter and subsequent rejection or acceptance represents the business side to our craft. Writing a novel is a creative aspect that I truly enjoy - writing query letters is not. Like the rest of you, I know the meat and potatoes that go into it. You need an introduction to your work, the word count, genre, list of your publishing credits or other credentials and of course that one paragraph about your work that's so enticing that the agent really doesn't have any choice but to request a full or partial.
Now I know that most of you are already jumping to the conclusion that my biggest pain is the so-called "grabber" paragraph, and in part it is. But at least for me, almost equally as painful is the requirement to list the genre to pigeonhole my work in to. That simple one or two word genre listing will probably spell death to as many query letters as the "grabber" paragraph. It seems that if you call your work 'horror' and send it to agents interested in horror - then your story better have monsters or some other sort of creatures that go bump in the night. If you call your story SciFi then it better involve blasting off to some far away world or center around some aspect of technology that's a good twenty years off. Likewise for thriller and suspense - they all need to follow the same pre-conceived notion of what the genre is and is not. The trouble I run into is that if I were honest, I'd call my stories "crossovers". They usually have elements of several genres, but not enough of any ONE to make it fit the accepted formula for that genre. I know that it can be done - it has by several well-known authors (Michael Crichton is a good example).
So what do you do? First, you look for agents / publishers that work with all the genres that your story might fall in to. Second, you use that "grabber" paragraph to not only get them interested in your work, but to also give them a taste of the "flavor" for the genre you're writing. I'm a horror writer, but I try to make my writing as realistic as possible. In my work - if people sense danger, they run. No one thinks about having sex while trying to flee from imminent danger. I don't fabricate or force action. If the protagonist can save more lives by letting a child die, then he lets the child die. In my writing, the elements of a hero aren't born by his actions, but by the decision behind those actions.
Having said all that, I'd like to call to your attention to some other great thoughts behind the business and creativity of writing. In particular, I'd encourage you to check out the informative comments posted by Annalise Russell here on my blog, as well as her own blog (annaliserussell@wordpress.com). She just recently signed a two-book deal, so she knows what she's talking about.
Until next time, keep plugging away. J/W
