Agents, publicists, publishers, and various professionals in the film industry often ask for writers to “pitch” their projects in a couple sentences or less. Last weekend at the New Jersey Council for Teachers of English (NJCTE) conference, I told a room full of writers and teachers that I’d like to know my couple-sentence summary before I start writing. This morning I was working on that pitch for the book I’m writing next, a book I’m at the moment calling Waiting For Julie. I’m going to share a couple versions of my summary and I’d love to hear if you’ve got suggestions or if one of these appeals to you more than the rest:
- Meet Zuke: a young man who wants to be married and jumps at the chance when his buddy offers to introduce him to a woman he says will be perfect for him. Zuke meets Julie and he falls for her hard, but as the relationship progresses, he begins to wonder just how long a man can wait for a woman to start loving him back.
- In Waiting For Julie, Zuke is a basketball coach who wants to be married. When his buddy tells him he knows just the right girl, Zuke is all for meeting her. After a rocky start, Zuke falls hard and asks Julie out. When she says “yes,” Zuke is ecstatic, but as they begin to date, Julie doesn’t seem like him as much as he likes her. Zuke wonders how long a guy ought to wait to be loved back.
- Zuke’s buddy Cheese thinks he knows the perfect woman that Zuke’s got to meet. When Zuke meets this woman named Julie, it’s clear to him that she’s in love with Cheese. Eventually Zuke asks Julie out on a date, and he’s pumped when she says yes, but as the relationship progresses, he begins to wonder just how long a man should wait on the woman of his dreams.
Possible Script Logline: Just How Long Can A Man Wait on The Girl of His Dreams?
Rhetorical Problems for Me: This could be a man’s book in that Zuke’s a basketball coach with manly feelings that he keeps to himself as he gets involved trying to woo this gal Julie, but I’m not sure a man would buy a book called Waiting For Julie. Hmmmmmmm.
Bill Torgerson 
4 responses to “Waiting For Julie: Help me plan the novel after Love on the Big Screen?”
Honestly, I’d love to hear about what Zuke chooses to do since Abby is gone. Does he transfer to Indiana or does he choose to stay where he is and try to find the woman of his dreams there? Either way I’ll be getting the sequel for my own reading.
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Thanks for being interested Chris! I’m reading up on the 90s and getting ready to write.
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I find the second summary possibility the most stimulating. The “basketball coach” and “rocky start” mentions give that one a bit more depth – I can imagine laugh aloud moments in the rocky start. Maybe mix in the “she’s in love with Cheese angle”? 🙂 I agree with Chris, too, that people who read the first book would like to hear about the recovery from Glory and Bird. But maybe that makes it hard for “Waiting for Julie” to be a stand alone book???
As for the title, some “manly” men may look at the title “Love on the Big Screen” and think “ahhh just a cheesy love story…” simply because of the word “love”. With the title, “Waiting for Julie” at least we all have some experience in the waiting aspect. Count my vote in that I would not be turned off by that title. May I suggest Tom Petty’s “The Waiting”? haha
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“The Waiting”…has my vote Keegan!
First 2 summaries have my attention(would be anxious to find out Zuke’s journey into marriage)
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