Querying The Cliché

Recently I heard a writer complaining that the "rules" for querying were impossible to follow. She pointed out that there are only eight (or twelve, or four) standard plots, and therefore it's ridiculous for agents to issue decrees such as "Don't tell us it's a story of forbidden love: that's cliché." Or "Don't say 'choosing between life and love.' That's overdone."

In effect her question was this: What if your story really is about forbidden love, or about choosing between life and love, or could be quickly described by some other cliché? Are they saying you can't query it?

Of course you can query it. If there are only four (or eight or twelve) standard plots in the world, you can assume there's going to be some repetition.

Therefore it's up to you to do your future literary agent a favor. Assume your future agent goes to  her inbox every day to find a hundred new queries. She's read all the clichés. She wants to find something she'll enjoy, but in order to enjoy your story, she needs something to remember. Something specific.

Remember that a cliché is a shortcut. And when you use one to describe your own work, you're giving only a surface rendering of a story with depth. Work harder. Give it that depth.

It's cliché to say, "Theirs is a forbidden love." Instead you say, "Mom has taken out a restraining order against Tanner, so Emily learns to scale the chimney in order to sneak out at night."

You don't write in your query, "Choosing between life and love," but you do say, "Unless Steve hands over the Omega Stone, the Bertrandians will drop Esmeralda into the vat of boiling oil."

You have to "show-don't-tell" in your query the same way you do in your manuscript.

A coming of age story? No. A teenager whose mother just died, struggling to guide his young brother through their father's emotional absence? Better. A high school dropout choosing between a joyride with his garage band buddies or protecting his ten-year-old brother from their drunken father's rampages? Memorable because we can feel for the characters.

The specifics are the difference between a cliché and a compelling story.  If your future agent really is receiving a hundred queries a week about forbidden love, make it so she remembers yours.

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Jane Lebak is the author of The Guardian (Thomas Nelson, 1994), Seven Archangels: Annihilation (Double-Edged Publishing, 2008) and The Boys Upstairs(this December from MuseItUp). At Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family, she blogs about what happens when a distracted daydreamer and a gamer geek attempt to raise four children. She is represented by the amazing Roseanne Wells of the Marianne Strong Literary Agency.