by Youngbear Roth

Created on: March 18, 2010   Last Updated: December 02, 2010

What does an acquiring literary executive read for when passing judgment on our work?  A writer's analysis of our manuscript or script – before submission - answers the following questions:

Can readers identify with the characters?  Why did robot R2-D2 'talk'?  Why did Andy Warhol shoot a film about a human being sleeping, instead of shooting an ashtray?  It's cheaper to hire the ashtray.

What is the tone and outlook of the work?  Serious, depressing pieces do sell to critical and popular acclaim (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Schindler's List, Shine).  However, be forewarned, if we write a dark piece we're not doing ourselves any favors.

Does the work clearly express its intended theme?  We've written a manuscript or script about a bank heist using three robbers; one gets killed and two take off for the good life in Saint Thomas.  If our theme is 'Violent crime doesn't pay', but the reader gets, "Before you feel sorry for the guy who got popped, do the math," then we haven't handled the story correctly.

Is the work believable?  Remember the implied promise a fiction author makes to her audience.  "I'll lie with such brilliance you'll believe it."  Think of this as training for our tax audit.

Does the plot possess forward momentum?  A funny thing happened to me on the way to the market: my wheels got snuffed, I got shot at six times and stabbed with a meat cleaver, so I hopped a bus and four gang-bangers pinned me down writing graffiti on my forehead with a laundry marker, then they threw me off the bus and I got cursed by a homeless Gypsy and mugged by an eight year old brandishing a twelve gauge shot gun; she was mean!  If you live in Los Angeles, this is forward momentum.  Now what did I do with that shopping list?

Is our work character or plot driven?  A sniper hides in the balcony of the Astoria Convention Hall taking pot shots at conventioneers.  Which is more important to our story's momentum – the challenges faced in planning a senseless act of violence (plot) or our sniper and the people killed (character)?

Answer: Were the people attorneys?

Is our writing style effective or does it detract from the work?

A. Because if they were attorneys I say to my man in the balcony party on!

B. Because, if they were attorneys, I say to my man in the balcony, "Party on!"

C. Because if they were attorneys, I say to my

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