In a book called Made to Stick, I paused while reading this passage: "To make our communication more effective, we need to shift our thinking from 'What information do I need to convey?' to 'What questions do I want my audience to ask?'"

I used to have SIMPLIFY on the bulletin board above my desk. Today, I posted MAKE READERS ASK QUESTIONS up there.

At a video conference on leadership, hosted by churches,  I listened to a slew of lectures mostly by folks whose books were for sale in the lobby. Though I had sworn off buying books until my to read stack got shorter, I bought Made to Stick. Meaning the authors' pitch stuck.

I placed the book about halfway down my stack. There it laid until some months passed and I attended a college president's conference (I'm president of the world's smallest college) and a speaker raved about Made to Stick.

The authors, Chip and Dan Heath, I would call business gurus. The book is about effective communication for the purpose of selling people on whatever, be it a doctrine or a widget. Or a book?  I wonder.

Last week I got an idea for a class or maybe a book about writing novels. It will present a plan to take the beast from conception to fruition and in the process give the writer some handy tools they can use thereafter.

We novelists generally hate to be asked, "What's your book about?" Summarizing a novel in few enough words so anybody will listen without yawning is a wicked challenge. I hear that Hollywood folks call this summary an elevator pitch, meaning you're riding in an elevator with Spielberg and have a few floors to sell him on your story.

As I pondered how to assist writers in drafting a cool elevator pitch, I thought, Hey, these Heath brothers are giving me stuff that might help.

The idea of a novelist learning a writing craft from a business guru might seem rather ignoble. But  editors, agents, publicists and such keep telling us, "Writing is a business." 

Oh, Lord, I'm going to go take an Advil or two.

Having beat the headache, I'll conclude this post with a teaser: The Heath brothers posit a six point scheme about what makes a catchy idea.  Those who don't care to read the whole book should return here next week.