Is Your Concept Really More Scene Than Story?
March 10, 2018 by Larry Brooks I hear feedback that writers want to learn about the advanced nuances of storytelling. The implication being that they’ve absorbed the basics and are ready to move on. This is hardly ever true, by the way. You can add nuance to a painting of, say, cow droppings on the […]
Case Study: The Untapped Dramatic Potential of Concept…
… When the Premise Doesn’t Pick Up the Ball and Run With It The traps that would compromise or even sabotage our best story intentions are everywhere. Even when it all begins with a strong conceptual proposition… which is what’s up with today’s case study. The author has consented to sharing this story overview here—via answers […]
Bradley Cooper on Concept. Really. Sort of.
Earlier this week Bradley Cooper appeared on The Late Late Show with James Cordon. Among other things (and other guests), a topic of discussion was a new TV series premiering next month called Limitless, which Cooper produces and, we are promised, will feature him as an occasional guest star (he’s not the lead/star of program, however). […]
A Case Study in Near-Perfect Concept-Premise Integration
Plus, some Storyfix.com updates on coaching and a few new ebooks. Submitting your work for evaluation and coaching can feel like a daunting experience. Sometimes things don’t work as well as you thought, or hoped, and the feedback feels more like backpeddling than the forward-energizing catalyst that it really is. And then there are […]
Novelists and Screenwriters: Concept Equals “Situation”… and Then Some
Concept is, bottom line, more a CONTEXT for the premise-driven story that emerges from it. Sometimes the context of a story is indeed situational. Sometimes, though, it is merely a contextual framework that could apply to any number of situations. “Concept,” as a powerful storytelling tool, continues to befuddle and amaze. I’ve heard from […]
Two Video Tutorials on Nailing Your Concept
Some of us are visual learners. This is for you. Some of us take more than a few passes at it before it sinks in. This is for you, as well. I’m talking about CONCEPT within a story. What it is. What is isn’t. How and why concept and premise are different things entirely, and […]
Concept/Premise Link to Tutorial
Click below to read the tutorial on Concept and Premise, in support of the Full Story Plan Evaluation process: LINKED version of CONCEPT PREMISE Please follow and like us:
Fiction Writers: The Definition and Criteria of Concept
Many writers begin a draft with a vision for concept and premise in mind. Others don’t, using the draft itself as the search-mechanism to find concept and premise, then retrofitting it into the story in subsequent drafts. Some writers are solid on their concept – often without realizing that’s what they have at this point, […]
The Role of Concept in a Real-World Story
Quick story to encapsulate the mindset – complete with barriers and old tapes and other priorities – of the writer who struggles with the notion of concept. Concept, of course, is the presence of something conceptual within a story. It’s not the story itself, but rather, the landscape for one. A framework. A compelling notion […]
Can Your Concept be TOO Big?
To open this can of worms… Announcing the re-release of my novel, “The Seventh Thunder.” The concept is massive. So much so it initially scared agents and publishers away. A few years ago I used this novel as my calling card to find a new agent. Leveraging the endorsement of my former editor at […]