Comments on: For Your Consideration: Questions at the Heart of Your Story Idea

By: ScribeChat » Blog Archive » TOPIC: How Do We Know If Our Story Concept is Good Enough?

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:59:29 +0000

[...] Or do you believe that one should ignore all this advice and write what you want to write, the market be damned? This is a topic that hits people at the very core of their writing heart: determining if our story ideas are worth the time and effort it will take to turn them into a fully-developed novel. As Larry Brooks says on his blog at Storyfix.com: [...]

By: #ScribeChat: High Concept vs The Story We Want To Write: How Do We Know If Our Story Concept Is Good Enough?

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:36:27 +0000

By: nancy

nancy — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:20:12 +0000

Larry, Breaking it down into genres really clarifies the concept concept for me. It involves IDEA–Free Mason skullduggery, the lost ark, Julie’s blog, etc.–and/or DELIVERY–500 days of split screen expectations vs reality, simultaneous decades of Julia Childs’ cooking.

You also took the arrow out of my heart when you said genre is the variable, that some genres are more open to experimentation than others. I think I wrote “the other.” Whew! You leave me with a glimmer of hope.

So my new motivation is: finish this novel and create a higher concept for the next one. Then when the publisher says, “This is good. Do you have anything else?” I can say, “Sure. Its low concept but since you liked my second one, maybe . . . .”

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:03:53 +0000

Maybe it’s the term “high concept” that is slightly confusing. Sounds a bit like “high morals” or “lofty ethics” or “big philosophy”. No fault of yours, Larry, other storytelling writers use it as well. Seems to me that it might be put like this : concept is the kind of story (i.e., genre) you are telling, the “height” is how far your take on that story/genre is from the average, run-of-the-mill way that kind of story is usually told. Agatha Christie, who was a past master of tight plots with twist endings did a perfect “high concept” on herself in her final Poirot case. Business as usual was that some ingenious murderer was eventually brought to justice by the belgian detective’s ever superior “little grey cells”. In “Final Curtain”, Poirot’s last case, the serial killer does not kill with his own hands – he cleverly manipulates other people’s emotions and perceptions to make them hate someone so much that they kill that someone. Poirot, who is dying of disease, realizes that the killer, having done nothing himself, cannot be brought to justice – and that he MUST be brought to justice to save his future victims. So Poirot decides to do the only thing he can, and the detective finally murders the murderer. That’s a brilliant angle, twist, whatever, far above “the usual suspects” of how to do crime stories, and that is high concept to me. The fact that it will make you think quite a bit about the limitations of institutionalized justice and ethical duty is no bad thing, either.

Then again, I may be wrong about the whole thing. Am I..?

By: Luisa Perkins

Luisa Perkins — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:33:49 +0000

Holy cow: once again you have opened my eyes to a reality of which I was unaware. Personal vs. professional: this is so crucial. Thank you.

By: Larry

Larry — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:33:40 +0000

@Sandra and Nancy — your comments inspire me to create another post on this subject, as you bring up some good points. Concept, especially “high concept” is a tough nut to crack. So look for that soon… as in, next.

About “500 Days of Summer,” I’m glad you mentioned it as you did (Nancy). Here’s an opportunity refine the definition of Concept, at the high level, or any other level. I’ll be sure to use that as an example in the post, but here’s a preview: one one level, you could call this a pretty traditional, no-frills love story. But… was it really no-frills? Have you ever seen a love story structured like that? I haven’t. Not just in the production value (which, when writing a screenplay, does count as “concept” when the visual treatment calls for something that unusual and “conceptual,” but also in terms of the narrative itself.

How’s this for a cut at a higher concept — “What if we show a love affair in a non-sequential order, jacking the tension and stakes by alternatingly showing their bliss and their decline almost simultaneously?”

That’s high concept. Or at least higher than normal for a love story, with is always tough to move into high concept territory (as is the cozy genre, also tough to concept at a high level… but it CAN be done). Hope you agree… that was indeed a unique way to tell this story, and that uniqueness was, in fact, it’s concept, and it worked (nominated for “Best Screenplay” for many awards thus far.

@Robert — thanks for that, made my day.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:55:02 +0000

Bravo, sir – another excellent post.

By: nancy

nancy — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:18:33 +0000

My story has chosen me and imprisoned me in my office for a year. Help me finish my sentence. I struggle with defining “a sky-high concept” and then applying some criteria to my story.

I searched the internet for a refined definition, finding “what if” for concept, but “sky-high” is still elusive. I took your advice and watched 500 Days of Summer—the warden was lenient that day. I then envisioned the conception stage: “What if a guy chases a girl named Summer for 500 days and then finds out he had the right reason but the wrong season?” How is that sky-high? It’s common. Or,
“What if a guy who wants a relationship falls for a girl who doesn’t, but then ironically she finds one first?” Is that sky-high? Why? I think “sky-high” includes but is greater than universal. Right?

By: Sandra

Sandra — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:35:28 +0000

This is all great. I get it. I see it. It fits with the idea I have for a stand alone novel.

And yet . . .

I have an idea for a cozy mystery as well, with characters I have further ideas for and could promote as a potential series – which is expected in that genre. But, as an avid reader of cozy mysteries, I don’t recall often seeing “blockbuster” themes/concepts in these stories. (There have been a few times when it is clear the author is trying to make a point on some issue or other, but not often.)

Larry, you once said: “Who killed grandma? Who cares.” But in these stories that usually is what you care about. Who killed the art critic who lives in the apartment upstairs? Who killed the guy who runs the used book store? Or the lady who leads the local dieters group. And, of course, how does the familiar lead character find the answers. (These are examples from cozy mysteries I have read written by top authors in the genre.) The reasons end up being the tried and true of jealousy, greed, revenge, love, hate, just plain not liking the victim, or even an accident that is then covered up; the reasons are not that any of these people were international spies or even local right-wing radical terrorists.

These books sell and their authors become well known.

So what do I do with this? What might carry my idea for a cozy into the realm of becoming published? What makes these stories fly? Some of the main characters don’t initially sound all that intriguing either. A caterer. An old lady. A small town postmistress. An alcoholic newspaperman who’s now dry and trying for a come back. Yet they have succeeded and become standards in the genre.

Do you, Larry, or any of your readers, have experience with writing successful cozy mysteries? I would really like to talk with someone who knows the genre well and could give me some guidance and encouragement.

Other than that, yes – oh yes – I need to study and practice the Six Core Competencies and Story Structure and all the rest. This really will make a world of difference in my writing. Your teaching on this is eyeopening and I recommend it to others all the time.

Sandra