The term high fantasy was coined by lloyd alexander in a 1971 essay, high fantasy and heroic romance originally given at the new england round table of childrens librarians in october 1969. Or the purge the fact that you can ask ten different writers and get ten different opinions, kind of sums up how confusing the notion of a high concept has become. I would have been pretty sad if somebody had published a book called googling old boyfriends before. A high concept movie is a movie with a story that can be summarized in just one line. High concept means the premise of your book will get attention, before. The naturals by jennifer lynn barnes, dreamology by lucy keating, the westing game by ellen raskin, cloud atlas by david m. Jun 21, 2016 the high concept pitch is very important because it uses analogy. Have an amazing story idea, but need to learn the basics of how to write a book. This emperor can and does destroy planets at the press of a button. The most shocking thing about the book is the pulp fictionlike combination of decadent horror and slapstick comedy that constituted everyday life for don simpsons cronies. You add characters with goals and fears and motives, and you add plot, via the obstacles that are going to arise between the. High concept is primarily a term used in pitching movies but these days, we find it a helpful shorthand to describe a certain kind of book. It is characterdriven we fall in love with the characters. Don simpson and the hollywood cultures of excess fleming, charles on.
But what is high concept and how do you make a story high concept. Writers flounder trying to figure out how to make their idea compelling enough to sustain a great novel. The five requirements are in descending order of importance. Aug 05, 2011 high concept is primarily a term used in pitching movies but these days, we find it a helpful shorthand to describe a certain kind of book. Its that book or movie that you hear about and think, yes. Examples would be superman and harry potter and the avengers, which bring in fantastical and supernatural elements. Gone with the wind, for example, is a high concept book that i would describe this way. The following is an adapted version of a high concept document for a simple console or arcade game about a street version of american football. The naturals by jennifer lynn barnes, dreamology by lucy keating, the westing game by ellen raskin, cloud atlas by david. High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, defined either by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.
Jun 16, 2010 in defining high concept, we talk about the premise of your story, not what happens in acts 1, 2 and 3. Can someone help, and maybe give an example or two of a high concept picture book. A man who battles his wife for custody of their children is one sentence, but its a million miles from being high concept. Agent stephen barbara offered an example, shouting down from the audience, phonebooth. Some genres dont for example, womens contemporary fiction or historical romance but remember that your story will be easier to sell to agents, editors and consumers if its a higher concept idea. Highconcept meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. What high concept means nathan bransford writing, book. Horror movies prone to be high concept by default the specific form of danger is the reason people show up. Oct 17, 2018 highconcept fiction builds out from a simple, irresistible idea. Character creation starts with a concept for your character. In hollywood for the movies and in new york for publishing houses, concept is king. How to write a book that sells understanding highconcept. Simply put, a high concept is an intriguing idea that can be stated in a few.
But before we talk about high concept pitches stay tuned for a future blog post lets discuss the difference between a high concept story and a low concept story. A high concept pitch should be one to three sentences long, max. A good concept book conveys its information in a clear and entertaining way. From this sentence, also known as the logline, you should be able to visualize your movie and imagine the type of scenes and situations your character may stumble upon. Whats the difference between high concept and low concept. High concepts are simply more conceptual than more common, realworld concepts. Some will claim that a particular idea is high concept, while others dispute it. A look at the box office results of socalled high concept movies will only add to the confusion. Story ideas, treatments and screenplays can all have high concept.
For you, the person with idea, and the one creating the game concept its really a way for you to sell your game. See logline examples for dozens more example loglines, from movies, novels, comics and games. Using the life and career of producer don simpson as a point of departure, high concept. Unfortunately, too many search for this secret or magic to take place while writing the novel, hoping it will just develop on its own or appear organically as the story unfolds. You need an idea that will be talked about, one that generates excitement.
I want my knowledge, fast and efficient, and thats where rob tobins how to write high structure, high concept movies comes in. How to write high concept special interest writingroom. Genre fiction doesnt have to be high concept either. Typically a high concept script is easy to sum up in a few words and will be easy for even children to understand. Since then, ive been inspired to look more closely at these books. Jun 08, 2017 concept tells us what a story is aboutthe core idea of a story. The reality is, these days agents and editors and publishers are looking for books that have those unique, universal, highconcept premises, and the attendant potential for a tv or movie sale. Literary fiction, for example, is generally not high concept. How to build a compelling novel concept jane friedman. You can summarize the entire film with that single concept. Chapter 5 is a great rundown on market research in under 40 pages, touching on both future films and joseph farrells mannequin.
Sep 20, 2009 what exactly does an editor mean when heshe says they are looking for high concept picture books. She wants to be able to describe what will appeal to consumers about the book in just a sentence or two. Loglines, structure, high concept, characters, conflict, every step in the process, every step in your story is explained here in great detail. These books all have titles that establish their stories premises with attentiongrabbing snazziness. Sep 24, 2018 the distinction is easiest to explain through examples of high concept pitches.
I have noticed that the words are used and people are repeating those words, but the meaning is being used in different ways. If you can come up with a high concept idea, you increase your chances of success. Creating a high concept implies an ability to formulate your idea in its most powerful and concise form to make it as short and as marvelous as possible. In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of the city, are taken to the hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in fortyfive days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into the woods. High concept is a term thats been confused, misunderstood and misused by writers for decades. What is a high concept pitch and how do you write one. My comprehensive definition of high concept is comprised of five requirements, each of which is mandatory. Ive seen high concept defined in different ways, but generally a high concept pitch has mass commercial appeal and uses references, whether from film or popular books, that most people are familiar with. Not every story is high concept so this tactic may not work as well for a more literaryleaning book, but if your book has commercial potential, its wise to try to think of a high concept pitch based on the premise of the book. The point of a resume is to quickly convey a job applicants. What is and isnt high concept fiction, and how do you. Come up with your characters high concept and trouble aspects. High concept is a type of artistic work that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise. Low concepts are simple and can come off as generic or mundane at first glance.
Along with having welldefined genre and aesthetics, highconcept films have marketing guidelines known as the look, the hook and the book. Kid wins a golden ticket to a mysterious candy factory. Then one of the editors explained high concept as boiling the essence of a story down to one line. Concept books are clearly didactic books they educate but do not preach. Highconcept ideas are basically known as the holy grail of the book and movie business. A fresh, unique, and compelling story premise that can be easily summed up in a single sentence or two a high concept is a barebones description of the premise of a proposed movie, show, or whatever, used to pitch it to a producer or an audience. A story premise is the next step up from a story concept. Writing a killer logline using the killogator logline formula. A highconcept premise isnt an option anymore if you want to write a book with bestseller potential in other words so you can get a top literary agent, a major publisher, and a major book deal. Extreme examples of highconcept films are snakes on a plane and hobo with. Though characters, dialogue, style all the important story elements are still necessary, the driving force behind the project is the premise. Ive been reading about an agent, and in more than one interview she says shes looking for high concept books. When i entered the terry pratchett prize my covering letter included a logline generated using the killogator formula.
High concept fiction builds out from a simple, irresistible idea. High concept definition and meaning collins english. How to write a book that could become a bestseller for authors of fiction, nonfiction, and childrens books. Because highconcept ideas are known to sell better, faster and for more money than ideas that are not considered high concept. For example, the concept for my 2008 book, in defiance of hitler.
Most authors who have tried to get published have heard of highconcept fiction, though the concept pun totally intended can be a little fuzzy. In highconcept books, this can often take the form of a unique physical execution of prose formatting or book design. If your goal is to write high concept picture books, thats what your stories have to do. High concept movies also tend to be full of special effects with a lot of attention paid during the post production. Everyone says they are looking for a high concept book, but what does that mean.
Take a look at a few examples and their premiseheavy pitches. For example, in the day of the jackal, an assassin is offered half a million dollars in 1962 to assassinate charles degaulle. Some genres almost have to be high concept to sell such as thrillers, suspense and scifi novels. This article contains the single most important secret that you need to know how to come up with a highconcept premise. This article contains the single most important secret that you need to know how to come up with a high concept premise. Understanding this will help us later when we focus on high concept pitches. Lets talk about what high concept means and how you can make it part of your writing repertoire. Highconcept definition of highconcept by merriamwebster. However, these stories often contain more character development and nuance than their highconcept counterparts. Here are two examples of low concept books, one classic and one contemporary. These examples are from the cambridge english corpus and from sources on the web. For example, it will give the animators a road map for the type of animations that will fit the style of the game. Its a lean 182 page paperback filled with great stuff. Some of the concepts they present are opposites, spatial relationships, and sounds.
High concept movie ideas how to identify and improve them. Somewhere in between the concept book and the picture storybook are those books intended to teach some concepts often a social concept through a fictional setting and with fictional characters. But most importantly, their stories blend ordinary, everyday stuff with the extraordinary or outrageous. The movie is about a man trapped in a phonebooth by a sniper. Several of my loyal blog readers have asked what a high concept novel is some of you guessed that its one where the stakes are high, and thats basically it. You may still be able to describe the story in a sentence, but it doesnt offer the instant understanding of a highconcept pitch. Open your mind to the possibility of high concept, and see what happens. What is and isnt high concept fiction, and how do you pitch it. When an agent says they want high concept, theyre looking for an idea that can be captured in just a title and a brief, pithy taglineand from that brief description, will immediately attract interest.
The very first purposefully high concept movies are often considered to be jaws and star wars. High concept is a unique idea that takes one sentence or less to describe your story. The movie didnt turn out well, but it was a great idea a very effective high concept. The premise is where your awesome concept idea starts getting personal. Along with having welldefined genre and aesthetics, high concept films have marketing guidelines known as the look, the hook and the book.
When you hear that line you instantly get an idea of what the movie is. Oct 19, 2014 a story premise is the next step up from a story concept. Write anything longer and you risk losing interest. That is an example of a common pitching technique and not what defines high concept.
The 7 qualities of highconcept stories writers digest. High concept means that a novelmovietv shows plot can be described very succinctly in appealing fashion. The high life, as described in flemings addictively readable book, exemplifies carrie fishers hollywood mantra. Last month, i was at a workshop where i heard childrens author david martin talk about concept books. It was written before electronic artss nfl street series, so although this particular game was never made, some of its ideas did find their way into other games. Though the ultimate example of high concept is actually movies like snakes on a plane you get everything you need to know in 4 words. Mar 09, 2015 writers flounder trying to figure out how to make their idea compelling enough to sustain a great novel. If the story concept is the bones, then the story premise is the first of the flesh. It sounds like the guy who tells you to just tell a good story.
Jan 09, 2009 on the other hand, a literary novel or a comingofage story isnt necessarily about a single concept. Character development is kept to a minimum, instead alist actors are used to capture the audiences attention. The premise or logline is the core of high concept. They exist at the extreme edge of imagination and possibility. Above is a general definition of concept book from the university. Defining entertainment value is like trying to define pornography.
Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the cambridge dictionary editors or of cambridge university press or its licensors. I believe nonfiction books can also be high concept books. When you meet with agents, editors and authors, the phrase high concept gets thrown around a lot. Concept tells us what a story is aboutthe core idea of a story. Don simpson and the hollywood culture of excess new edition by charles fleming isbn. High concept is one of the most understood concepts in storytelling.
Ive seen high concept defined in different ways, but generally a high concept pitch has mass commercial appeal and uses references, whether from film or popular books, that most people are. When that somebody is a head of state, it raises the stakes. So, im attempting to explain high concepts to some of my friends, as im talking to them about fate to try and get them interested, and i realized that the easiest way to explain something would be to give an example. Remember when i said earlier than most high concept queries are in that 5% i must read more portion of the slush pile. Some genres dont for example, womens contemporary fiction or. It is about artful prose or experimentation with structure and typically tends to be internal, experimental and introspective. What is highconcept fiction, and how can i write it.
The industry wants the next big thing, and highconcept often delivers it. However, these stories often contain more character development and nuance than their high concept counterparts. What hit and run was to hollywood financial impropriety, and what youll never eat lunch in this town again was to sex, drugs, and selfdestruction, high concept is to the evolution of todays driving business philosophy and simultaneous backlot grotesqueries of the contemporary entertainment industry. A high concept idea is an idea that is high concept. A favorite example is its a westernbut set in space firefly.
Should you be writing scripts that are high concept. Somewhat dated yet insightful survey of high concept s heyday from 19831986, with numerous examples pointing to the look of its images, its marketing hooks, and its reduced narratives. The investors may use your high concept pitch to describe better the business they have invested in. It could be modeled after a character from a favorite novel or movie, or it could be based around some specific thing that you want to be able to do like break boards with your head, turn into a wolf, blow things up, etc.
After realizing how much better his life would be, a man pays a company to shrink himself to five inches tall, allowing him to live in wealth and splendor among others whove undergone the same procedure. Jan 26, 2015 the very first purposefully high concept movies are often considered to be jaws and star wars. The pitch for a highconcept book most likely precedes the work itself, and. It is unique and universal, meaning it is an original idea, yet everyone can relate to. Highconcept definition is having or exploiting elements such as fast action, glamour, or suspense that appeal to a wide audience. Here are some tips and tricks to help you write a high concept pitch. Adams a high concept document is primarily a sales tool, although you can write one for yourself as well, just as a way of keeping a record of ideas youve had. Instead, think of a highconcept premise as the elegant styling thats a required part of every highend luxury car. The five examples ive given are all high concept, but they are progressively higher concept because progressively more is at stake in each one. But if the feedback you consistently get on your work is that it is quiet or that the agent just didnt fall in love, its possible that a high concept is the thing you need to pull ahead of the pack. When you are pitching your book to agents or editors, its helpful to have a high concept pitch. High concept book definded writing and illustrating. If youre curious about concept books, or thinking about writing or illustrating one, this blog is for you.
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