 Horror/Scary: June 26, 2013 Issue [#5752] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: High Concept Edited by: Jeff  
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"Last night you were, unhinged.
You were like some desperate, howling demon.
You frightened me. ... Do it again."
-- Morticia Addams
Random Writing Trivia of the Week: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, perhaps best known for their more than a dozen Aloysius Pendergast novels and several other collaborations, are also accomplished as individual writers. Child has written five solo novels, and Preston has also written five solo novels, in addition to several nonfiction pieces. Their most recognizable work remains their first Pendergast novel (Relic), which was adapted into a 1997 movie starring Tom Sizemore and Penelope Ann Miller.
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HIGH CONCEPT
This week, I'd like to talk a little about the pursuit and pitfalls of high concept ideas. High concept ideas are, simply, those that can be easily pitched or succinctly stated. In many cases, it refers to "big" ideas; the kind that really catch our attention and fascinate us. Examples of high concept ideas include movies such as Jurassic Park (genetically engineered dinosaurs escape from their theme park enclosures), Liar Liar (an attorney is forced to tell the truth at all times), Toy Story (the lives of toys when their owners aren't around), etc. Sometimes the high concept is even stated in the title itself, as in the case of Snakes on a Plane and Hobo With A Shotgun.
High concept can be a really appealing way to sell an audience on a story. Whether you're talking about trying to get an agent or a publisher to read your work, a customer to pick up your book off a shelf, or a customer to pick your movie out of all the other ones at the Redbox or that are available on Netflix, high concept can sell your audience on your story faster than just about anything. There is a lot of power in being able to summarize your idea in only a few short sentences and having the concept itself be something that attracts a lot of attention.
That said, there are pitfalls to having a high concept idea, and the biggest one is that you run the risk of being a slave to your concept. When I used to read screenplays for production companies, it was by far the biggest issue that many screenwriters had... they spent so much time coming up with a concept, that the work was all about executing that concept, often to the point of sacrificing character development, structure, or other equally-important aspects of storytelling. With a high concept, the temptation is to write everything in service of that concept. How do I make that idea bigger, bolder, broader? How do I hammer it home? How do I take full advantage of this cool idea that everyone seems to like?
It's important that your concept, just like any other element of your writing, is interesting and compelling. But it's also important to not let it be the sole defining factor in where your story goes. It's just as important (if not more important) to have engaging characters, active pacing, and interesting dialogue. If you come up with a high concept idea... the kind of idea that gets other people excited just from hearing a quick couple-sentence pitch... don't stop there. Spend the time to also develop the other elements of your writing that are just as engaging and just as exciting for the reader. A high concept idea alone may catch someone's attention, but other elements of equal quality will sustain it. Come for the high concept, stay for the characters and their narrative. 
Until next time,
-- Jeff
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This week, I would encourage you to check out the following horror items:
I’m not sure why I’m writing this down on paper and not on my computer. I guess I’ve just noticed some odd things. It’s not that I don’t trust the computer… I just… need to organize my thoughts. I need to get down all the details somewhere objective, somewhere I know that what I write can’t be deleted or… changed… not that that’s happened. It’s just… everything blurs together here, and the fog of memory lends a strange cast to things…
I took a sip of my pint, tried not to gag, and kept focused on the table in front of me. The jukebox was playing something folky, the singer lamenting the loss of a bonny besom with bonny brown hair. It was probably quite relaxing, but the atmosphere was anything but. I shouldn't be here, I thought.
Our ego demands we think everything we come across in this world was made for us, even evil. We struggle to find out why it is exists to torment us. I believe sometimes evil just merely found a use for us.
I had picked up a newspaper that morning, like I did every morning. Turning straight to the Classifieds, I thumbed my way through the countless handyman jobs, when one in particular caught my eye.
WANTED – 18-20 YEAR OLDS WILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN AN EXPERIMENT. POSSIBLY DANGEROUS. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE PAID $100 AN HOUR. IF INTERESTED, CALL 804-867-5309.
“Sounds like my kind of job.” I smiled to myself victoriously before looking over it again. Possibly dangerous. How dangerous could it possibly be? I mean, for $100 an hour, I'd be willing to do a lot of things. Times were hard, and this offer was one I wouldn't be able to refuse.
He was just as vile now as he’d been in high school, when he kissed her behind the stage in the school auditorium.
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I can feel the horror in being trapped or held in a place. Who wouldn't hate to be stuck in such a situation!"
