Writing-the Craft by Cindy
One of the 6 Core Concepts discussed in Larry Brooks, Story Engineering is Concept. If you don't have a grasp on the concept of your story, Larry says your book will not succeed. So, let's figure it out. What is Story Concept?
Concept is something that asks a question. The trick is making the concept a succinct What if question. He gives two examples to help clarify this.
#1 An idea would be to travel to Florida
A concept is that you travel by car and stop at all the National Parks-the question being, What if you traveled by car and stopped at all the National Parks?
#2 An idea would be to write about raising the Titanic
A concept would be that there are secrets hidden there that certain forces would kill to keep concealed. The question would be, What if there are secrets hidden there that certain forces would kill to keep concealed?
The answer to the question is your story. If you are able to make your answer fresh and original or give it a new spin, it becomes compelling and what Larry Brooks calls High concept. You WANT your concept to be High concept.
What is the concept of your story?
