Defining “The High Concept”

“I BELIEVE THE ART OF LIVING CONSISTS NOT SO MUCH IN COMPLICATING SIMPLE THINGS AS IN SIMPLIFYING THINGS THAT ARE NOT.” ~ Francois Hertel Before I can shape my individual scenes and vignettes into a story  structure, I have to be able to identify an overriding story idea, the ”high concept” . According to James Bonnett  high concept involves” being able to reduce your story idea into something powerful that the reader will be able to make an emotional connection with~ a logline with a twist”  He goes on to explain that  defining your high concept will “force you to come to terms with what your story is about”. Distilling the complexities of life into a few words is not something I view as simple and I am...

Posted by on Jan 23, 2011 in elements of story, High Concept, identifying themes, Lifewriting Craft, memoir-writing | 14 comments

Simplicity Gives Way to Inspiration

“SIMPLICITY IS MAKING THE JOURNEY OF THIS LIFE WITH JUST BAGGAGE ENOUGH.”-Charles Dudley Warner I’ve been staring at a blank screen all day, in between packing for my trip to Missouri tomorrow, waiting for some inspiration for my weekly post. Yes, I will be flying on 9/11 and other than a few moments of wondering what that kooky pastor down in Gainesville is going t0 do and if it will impact my journey in any way, I am pretty much trying to keep things simple in my world. I mean right down to packing as lightly as possible. There certainly is enough chaos in this world and  busy-ness in my own everyday life and I’d like to figure out a way to not feed into it.. So I asked myself, how does all this apply to my writing life  as I...

Posted by on Sep 10, 2010 in memoir-writing, Uncategorized | 8 comments