BookTherapyGal : Hey Rach! Are you as excited as I am about our new Blog-A-Book Project at MBT?

heartlikemary : Yes, I love this idea.

BookTherapyGal: I can’t wait to see what the MBT Voices help us come up with.  But, we’ve been hearing all this talk lately about High concept and Low concept books.  What do you think of when you hear those terms?

heartlikemary : I think “oh brother, more marketing schmaltz.”  haha

 

BookTherapyGal: Good point! I mean a good book is a good book, right?  But, maybe there are two types of good books.

heartlikemary : yes, a good book is a good book. But high concept to me is a story with high stakes, ones that are easily explained.  

BookTherapyGal: High stakes…like global stakes?   The takeover of the world?  Or,like…a WW2 movie?  heartlikemary : Maybe not that high. More like the protagonist life is impacted as well as the world around him.

BookTherapyGal: Oh, more like Erin Brockovich?  Where she takes on a big company that is killing people?  : Or like the Pelican Brief, about the Supreme Court?

heartlikemary : Sure, Erin Brockovich is a great example, or the Pelican Brief, any Grisham book.: Movies like Die Hard are high concept

BookTherapyGal: So, maybe it’s something that affects society at large….Eagle Eye is a recent example I’ve seen.

heartlikemary : Even a story where perhaps hundreds of people are not at risk can be high concept.  It has to be a story where the protagonist has a lot to lose, where there is a force against them, has an ironic twist, and where the premise of the story can be said in roughly one or two sentences.

BookTherapyGal: Like the Patriot?  Where he’s losing his children…but there is also the stake of a nation winning its freedom?

heartlikemary : Patriot is a great example and it can be said in a sentence or two. If the story has to be described or explained, it’s probably not high concept

BookTherapyGal: But, going back to Die Hard…it also has something personal at stake…John wants to reconcile with his wife. So, a high concept can have personal stakes as well.

heartlikemary : Absolutely. A high concept book has stakes that are both private and public, but the stakes have to be universal with a fresh twist and idea.

And low concept has less public stakes, perhaps even the personal stakes are minimized.  But we love the characters and their lives.

BookTherapyGal: So, it’s really where the majority of the focus of the book is at — deep, or wide. 

BookTherapyGal : So, what about Low concept….maybe that’s a story that goes deep, rather than wide?

heartlikemary : I like how you said that

BookTherapyGal: LIke…your recent favorite, About a Boy?

BookTherapyGal : Or the one I saw recently, Martian Child?

heartlikemary : Both great examples. Low concept is a story more feeling or character driven, and the strength of the story comes out in execution, rather than pitch.

heartlikemary :

BookTherapyGal : So, could a funny one, like How to Lose a Guy,or even Marley and Me be a low concept story?

heartlikemary : Certainly. Though Marley and Me has high concept elements

heartlikemary : A man and his dog. We see in a few words what it’s about, but the strength of it comes in how the story is executed, rather than some amazing twist, or powerful force.  It’s a heartwarming story – thus, low concept.

BookTherapyGal : Ah…so a low concept book CAN have high concept elements.  It’s just that its concept can’t be explained in a dynamic pitch.

heartlikemary Star Wars  is a great example.  BIG movie, low concept —: you have to explain it to really understand it.

BookTherapyGal Okay, so high concept films are easily to get excited about from one line….an asteriod is going to blow up the earth, and a ragtag group of scientists are the only chance we have to stop it.  The world has stopped spinning, and Argonauts must tunnel inside to restart it.

heartlikemary : Yes. Let’s think of some low concept books or movies. How about Lars and the Real Girl.

BookTherapyGal : Pride and Prejudice would be low concept, with high concept elements.. Deep, but rippling out into wide….

heartlikemary : Rippling into the constructs of society of Jane Austin’s day

BookTherapyGal : And women’s fiction may tend toward would be low concept, with ripples toward high (because they tend toward social issues, and the story strength is in the execution of the relationships.)

heartlikemary : exactly

BookTherapyGal : So, just so I understand this – low concept doesn’t mean BAD concept, or “less money” concept, just a different direction in focus, and how it’s pitched?

heartlikemary : No, low concept is not a bad concept at all.

BookTherapyGal : So, perhaps suspense and thrillers tend toward high concept, since they are usually a story about fighting a great universal foe, often with a twist, and romances tend toward low concept, because their charm is in the telling of the story.  (ie: When Harry met Sally…low concept, big movie.) But they can have elements of both. 

BookTherapyGal : Whereas a Romantic Suspense could be more high concept with ripples toward low.

heartlikemary : Certainly. But be careful not to label or “make a rule.” There can be low concept thrillers. Slasher movies – low concept.

BookTherapyGal : Good point

BookTherapyGal : So, when we’re looking at a story, we need to ask, is it a wider story – a story about a powerful force, maybe affecting society, with an ironic twist that can be concisely explained, …or deeper, more about relationships, with the strength in the execution?   And that will help us determine if it is low concept or high concept?

heartlikemary :  Start with: can you state your premise in a sentence or two?

Can you communicate your idea in twenty words or less, in a compelling way?: That’s the beginning of high concept. Working out the wide and deep of it must come next.

BookTherapyGal So it IS about marketing. Or at least about the thirty seconds you spend in the elevator with an agent or editor. 

heartlikemary (1:52:58 PM): lol, yes

BookTherapyGal (1:52:47 PM):  So, I’m thinking that as we’re deciding what genre to write, we can be thinking about whether we want something with high stakes, wide global appeal and problem, or maybe deeper, about relationships, etc.  And that’ll help us choose our genre.  Good Stuff, Rach! Thanks for your input, and don’t forget to vote!

heartlikemary (1:52:57 PM): I’m good for some things

BookTherapyGal (1:53:02 PM): yes, you are. *g*

heartlikemary (1:53:04 PM): I’ll vote!

BookTherapyGal (1:53:09 PM): ttyl!

heartlikemary (1:53:13 PM): ttyl

 

 

Vote! Every voice counts!