Writers in the Storm

Kate Moretti

We’ve all seen the examples: Wizard School, Dinosaur Park, Titanic. Don’t shudder everyone, high concept is back. Whether it was ever “out” is somewhat debatable. We see it on agent’s manuscript wish lists, in rejection letters, in publisher submission pages. Everyone seems to want a compelling pitch, to heck with characters and world-building and coming-of-age, right?

Not so fast.

First of all, if you’re knee deep in a “low concept” story, this post might not be for you. Maybe you should maybe stop reading. Because you’re a writer and if you’re anything like me, you’re about to panic. Don’t. The world needs low-concept stories. We need love stories, we need human condition stories, we need coming-of-age. Just, do you, okay?

But maybe you’re in the tossing around premises phase of novel writing. Let’s talk about what high concept really is (and isn’t!).

Confusingly, the definition changes and it’s subjective. Google will tell you that “high concept” means you should be able to pitch it in a sentence. A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love.

Well, there you go. That’s high concept.

Not really.

A few things to remember. High Concept must be:
1. Unique. Sorry, Charlie but the logline above? It’s been done to death.
2. Widely intriguing. This doesn’t mean that its low-brow, just that anyone who reads it will find something to relate to. There are universal themes in all great fiction: love, death, revenge, moral code. Where’s the emotional edge?
3. Easily summarized. Get it down to 25 words or less. This honestly might be sheer organization of words. But try to write a 25 word logline. If you can’t do it, then you’re probably not in the “high-concept” ballpark.

Easy peasy right? Sigh.

Don’t despair, you can work with this and figure out a way to draw out your premise. Alternatively, trying to turn a low concept idea into a high concept one might birth a really wonderful novel.

Let’s work with the logline above. It ticks the easily summarized box and it has some universal themes: love, moral code. But what it lacks (and in a big way) is originality.

One way to build in originality is to peruse the headlines. What does the world care about these days? Don’t be afraid of tackling a controversial topic.

A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love, only to discover her lover will be deported.

Now suddenly, you’re writing a novel about a woman who loves an immigrant. Maybe she marries him to keep him in the country. Maybe she doesn’t, then what happens to their relationship? The point is, sometimes putting a finer point on your premise forces you down a different path.

A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love, only to discover her lover will be deported to Iran.

Now, we’ve got a whole new ball of wax. We have incredible novel fodder and if done right, some real potential to explore racism, immigration, international intrigue…. Wait, what did you say? Oh. That’s not the novel you wanted to write? You wanted to write a little love story, right?

Ok. I hear you. I do.

A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love, only to discover her lover is dying of ALS.

Too depressing?

A woman in the throes of divorce moves back to her hometown and discovers newfound love, only to discover her lover is a space alien.

Hmmm, maybe not universal enough.

The point remains, what is it about your love story that will be new to the audience? If you can tease this out or, in the case of those writers just brainstorming a premise, use this exercise to develop something instantly intriguing, you might have a more salable novel when you’re done.

But why can’t I just write the book I want to write?

You absolutely can. Like I said, the world needs low concept stories. But if you’re just trying to break into this business, it might not be a bad idea to back-burner your introspective literary tome and come up with something a little different. Something that will grab a reader (or an agent, or a publisher) by the shirt collar and say hey, you, read this now.

Does that mean guns and car chases and formulaic thrillers? No. It actually means the opposite of formulaic. It tests your brain to work creatively in large ways, not nuanced ones. As writers, we’re so conditioned to examine the details: dialogue, micro-tension, wordplay. Thinking big picture can be a challenge.

So share your logline. What does it bring to the reader? How does it grab them?

About Kate:

Kate Moretti is the New York Times Bestselling author of the women’s fiction novel, Thought I Knew You. Her second novel Binds That Tie was released in March 2014. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids, and a dog. She’s worked in the pharmaceutical industry for ten years as a scientist, and has been an avid fiction reader her entire life.

She enjoys traveling and cooking, although with two kids, a day job, and writing, she doesn’t get to do those things as much as she’d like.

Her lifelong dream is to buy an old house with a secret passageway.

Contact Kate: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Tall Poppy Writers

Piper Bayard

of Bayard & Holmes

No one wants to read about a fictional nice day. Great fiction is about one thing, and one thing only . . . problems. And lots of them. Problems keep the pages turning, and the heart of a problem is conflict. Without conflict, there is no plot, which is why every scene needs it. But what, exactly, is conflict?

Conflict is what arises when two characters have opposing personalities and/or goals. Conflict happens when a character wants something, but then . . .

 

 

I can hear the objections now. But what about inner conflict? And what about a bad storm, or a huge rock rolling down a hill toward my protagonist?

Inner conflict pertains to character arc. It does not pertain to plot. Until it is acted out in the plot, the character can always take it back. Inner conflict does not rise to the level of plot-moving conflict until the inner conflict results in both a choice that is at odds with another character’s goals and an action that is based on that choice.

As for the storm and the rock, they are simply bad situations. Conflict is about agendas, and we must have a human component for there to be an agenda. A storm or a rock simply are. They have no intention. Conflict requires intention.

Genuine conflict springs organically from plot and themes, as well as from the personalities, backgrounds, and goals of the characters. It’s what happens when we put spiders in a bowl. As writers, it’s our job to place the arachnids in sight of each other and record what happens. THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. does this brilliantly. It isn’t just a funny, clever spy thriller, it is an outstanding example of this type of primal, natural conflict.

 

 

Three levels of conflict in THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.:

Plot

The movie takes place during the heart of the Cold War, 1963. The main characters are American CIA operative Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Soviet KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer).

In the beginning, Solo is tasked with secreting Gaby Teller out of East Berlin. Kuryakin is told to stop him from helping Teller at all cost. Two characters with opposing goals and agendas born of the initial plot.

Once Teller is out of East Berlin, Solo and Kuryakin are told that Teller’s father has developed nuclear technology that surpasses that of either the US or the Soviet Union, and that the Nazi-sympathizing Vinciguerra family is using him to make a nuclear weapon of their own. Solo and Kuryakin are suddenly teamed up with the common goal of thwarting Alexander and Victoria Vinciguerra. The Vinciguerras are a third party with an agenda that is diametrically opposed to the common agenda of both Solo and Kuryakin. Conflict born of plot.

 

 

When it is clear that the Vinciguerras have not only the nuclear technology, but a nuclear weapon set to fire, Solo and Kuryakin are given the new common goal of diffusing the bomb. However, each is also given the individual task of retrieving the nuclear technology for his country, even if it means killing the other. The two characters are both at odds with the Vinciguerra agenda, but are once more in direct conflict with each other – all tracing to the plot.

Personality

Solo is a reluctant CIA operative, pressed into the clandestine services as an alternative to prison after he is busted for a high dollar art theft. Once in the CIA, he determines he will be the best agent ever, as his own sort of personal “screw you” to the powers that be. Debonair and unflappable, he is a metrosexual, silver-tongued womanizer at the top of his game.

Illya Kuryakin is a Soviet KGB agent whose father was sent to Siberia, and whose mother had a reputation for being overly friendly with his father’s friends. He carries the burden of the family shame by excelling at his work and his dedication to Mother Russia. Cold and reserved, he is renowned for his outstanding size, strength, and anger management issues.

 

 

It’s in Solo’s nature to want to solve problems smoothly and discretely, preferring wit and stealth to an open fight. It is Kuryakin’s personality to meet all enemies head on, even if it’s not the best approach for the mission. While the two have common agendas through most of the movie because of the plot, they have conflicting methods of addressing their goal because of their personalities. Natural conflict.

Thematic Idea

What is more valuable, the man or the mission? Where do an operative’s loyalties lie? With his country, or with the partner who just saved his life?

In the beginning, it’s all about Solo’s and Kuryakin’s loyalties to their countries. They are more than happy to kill each other, and they try with all they have to do so. But because the plot put them together in a common goal against a common enemy, they have arced to a different place emotionally. So which will prevail in the end, the man or the mission?

 

 

In spite of Hollywood notions, spook team members don’t simply turn on each other because a bureaucrat tells them to do so. In the end, Solo and Kuryakin come together for a creative resolution, like real spooks sometimes do, because as the theme song to another spook fiction goes, “. . . what matters ain’t the ‘who’s baddest,’ but the ones who stop you fallin’ from your ladder . . .”* Among the “good guys,” loyalty overcomes any conflict.

Conflict is born when a character wants something, but another character stands in his way. It happens on a spectrum from a microcosm between two conflicting personalities to the larger scales of plot and classic themes. It’s these problems that pull us in and keep us turning the pages until we reach the resolutions. Why? Because we all have problems in real life, and in real life, we sometimes get to solve those problems. In great fiction, we always get to solve the problems, and that satisfaction keeps us coming back for more.

 

 

*Quote from Strike Back theme song “Short Change Hero” by The Heavy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Piper Bayard is an author and a recovering attorney. Her writing partner, Jay Holmes, is an anonymous senior member of the intelligence community and a field veteran from the Cold War through the current Global War on Terror. Together, they are the bestselling authors of the international spy thriller, THE SPY BRIDE, to be re-released in September, 2015.

Keep in touch through updates at Bayard & Holmes Covert Briefing.

You can contact Bayard & Holmes in comments below, at their site, Bayard & Holmes, on Twitter at @piperbayard, on Facebook at Bayard & Holmes, or at their email, BH@BayardandHolmes.com.

 

James Preston

In Back to the Future, Marty McFly's mother's kid brother asks "What's a re-run?"

Marty replies, "You'll find out."

Pop quiz: What was on TV when Marty said that?

I am old enough to remember that if I missed an episode of "77 Sunset Strip" (BTW if in your mind you heard the "snap-snap" from the theme song you are my kind of people), I'd have to wait for a summer re-run. It was inconvenient but acceptable because Stu Bailey, Kookie and their pals were consistent and each story was self-contained. The same was true of "Maverick," and all those wonderful Warner Brothers shows that filled my Friday nights.

Stu Bailey was static. But, if you miss an episode of your favorite show nowadays, when you tune in you may tune in to find that a lead character has formed (or lost) a relationship. For that matter, they may be dead. And there are shows where a character can be dead and still be a character.

And, for those of us who write, that's great news.

Because what we do is about character, and it requires work. Your characters need to grow and change through the course of your story. I know you've heard that advice, but how do you do it? How does that happen? What kind of changes are there and what drives them? Well, obviously you need to read, but it takes a while to get through a stack of novels. (Settle in with the stack of Jayne Ann Krentz’s Harmony novels and you’ll see what I mean.) In addition to reading, I like TV.

I'm talking about binge-watching a good TV series. No kidding, I think some of the best modern writing is in what used to be the small screen. And, thanks to technology, in a week, maybe two, you can watch an entire season of CSI, or Under The Dome, or The Big Bang Theory. And, unlike Stu Bailey, these characters change and grow. It is a pleasure to watch Sheldon on Big Bang Theory go from finding people pretty much repugnant to actually having a girlfriend. (This is a guy who, when he decided he needed a friend, developed a Friendship Algorithm to guide him through the process.)

Binge-watching is sitting down and going through multiple episodes of a series. Some people do it for fun; it's kind of hip right now but for you & me, those of us who want to study character development, it's work.  Here are a few tips to make it easier.

Choose carefully! Watching several seasons of even a sitcom is a major investment of time.

Start at the beginning. Remember, you are studying how the characters grow and change, get better or worse. You need to see how they start out.

Use that Pause button. It's better to make notes as you go along. If you think, "Oh, I'll come back to that great line," you won't if you're like me.

Subtitles. I have nerve damage so my hearing is a little impaired. I think I would use subtitles anyway, just because it's so easy to miss a line, and like I said, it’s all about the reading.

I will list some shows that I like and make some comments, and rate in terms of gross out scenes, and the ever-popular nudity. You can't claim I didn't warn you.

Some shows to consider:

The Big Bang Theory. Hilarious, and touching. Every episode is good; many are flat-out great. Watch everybody grow. Howard, going from pathetic to almost normal. Penny growing up. And on and on. Gag-o-Meter:0. (No dissections.) Skin-o-Meter: 0.

Blue Bloods: I like this show, but I almost didn't include it. The character development is slow, but, and this is why it makes the list, the granddaughter is growing up. And the dialog -- especially hers in the episode where one of her high school friends takes a revealing selfie and it gets posted -- is spot on. Gag-o-meter: 3. Some blood, no beheadings. Skin-o-meter: 0. Family viewing.

CSI:   not bad. Good stories, and Greg grows as a person when he transitions from the DNA lab to being a CSI. Perhaps not as much character growth as some more modern shows, but Grissom is worth a look. Brilliant, flawed, and likable, at least most of the time. Gag-0-Meter: it's a show about autopsies. What do you think? 9. Skin-o-meter: 2. One special note: if you don't think TV has truly great writing, grit your teeth and watch the two-part episode written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It's at the end of Season 5. Fair warning: this is a tough one. There are parts that will surprise you, and parts that will make your skin crawl, that is, if you haven't jumped out of it. Heh heh. Great story.

Game of Thrones. This is amazing TV. Watch Sansa mature, watch her little sister turn into a killer, watch a good man beheaded for being good. Gag-o-meter: 10. I was not kidding about that beheading, and that's for starters. Skin-o-meter: 10. You want naked people? This is your show.

The Sopranos. Not my favorite, but still compelling characters. Gag-o-meter: 7. Violent, but no Game of Thrones. Skin-O-Meter: 8. Lots of young ladies with enhanced anatomies at Bada-Bing. Full disclosure: I haven't made it to the end of the series.

True Blood. Talk about different characters! Yow! I thought there were at least three places where the show "jumped the shark" but they pulled it out somehow. Gag-o-meter: 9. Definitely some blood, gore and vampires going up in flames. Oh, yeah, um, werewolf cannibalism. Skin-o-meter: 9. Everybody takes their clothes off at every opportunity.

There are several ways to watch a season’s worth of TV: renting/streaming from Netflix, or iTunes, or Hulu or cable-on-demand, or buying the DVDs.

So, make some popcorn, get out a notepad, pop in a disk -- Season One of <Insert Title of Your Choice>.

Look, I like to write, but -- raise your hand if you have experienced this -- there are days when it is like pulling teeth. Writing is art, and craft, and easy -- all you have to do it carve off part of yourself and put it on the page for people to look at. I hope these suggestions provide a way to take a little break and still feel like you’re at least working a little bit.

And when your friends ask how your work is going, you can say, "Great! I just finished Season 9 of CSI!"

How many of you recognized "jumped the shark" earlier? It's from Happy Days, when the writers were struggling for something new and had Fonzie water ski over a shark tank. It has become part of our language. See also "Nuke the fridge."

So, "What's a re-run?" You'll find out. You'll find out that there aren't any, because shows are everywhere, all the time. They're all out there, waiting for you to study, and enjoy.

I am very interested to hear how you have already made use of bingeing. What shows do you like? Which ones should be avoided? How do you record your observations and what use have you made of them?

Answer to the pop quiz: “The Honeymooners” was on TV when Marty saw it at his Mom’s.

About James:

 James R. Preston is the author of the award-winning Surf City Mysteries. His books have been selected for inclusion in the California Detective Fiction Collection at the Bancroft Library, one of the libraries at UC Berkeley. James’ novella, Crashpad, will be published soon by Stark Raving Group. See bookxy.com for more information.

James' next appearance will be at Men of Mystery in November at the Irvine Marriot.

The newest Surf City Mystery is Sailor Home From Sea.