======== Concept definition

==== What a concept is not

- Is not the same thing as an idea
- Is not the same thing as a premise
A non-story example: An idea is to travel to Florida. A concept is to travel by
car and stop at all the national parks along the way. A premise is to take your
estranged father with you and mend fences while on the road.
In literary terms: An idea would be to write a story about raising the Titanic f
rom the bottom on the sea. A great idea. A concept would be to suggest that ther
e are secrets still hidden there that certain forces would kill to keep conceale
d. A premise would be to create an archetypical hero who is hired to do this job
and in doing so saves his country from potential attack.
A concept is something that asks a question.
The answer to the question is your story.

==== CONCEPT AS A DELIVERY STRATEGY

Voc tem que escolher uma viso para contar a sua histria.
Sebold's concept, then, could be expressed as a question that demands an answer:
What if a murder victim can't rest in heaven because her crime remains unsolved
, and chooses to get involved to help her loved ones gain closure?

==== CONCEPT VS. IDEA VS. PREMISE VS. THEME

A premise is a concept that has brought character into the mix. As such, it coul
d be said that a premise is, in fact, an expanded concept. What if the narrator o
f a story spoke to us from heaven about her own murder?
What if a fourteen-year-old girl cannot rest in heaven, and realizes that her fam
ily cannot rest on earth, because her murder remains unsolved, so she intervenes
to help uncover the truth and bring peace to those who loved her, thus allowing
her to move on? That's a premise, because of the hero's quest it defines. A matt
er of degree, perhaps, but one the author must understand.
Theme is what a story means. What does it make you think about and feel? What do
es it illuminate about real life, about the world?

======= THE CRITERIA FOR CONCEPT

==== IS THE CONCEPT FRESH AND ORIGINAL?
The more specificity you can bring to your story's concept, and the more compell
ing an edge you can bring to it, the richer the resultant dramatic sequence will
be.
---- If it's not particularly fresh and original, does your concept at least pre
sent an opportunity to impart a new spin on a familiar theme or premise?

---- Is your concept compelling?

---- Does the concept set the stage for an unfolding dramatic story? Layers.
---- Does the concept lend itself to the other three essential elements of story
telling?
That's the criteria. It isn't just about cleverness and a trick ending. It isn't
about an idea. It's about setting the stage for something bigger and better

---- Can the concept be expressed as a succinct what if? question?

======== HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR CONCEPT IS GOOD ENOUGH?

==== WHO ARE YOU AS A WRITER?
Specifically, why we are writers. A better choice is always to write the kind of
book you enjoy reading.

---- How do you know?

Nobody has that definitive answer. Including the editors from major publishing h
ouses that pass on titles such as the first Harry Potter (rejected nine times),
Stephen King's Carrie (rejected thirty times), and Gone With the Wind (rejected
thirty-eight times) as a daily matter of course. They don't know, either.

---- There are very powerful and personal questions that reside at the heart of
this issue.
- Why are you writing this particular story?

==== PUTTING THE HIGH IN YOUR HIGH CONCEPT STORY IDEA

Depende do gnero.
Depende da forma como voc conta a histria.

==== YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE POWER TO ELEVATE YOUR CONCEPT