What is a High Concept Pitch and How Do You Write One?

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens in lots of weird genres like, fantasy (Blood of Kings trilogy), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). Find Jill on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website.

What is high concept?
In Hollywood (for the movies) and in New York (for publishing houses), concept is king. If you can come up with a high concept idea, you increase your chances of success.

What is a high concept? It's an idea that appeals to the masses. It's that book or movie that you hear about and think, "Yes! I want to watch that!" or "Why didn't I think of that?"

Here are some examples:
What if a boy found out he was a demigod?---The Lightning Thief
Fairy tale characters trapped in our world---Once Upon a Time
Revenge through literature---The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet
A lawyer who cannot tell a lie---Liar Liar
What if Peter Pan grew up?---Hook
Horror film in the ocean---Jaws
Dinosaur theme park---Jurassic Park
Fight to the death on national television---The Hunger Games
Love story between two terminal teens---The Fault in Our Stars
The story of those left behind after the rapture happens---Left Behind
A blonde goes to Harvard Law School---Legally Blonde
He’s having the day of his life, over and over again---Groundhog's Day
What if a girl and a vampire fell in love?---Twilight

One thing to keep in mind: once a high concept hits big, it's over. So if you're trying to pitch a vampire/human love story or a fight to the death dystopian novel right now, you won't get very far. Look for a twist that makes it original again. Or look for an entirely new idea. People always say, "There are no new ideas!" Yet brilliant books and movies continue to be made every year. So never give up. You could find the next big thing.

Why Try for a High Concept Idea?
1. It can open a lot of doors. As a new writer… and even as a multi-published writer… having a high concept increases the chances of publication. Anything that appeals to the masses and is easy for an agent or editor to communicate, can open a lot of doors.

2. It helps you find what the story is really about, which will help you stay on track as you write.

3. It helps you communicate your idea. Every new author has those times where they can’t explain their story in a sentence or two. But if the idea sounds so complicated that the listener can't understand, you will probably get rejected. When I first pitched The New Recruit at a conference in 2008, I had memorized my back cover copy. I met an agent and rambled out the paragraph, messed up twice, and she kindly asked me to start over. I don't recommend this strategy! Later at dinner, I sat beside another agent. I didn’t ask to pitch. (I was still recovering from the first attempt!) Finally, she asked me what my story was about. And I said: “It’s for teens. It’s kind of a Christian Agent Cody Banks.” She instantly perked up. Why? Because I locked onto the hint of high concept and made my story premise easy for her to categorize. I said nothing more about the book, and she asked for my first three chapters.

4. It makes marketing easier. Once your story is published, people will still communicate your story, and a high concept makes that simple. Word of mouth is the number one way books sell, so you want to make it easy for readers to tell others about your book.

"Great!" you say. "How do I write a high concept?"
Start with these three tips. A High Concept . . .
1. Is universal. A high concept must resonate with everyone. Either we know what the experience feels like, or it's an experience we've all thought about or could relate to.

2. Is unique or has a fresh twist on a familiar idea. Find something that hasn’t been done before. A good concept should be both unique and universal. If the idea is unique, but no one can relate to it, then it is not a high concept idea. It the idea is universal, but we have seen it again and again and again, it is not a high concept idea.

3. Involves a hero we can relate to who is dealing with a big problem. When you're thinking about the hero and his big problem, consider upping the stakes and adding a time limit. What will happen if your hero fails? Blake Snyder says these stakes must be primal. That means survival, love, life or death, protecting loved ones. The higher the stakes, the better. And if you can add a time limit, a ticking time bomb of sorts, that makes everything more intense.

4. Can be summed up in a few words that give a good picture of the entire story. Make your high concept as short and simple as possible. The goal is to to hook the listener so that he will say, “I’d read that” without any more explanation.

5. Has a great title.

Ways to Come Up with Ideas
-Ask “What if…?” Asking the simple “what if” question can lead to a high concept idea.
What if your plane crashed on a deserted island and you were the only one left alive? (Cast Away).
What if a volcano erupted in the middle of Los Angeles? (Volcano)
What if there was a farm that grew people? (Replication)

-Opposites Attract. Take two character types who would normally never be together and put them together. You could do this with actors, like putting Benedict Cumberbatch in a movie with China Anne McClain. Try it with two character archetypes who don’t usually work together, like a bully and a teacher. Or meld two into one like a coward and a thief. You can do this with authors, books, or movies, as well. Or mix and match them. For example: Romeo and Juliet as written by Douglas Adams, The Doctor goes to Narnia, or Redeeming Love on a mission field. Or take the opposite of a stereotype like in Liar Liar: a lawyer who cannot tell a lie. Or in Hook: Peter Pan has finally grown up.

-Meld the Familiar with the Strange
Take a well-known concept and pair it with something weird. Think Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter or Cowboys & Aliens. High concept movies are simply taking an original idea and putting a twist on it. And as I've said before, Stephen King comes up with ideas by combining two unrelated things. Murder and mayhem + prom=Carrie. A criminal mastermind + fairies=Artemis Fowl. Another way to do this is to add a high concept phrase to your idea or familiar story type. This is the whole Die Hard on a … plane! (Passenger 57) method, which is another way of melding the familiar with the strange. Take a story that the audience understands and tell it in a new way. Ex: The Hunt For Red October … in space! Gone with the Wind … with an alien. Saving Private Ryan … with wizards.

Which leads to… weirdness.

Are These Ideas Too Weird?
Yep. And that’s the point. You are brainstorming. Turn off that critical voice and write down whatever comes to you. The weirder, the better.

Test Your Idea
1. Is your idea universal? Have you found something that all people can relate to?
2. Does your idea have a unique twist? Have you taken something familiar and added something strange?
3. Is your protagonist likeable or relatable? Can we identify with him? Learn from him? Follow him? Root for him?
4. Are the stakes big enough? Are they primal?
5. Can you summarize your concept in a few short words?
6. Does your title capture the spirit of your story?

Do you have a high concept idea? Care to share it in the comments? If you don't have one, don’t give up. Keep brainstorming until something clicks and you think “I’d read that!”