Friday, October 03, 2008

Writing Vs. Story Part 2

Today, J. Mark Bertrand, an amazing writer who just landed an agent for his first novel, had a post on writing vs. story. It's excellent. Here's an excerpt:

There is in our commercial age an understandable emphasis on ideas -- on "high concept." I accept this. But what does a high concept actually enhance? Not so much the story as the blurb. The movie I was watching got onto my list because the blurb sounded good. It had a clear, compelling concept. But that didn't help the actual story much. Because it isn't what you're writing about, it's how you're writing about it.


You can find the whole post here.


8 comments:

  1. Melissa, Can you check those trackback links? The one to J. Mark Bertrand's site works, but the next two don't, so I can't find this post and it sounds good. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the info. (And he's not hard on the eyes either, is he?)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry about that, Lisa! 'Tis fixed now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angie - I agree! He's quite handsome. I used to love men in beards. *grin*

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was just having a "high concept" discussion on a web board. So many high concept books hook me by the blurb, but fall short. No more, unless Amazon reviews back it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for posting that. I have to agree with what he said too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'll have to go read that post--what he's saying sounds a lot like something I'd say.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. SW - Exactly. I think it's the same for movies, too. A lot of high concept ideas just don't follow through with their promise.

    Debs - You're welcome!

    Therese - I think he said it very well, better than I could have. :-)

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you!

Staying Focused

Friends, sometimes it is exhausting to try and stay focused on goals. Eat healthier. Lose weight. Exercise.  Find a literary agent. Edit the...