When Parallel Worlds Collide . . .

A wie armageddon. by danirolli

High concept: it can lead to a breakout novel or film. Given that, it's not hard to guess why writers want a clear concept at the core of their work, but pinning down exactly what that means can be challenging.

I've heard a lot of mini, fractured definitions, but every writer, and reader, knows what high concept is when they see it.

It a nutshell, it makes the story sing.

Still, that's not a Webster definition.

According to Jeff Lyons, author of Anatomy of a Premise Line, high concept has:

• entertainment value
• originality
• uniqueness
• visual appeal
• emotional depth
• asks "what if"

Anatomy of a Premise Line:

High level of entertainment value High degree of originality High level of uniqueness (different than original) Highly visual Possesses a clear emotional focus (root emotion) Targets a broad, general audience, or a large niche market Sparks a “what if” question - See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/story-talk-high-concept-yes-it-actually-means-something#sthash.LgUbQPEg.dpuf

You don’t have to slap your reader in the face with your concept - that's best avoided - but the writer needs to know what it is, to stay on track. My favorite support for this is with the tagline - the short-short sentence or catchphrase that resonates with the story's core values.

Condensing a novel or film to a tagline that reflects the richness of concept can be painstakingly difficult, but incredibly rewarding. Here are a few examples, some of which I am sure you will recognize.

When Parallel Worlds Collide . . . 

Journey by Night by Kim Falconer (the third book in my QE Series)


The last man on earth is not alone . . . 

I am Legend by Richard Matheson


Fifty million people watched, but no one saw a thing . . .
  
The Quiz Show based on Richard N. Goodwin's memoir


In space, no one can hear you scream . . .

Alien by Alan Dean Foster 


Winter is coming . . .

Game of Thrones by George R R Martin


Your Mind is the scene of the crime . . .

Inception written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan

 
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . .

Star Wars (1977)


An adventure 65 million years in the making . . . 

Jurassic Park  by Michael Crichton


Everybody Loves Ernest... But Nobody's Quite Sure Who He Really Is.  

The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde (2002 film)




She has the power . . .

Lucy (2014)


One last chance for peace . . .

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes  (2014)


You can see that the tagline doesn't include the full heart, essence, premise, design or images of the story, but if it has the same vibration, it will inspire readers to pick up the book (and writers to keep writing them). Once in the pages, or theater, the concept works invisibly behind the text and images to sweep the audience away.

What are some of your favorite film or novel concepts? Do the taglines reflect them?

Sup authors, I'd love to know what you're working on now. Do you start with a tagline in mind? A core concept to keep you on track?

Feel free to share in the comments.

Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing paranormal romance, urban fantasy, YA and epic science fantasy novels.

You can find out more about Kim at the 11th House Blog, and on FaceBook and Twitter.

She posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month and runs Save the Day Writer's Community on Facebook.

Her latest release is "Blood and Water" in Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild.

Great Dialog

Hello everyone! I’m Stina Leicht, and welcome to my very first blog post at Supernatural Underground. I’d like to thank Helen for inviting me. It’s an honor. Hopefully, she won’t live to regret extending that invitation. :)

In case you missed Helen’s lovely introduction, I’ve a new novel, Cold Iron, published by Simon and Schuster’s Saga Press. It’s an Epic Flintlock Fantasy that uses elements from American history. Why did I decide to write about that? Because I like Epic Fantasy, and I also like military fiction. I enjoy quite a few genres that tend to be male-dominated. Sadly, most of the time when I read them I feel unwelcome at best, and at worst, it feels like I’ve immersed myself in openly hostile waters. I’ve long suspected I wasn’t the only one. Therefore, I decided to do something about it. If you’d like to read more, check out this review on Barnes and Noble’s site.

Today, I’d like to talk about one of my favorite things—great dialog.

Harvey (1950)

I’ve a confession to make. I’m hooked on old black and white films. I like to think of the ‘40s and early ‘50s as the golden age of dialog. Old comedies are my favorite, but I adore pirate movies, noir, and action films too. It started with the movie, Harvey, which I happened to catch one Saturday afternoon and continued with Arsenic and Old Lace, and Adam’s Rib. Years (and years) later, I discovered Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and the novels of Terry Pratchett. I like thoughtful stories with funny people in them. They make the deep, dark stuff so much more meaningful and human. Mind you, not every character should have a sense of humor. That gets old fast. Dialog should have texture. Some characters should be more serious. Others should speak in clipped tones. That’s more like real life, after all. Everyone has their way of speaking, and characters should too. Ultimately, dialog should say a great deal about the character, the world they’re from, the relationship they have with those with whom they’re speaking as well as the plot.

I’ll start with dialog as world-building. Everyone is familiar with the concept. We all know about accents, but geography and culture have a deeper, more subtle affect on speech. I learned that when I wrote Of Blood and Honey which is set in Northern Ireland. Unlike in American films, in reality an Irish accent isn’t the same all across the country even though its a small island. In fact, in the Irish language there are four distinct dialects. (There are others, but they aren’t officially recognized by the government.) And that’s when the Irish speak Irish. When they speak English, it’s possible for them to tell where someone is from within a few miles. It’s possible to tell a great deal about someone based on how they pronounce the letter “H.” It’s that nuanced. I’ll give you an American example. In Texas, an East Texas accent isn’t the same as a Central Texas accent. People who’ve spent all their lives in East Texas tend to, well… mumble. (And if you want a good example of East Texas dialog, read Joe R. Lansdale.) Central Texas accents are clearer and faster. People from other parts of Texas speak slower and more drawn out. It’s possible to convey these differences without writing in dialect. Listen closely. Ask any poet, language has rhythm. So do accents.

Once I get something down, I read it out loud. I ask myself if the words sound like something someone would actually say. If it doesn’t roll smoothly off the tongue, I fix it. Then I think about the environment the character came from. Are they upper class or lower class? How well educated are they? In addition, the analogies and slang they use should illustrate something about their background. The word choices can hint about about their age too. I once had a discussion with a new writer about whether a teenager would use the word “bosom.” Here’s a hint: they wouldn’t—that is, unless they’ve spent their entire lives around older southern (American) women and were home schooled.

I also like to consider who my characters are speaking to. Are they with someone they respect or love or hate? Do they need to be charming? Do they do anything or say anything different when they lie? And that leads me to how characters handle stress. In Of Blood and Honey, Liam runs his hand through his hair when he’s nervous. In Cold Iron, Nels deals with stress by whistling past the graveyard as it were. The more serious and dangerous the situation, the more he’ll cut up with his friend Viktor. When things get especially intense—particularly when he’s in a helpless position Nels’s speech becomes more formal because court speech is often laced with powerful command magic. Suvi, on the other hand, doesn’t do any of that at all. Her position in authority has never suddenly changed for the worse. She has more control over her emotions than Nels does. She’s also spent more time having to cover her intent. She’s the better liar. In the next novel in the series, one of the characters (Blackthorne) spends a great deal of time as sort of an undercover agent. Whenever he’s extremely angry or emotional he tends to slip into his actual voice. It’s like he forgets the role he’s playing for a moment.

You get the idea. Dialog is more than one character talking to another one. Dialog has a big job and a complicated one.