USING STORYWORLD GENIUSTO WRITE YOUR NOVEL

www.jillwilliamson.com/teenage-authors/helps

I. WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Um . . . I, uh . . . Well, it’s about a, uh . . .

1. High concept.2. The logline.

What is high concept?

An intriguing idea that can be stated in a few words and is easily

understood by all.

High concept examples . . .

Middle school survival guide—in comic form!

Fight to the death on national television.

Love story between two terminal teens.

A blonde goes to Harvard Law School.

He’s having the day of his life, over and over gain.

Your mind is the scene of the crime.

In 1850s gold rush, God tells a farmer to marry a prostitute.

1997#1047 paperback

#2467 Kindle ($7.99)2317 book reviews

God invites a man to talk with him in a

shack in the woods.

2006#555 paperback

#1644 Kindle ($4.54)7792 book reviews

The story of those left behind after the rapture happens.

1995#11,858 paperback

#5645 Kindle ($8.26)2847 book reviews

A small town is in the midst of an unseen supernatural battle.

1986#15,920 paperback

#8426 Kindle ($6.83)617 book reviews

A high concept…

1. is universal (It resonates with everyone).2. is unique (Or it has a fresh twist on a familiar

idea).3. involves an empathetic hero, dealing with a BIG

problem.4. can be summed up in a few specific words that

give a good picture of the entire story.5. has a great title.

Ways to find a high concept idea

• Ask “what if…?”• Opposites attract

• Meld the familiar with the strange• What is your fascination?• Add a ticking time clock• Look for the supernatural• Look to the zeitgeist

• Play with high concept phrases

What is a logline?

A one- or two-sentence description of a story that tells us what it is.

The logline must . . .

1. be ironic.2. paint a picture in your mind.

3. know its audience.4. have a great title that says what it is.

How to write a logline

1. Type of hero + an adjective2. Type of antagonist + adjective

3. The hero’s primal goal.

(It must have irony, easy to picture, know its audience, and have a great title.

A Great Title is Gold

Legally Blonde • Star Wars • Miss CongenialityRunning Lean • She’s the Man • Four Christmases

Jaws • Uglies • Alien • Shakespeare in LoveThe Sixth Sense • To Kill a Mockingbird

Titanic • Saving Private RyanRoswell • Gladiator • The Mummy

Jaws

High concept: Horror film in the ocean.

Logline: A police chief, with a phobia for open water, battles a gigantic shark with an appetite for

swimmers, in spite of a greedy town council who demands that the beach stay open.

1. Type of hero + an adjective2. Type of antagonist + adjective

3. The hero’s primal goal.

(It must have irony, easy to picture, know its audience, and have a great title.

The Fugitive

High concept: An innocent man is convicted of killing his wife.

Logline: A fugitive doctor wrongly convicted of killing his wife struggles to prove his innocence

while pursued by a relentless US Marshall.

1. Type of hero + an adjective2. Type of antagonist + adjective

3. The hero’s primal goal.

(It must have irony, easy to picture, know its audience, and have a great title.

The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet

High concept: Revenge through literature.

Logline: An outcast teen finds therapy writing her enemies into her story, but when her novel is

published, she faces the consequences of using her pen as her sword.

1. Type of hero + an adjective2. Type of antagonist + adjective

3. The hero’s primal goal.

(It must have irony, easy to picture, know its audience, and have a great title.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

High concept : A cop must enter cartoon land to solve a crime.

Logline: A toon-hating detective is a cartoon rabbit's only hope to prove his innocence when

he is accused of murder.

1. Type of hero + an adjective2. Type of antagonist + adjective

3. The hero’s primal goal.

(It must have irony, easy to picture, know its audience, and have a great title.

Jurassic Park

High concept : Dinosaur theme park.

Logline: A family struggles to escape a remote island park whose main attractions—genetically

restored dinosaurs—have been set loose by a power failure.

1. Type of hero + an adjective2. Type of antagonist + adjective

3. The hero’s primal goal.

(It must have irony, easy to picture, know its audience, and have a great title.

II. HOLLYWOOD GENRES

Give us the same thing . . . only different.

1. Monster in the House2. Golden Fleece

3. Out of the Bottle4. Dude with a Problem

5. Rites of Passage6. Buddy Love7. Whydunit?

8. The Fool Triumphant9. Instiuitionalized

10. Superhero

Monster in the HouseMonster + House + Sin

JawsJurassic Park

Independence DayMen in Black

AlienFatal Attraction

ScreamThe Exorcist

Psycho

Golden FleeceRoad + Team = Prize

Wizard of OzStar WarsHoosiers

A League of Their OwnBack to the Future

Saving Private RyanGlory

Ocean’s ElevenRain Man

Out of the BottleWish + Spell = Lesson

Freaky FridayBig

Mary PoppinsAladdin

The Nutty ProfessorThe Mask

What Women WantIt’s a Wonderful Life

Scrooged

Dude with a ProblemInnocent Hero + Sudden Problem =

Life or Death Battle

Die HardThe Fugitive

The Bourne IdentityMisery

Deep ImpactCape FearOutbreakApollo 13

The Terminator

Rites of PassageLife Problem + Wrong Way = Acceptance

City SlickersNapoleon Dynamite

LucasSixteen CandlesOrdinary People

28 DaysAll That Jazz

The War of the RosesThe First Wives Club

Buddy LoveIncomplete Hero + Buddy = Complication

LassieBeethoven

Lethal WeaponWayne’s WorldPretty Woman

Notting HillTitanic

True LiesDirty Dancing

Whydunit?Detective + Secret = Revelation

All the President's MenBlade Runner

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?Fargo

Rear WindowLA ConfidentialThe Sixth SenseMinority Report

Ghost

The Fool TriumphantFool + Establishment = Transmutation

King RalphThe Princess Diaries

TootsieTrading Places

Miss CongenialityForrest GumpLegally Blonde

RadioShe’s the Man

InstitutionalizedGroup + Choice = Sacrifice

A Few Good MenM*A*S*HTop Gun

The GodfatherThe Joy Luck Club

Office SpaceThe Devil Wears Prada

Do the Right ThingDead Poet’s Society

SuperheroSpecial Power + Nemesis + Curse

BraveheartThe Passion of Christ

Peter PanThe MatrixGladiator

Robin HoodThe Mask of Zorro

The IncrediblesSpiderman

III. THE CHARACTERS

Tell me a story about a guy who . . .

1. I can identify with.2. I can learn from.

3. I have a compelling reason to follow.4. I believe deserves to win.

5. has stakes that are primal and ring true for me. (Stakes are: survival, hunger, love, protecting loved

ones, fear of death.)6. is flawed (Six things that need fixing.)

Tell me a story about a guy who . . .

IV. THE STRUCTURE

Beat it out.

1. OPENING IMAGE. Beginning snapshot of your hero before his journey (page 1):

2. SET UP. Introduce your main characters (on pages 1-30):

3. THEME STATED. Introduce your theme (around page 15):

4. CATALYST. Inciting incident (around page 36):

5. DEBATE. Second thoughts (36-75):

6. BREAK INTO TWO. Climax of act one (75)7. B STORY. Subplot 1 (90):

8. THE PROMISE OF THE PREMISE. Obstacles and adventure (90-150):

9. MIDPOINT. A big twist (150):10. BAD GUYS CLOSE IN. Obstacles and

danger (150-200):

11. ALL IS LOST. Disaster happens. A false sense of security (200):

12. DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL. Crisis (200-225):13. BREAK INTO THREE. Climax of act two (225):

14. FINALE. Climax of act three (225-290):15. FINAL IMAGE. Dénouement/ending snapshot

of how your hero has changed (290-300):

V. SCREENWRITING TRICKS

Snappy rules to help.

1. Save the cat!2. The Pope in the Pool

3. Booster Rocket4. Double Mumbo Jumbo

5. Laying Pipe6. Too Much Marzipan

7. Watch Out for that Glacier!8. The Covenant of the Arc

9. Keep the Press Out

VI. SCREENWRITING FIXES

What’s wrong with this picture?

1. The Hero Leads2. Talking the Plot

3. Make the Bad Guy Badder4. Turn, Turn, Turn

5. The Emotional Color Wheel6. “Hi, how are you?” “I’m fine.”

7. Take a Step Back8. A Limp and an Eye Patch

9. Is It Primal?