High Concept & How to Write It

What is high concept fiction? I'm breaking it donw, and offering my tips on how to write better high concept fiction.
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[@rabenwrites8198]

One additional tip for X meets Y pitches, try to ensure X and Y fill different roles in conveying your story’s premise. Alexa’s ‘Jane Eyre in space’ works because it gives hints on plot and character (Jane Eyre) and setting and genre (in space). “Harry Potter meets Twilight” doesn’t give any clarity. “Hermione Granger defeats Edward Cullen” would though. As always, great content and advice, keep up the good work and enjoy the journey!

[@Chaiara1234567890]

Now I wanna read about Hermione defeating Edward

[@JayceMaxwell]

Seriously, though. That modification took a garbage fanfic story I'd take a hard pass on and turned it into something I'd definitely be interested in reading.

[@elled.3544]

"a soviet footloose" is my high-concept pitch for my project. you're right about that one word causing the twist.

[@Arkadina]

Elle Davis I want to read that :)

[@zetjet9901]

Ooh fun

[@ellendallanora7404]

I would read that.

[@Graid]

This video showed me I misunderstood the term 'high concept' this whole time. I always thought that was a term for the kind of story premise that is just so strikingly interesting that it makes most people who hear it go 'wow, that's interesting!' This makes it sound more like the kind of 'x meets y' pitch thing, combining perhaps, two familiar things in a strange way, or one familiar, one strange in a new way. It seems the key criteria for 'high concept' is actually how succinctly and how well you can describe your idea in a way that sounds interesting, rather than the pure wow factor of an idea, which I didn't realise. Thanks for that!

[@zeryyyyy6835]

I got an Amazon Alexa advert before this and I just laughed so much Loved the video as usual you offer such good advice and knowledge

[@StellaStars631]

I’d love a video on how to better pitch your story if it isn’t high concept of it is very character driven. This was super helpful !

[@booklanerecommendations]

That would be great, since I'm writing a character-driven (neo-)Gothic thriller / family saga.

[@wyattcole5452]

Yea, I just realized what to call the kinda books I tend not to like lol

[@wyattcole5452]

@@booklanerecommendationsthat’s interesting, I’ve been thinking about a western family saga, but also wanna try my hand at horror in the future, beyond short stories

[@booklanerecommendations]

@@wyattcole5452 Cool! I wouldn't quite call my book horror, but it is dark and Gothic. Now that I'm familiar with the term 'dark academia', I think that describes my book best, since large parts of it are set at a high school and obsession is a big theme.

[@vivianwakoff]

Another great, informative video! (and to the point, too! Thank u for that!) My current WIP is "YA Addams Family meets Gilmore Girls". That was literally one of the first things that came to mind when I was plotting the story. I have no idea if that can be considered "high concept" but keeping that in mind has helped me keep the eye on the ball in every stage of the writing process so far!

[@ingridbjrnstad4763]

love that! im trying to write a fantasy station eleven with more cult and murder

[@Musiclover1494]

omg I want to read that!!

[@Kelly-ib1hf]

I keep seeing elements of other stories in my WIP but maybe that's not as bad as I thought at first. I would describe it as How to Train Your Dragon meets Grishaverse. It's my NaNo project!

[@AliviaHaven]

this sounds very interesting!

[@NShiro-tp1fe]

Wow now I really wanna read it!! Do you publish on sites like wattpad?

[@Kelly-ib1hf]

@@NShiro-tp1fe Maybe someday! It needs a lot of editing after NaNoWriMo 🤣

[@NShiro-tp1fe]

@@Kelly-ib1hf tell me anytime if you need a test reader! 😍😁

[@cabbitattack]

"Titanic in space!" Pretty sure I've seen that book on your shelves. :D

[@prashantkumar4217]

Passengers by Chris Pratt.

[@SiiKei]

Yes yes yes! I was waiting for this video! My novel is a locked-room murder mystery involving immortals. It's a pain to query. Most mystery/thriller agents don't accept any speculative element. A lot of fantasy/sci-fi agents don't specialise in mysteries. There's a sweet spot in between and I'm still working on finding it. But it took me a lot of time to realize my book was high-concept - a lot of the people I talked to told me it's a paranormal mystery, but sadly it has nothing in common with books of the subgenre. I wish I knew what I was getting into while drafting it! Not to mention it's also an ensemble cast, which makes the query 10x more tricky to write... I've searched and searched and couldn't find any comp titles!

[@Stephie_Jeffery]

That sound so interesting. I hope you find an agent! 🤞🏼

[@KaiInMotion]

Keep blending those genres! Right now I'm writing a horror novel with paranormal romance elements (basically what if Edward really did snap and Bella and her human friends had to fight him off) and the sequel is going to be a neo noir with sci-fi elements. Genre-blending stories are always the best.

[@jggg926]

Totally thought "high concept" would deal with philosophical quandaries lol

[@FatimaZahra-lu8bf]

I am SO excited for The Ivies!!!! As a fan and writer of YA thrillers, I have such a good feeling about it

[@queendsheena1]

Thanks for sharing this. Concepts can be hard to grasp sometimes and you make it so accessible.

[@romancewiththepast7979]

Thank you for taking the time to share

[@mpkfan]

Yay thanks Alexa! Could you make a video describing low vs. high fantasy, beyond the literal definitions? E.g. differences in typical storylines, examples of each, examples of a mix of both (is that possible?), tips when writing either, types of stories that resonate with YA audiences, etc.

[@Gerod253]

This kind of video is very helpful. Thank you muchly.

[@dehn6581]

Thank you for the great explanation! I'm not sure if my current WIP is just not high concept or whether I just struggle with brevity. Closest I've come up with so far is: A childhood vow starts a portal fantasy with military sci-fi elements.

[@akossiwak]

Just what I needed! Woot!

[@ThanhTriet600]

There are pros and cons to writing high concept just like everything else. Readers will see your concept as a promise and criticize your work harshly if you fail to deliver to their expectations. This includes writing a character-driven novel with the high concept only there as the backdrop

[@ZombieJohn]

Great stuff! ❤️

[@dylantd9189]

I'm usually a high concept writer, but I decided to challenge myself to just writing an 'exaggerated biography' of my life, and it is working out quite well for me.

[@mu1642]

::ponders:: I suppose you could say mine is "The Hunger Games" meets "House of Cards." Alternatively a dystopian season of survivor where the winner gets to rule the nation and everyone else dies. :x Though ngl the story and the characters themselves are very low concept. I don't think I could pitch it for mass market appeal.

[@CarlosPenasGrl]

Watching this made me realize my current WIP is high concept and I now know exactly how to pitch it

[@The_Open_Book]

High Concept wasn't what I thought it was :O Thanks for making this video to clear things up! Otherwise I'd be using the term wrong still hehe

[@platoniczombie]

I've been thinking a lot about this as I continue to plan out my book and write on into the second chapter. I'm going to have to go: Odyssey meets Through the Looking Glass set in modern times. You know, it's probably more like Infinite Jest meets Through the Looking Glass; I think that might capture it more.

[@sharonefee1426]

My first "book" took too much inspiration from a TV series. But that was when I was 12. I don't have anything against high concept, and I, like everyone else, use tropes but I prefer them to be original. Of course, I never create anything that has never been, but I don't love the idea of using existing things to write my own. But I still want to read Brightly Burning :)

[@betty83ish]

Love this thanks ✍️🤓

[@evildoesnotsleep-x2b]

your videos are helpful and interesting even to both writers and readers. i learn a lot. can you also clarify what is an 'elevator pitch'?

[@KaiInMotion]

Not Alexa but I'll pitch in lol; an elevator pitch is a quick, interesting one-liner that is essentially meant to sell your book instantly. The idea is that if you were stuck in an elevator with an agent or editor and wanted to sell them on your book fast, you have that prepared one-liner. Sometimes it's a simple sentence or quip, sometimes it's 'X meets X' etc.

[@evildoesnotsleep-x2b]

@@KaiInMotion thank you, kai!

[@SamasBananas1]

My current high concept WIP is- college campus Love's Labour Lost

[@Lilitha11]

Also something to keep in mind is that part of high concept is the pitch. If you have a creative and original story, but the pitch seems complex then it may not seem high concept. However the pitch is something you can change after the fact, and by changing the pitch you can make a low concept story, high concept(assuming it has the other qualities of high concept). It isn't always true that you can change it just by working on your pitch, but it can definitely happen some of the time.

[@mab_cat]

How did you know I was thinking about this recently?

[@AliviaHaven]

I was interested in your upcoming novel before, but now that you've used PLL and Gossip Girl as comps I'm SOLD like when can I pre-order? hahahaha

[@ladyursala]

Speaking of comp titles, can you do a video on how to choose comp titles in query letters??

[@belletoro3100]

Did you use any comps for The Ivies?

[@elizalagonia1049]

I've recently changed my elevator pitch. Now it's "A duel time period series Soap Opera."

[@macronencer]

It turns out that I had a very wrong understanding of what this phrase meant! I'd assumed it meant something like "highBROW concept". In other words, an unorthodox idea that could easily be done badly and/or pretentiously, but hopefully is being done in an entertaining way instead. And yes, you guessed it, that's what I'm working on... thanks for putting me straight, anyway, although now, I'm not sure how to classify my work. Perhaps I should just say it's "esoteric". :)

[@iancossey105]

That's exactly what I thought. I had in mind works like Riddley Walker, or maybe magic realist novels, metafiction etc. TBH, I'm not sure we're wrong. I just think maybe this video focuses on a very narrow (commercial) definition of the term. I like "esoteric", though (might steal that! :-D)

[@macronencer]

@@iancossey105 Thanks for letting me know that! Maybe you're right: perhaps the term is used differently depending on the context. And feel free to "steal" "esoteric" (not that it belongs to me :)).

[@williamribardo3736]

Hi Alexa this is Bill from Bill's Book Club. Jane Air In Space will have web presence.

[@sylviadailey9126]

Thanks for the tips. High concept is something I struggle with. I prefer focusing on execution rather than concept. I guess I like to mix together a lot of ideas. It is creative, but it can muddle things. One thing that stands out to me is the mix of something with space. There is Jane Eyre. There can be other examples. Star Wars is the heros journey in space. There is some WWII stuff too. Avatar is Pocahontas in space. I wonder if Lion King counts as high concept. It is essentially Hamlet with African savanna animals. I did have my own story idea. This may count as high concept. There is the idea of Cold War in space. There is not one big bad empire in space. There are two of them. They fight over which one has the better political system. I did get to details pretty quickly. There are bombs of star power, called star bombs. There re also blue aliens and psychic dolphins. I got an idea of the three main characters. The protagonist is a hippie lady, named Rose. She wears green a lot. There is a man named Alexei. He wears red a lot. The youtuber of this video is named Alexa. The name is similar, but that is entirely coincidental. Sorry. Rose and Alexei come from the two opposing empires. They learn to find a peaceful compromise. There is another man, named Karl. He came from a place that got caught in the crossfire. The place is even divided between the two empires. Karl wears black a lot. He fits in well with the peaceful compromise. Rose, Alexei and Karl meet up at the beginning of the story and become good friends. They also learn psychic powers from the blue aliens. I haven't figured out all the details. There is just the gist of things. Maybe having Cold War in space counts as high concept. I also like my trio of as c ters. That comes to me right away. It is funny that this video mentioned the name Anastasia. That reminds me of the princess in the Russian Revolution. That is something that happened before the Cold War, and both events involve Russia. Funny enough Anastaisia did have a baby brother named Alexei. That makes me aware of the name. It is a Russian boy's name, and it is a variant of Alexander. So I use the name later, albeit for a very different character.

[@madeline2282]

Do your views go up in November with nano? Just crossed my mind!

[@RochelAnsley]

Does the title will describe high concept book?

[@mischarowe]

Awesome.

[@SingingSealRiana]

I have a character I described with "Mr.Darcy meets cinderellas step sisters" to my friends as I struggled to explain why I like him despite him beeing an ass towards the mc, his younger foster sister . . . he feels treatened by he,r but also very protectiv of her. He tries very hard and totaly fucks it up at every turn ^^

[@christinad.4447]

I am just finding this now and I guess my novel could also be explained Divergent meets Freaky Friday.

[@deichuu]

Hello! I was curious to see a video explaining more details about retelling books. I always assumed it would be considered plagiarism or something in that area but seems to not be the case. Are there certain rules or guidelines that allow us to retell someone else's story for example? Thanks! ☺️

[@AlexaDonne]

I have several videos on this that should help! Just search my channel for the word retelling!

[@TheKersey475]

My high-concept idea is also the working title of my movie pet project idea; "Escape From the Movies"

[@StepBackHistory]

Welp, I had a very wrong idea of what high concept fiction was before watching this.

[@HusnaReads]

My book idea is always high concept 😂

[@iancossey105]

Mine too: high concept, low execution :-D

[@aleksandragieralt7370]

From an earlier video you mentioned literary vs commercial fiction - high concept sounds quite literary in that done right it's original . . . Prince of Denmark haunted by father's ghost, man creates monster, ordinary woman hides tragic self, red head orphan cheers old curmudgeon, greedy businessman alone on Christmas- simple concepts, all great classics. completely agree with you that the commercial/literary binary is false - I think if anything it should be more general audience vs. niche. I don't think you can create great works of literature on demand . . . Famous literary works became taught in schools because of their originality, popularity and influence, most were commercial some were discovered posthumously. It's more for posterity to decide whether or not a work is influential, whether or not its themes are important and whether or not they connect to it.

[@iancossey105]

I couldn't agree more. I think this vid focuses on quite a narrow (commercial) definition of 'high concept' - which is all good and fine, it's just I think the term has a much wider application, particularly to more literary fiction. At the risk of repeating myself from elsewhere in this comments section, I had in mind works like Lanark, Riddley Walker, A Clockwork Orange, Ulysses - literary, ideas-based, experimental in some way (structurally, linguistically, ontologically). Imagine how unfit-for-purpose a 5-word summary of any of *those* would be!

[@aleksandragieralt7370]

@@iancossey105 I think that what is and isn't "literature" is partially dictated by posterity (what people love and what transcends trends) and partially by ideology (what schools teach) and occasionally originality (as is the case with Jane Austen or James Joyce), and I think some commercial fiction like Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Gustave Flaubert, L. M. Montgomery, etc. become "literature" because of how loved and unfluential (on society or literature itself) the stories are. One doesn't exclude the other. Some authors who are now considered literary had no success while they were alive (I can't think of a writer off the top of my head but this was the case of Van Gogh) others were already a commercial success. I don't think its possible to start writing with the goal of creating great literature because it's not the author who decides whether or not their book will be that but the readers. If we set out with that goal in mind our work becomes derivative and pretentious and readers pick up on that. That being said I think there are stylistically and morally important works floating about in old archives and online by great and talented writers who simply weren't lucky enough to break through in the market which would be considered great literary works if they were more widely read.

[@iancossey105]

@@aleksandragieralt7370 I mean, technically it’s all “literature”, but I get what you’re saying 😊 I think there’s a distinction to be made between someone setting out to try and write “great literature” (which would be doomed to failure for all sorts of reasons!) and someone wanting to write something “literary”. My main “beef” here is this peculiarly niche definition of “high concept” as some kind of gaudy advertising poster. If that’s really how it’s defined in the publishing industry, then fine - I just think it’s misapplied.

[@aleksandragieralt7370]

@@iancossey105 Hmm . . . fair enough And yes, you are right, if its written, its literature, good, bad or great. Hmm . . . I think there's a difference between wanting to write something literary and actually setting out to do so . . . I think maybe that's possible if you mean a writing style with many stylistic figures (is that how you call "metaphors," "hyperbole," "lexical fields," etc. in English?), although sometimes when someone tries to do that it becomes difficult to follow and clunky (the great literary masters knew how to focus their uses of these stylistic figures on a specific theme) or perhaps if someone wants to write an important work responding to a social issue (the problem here is that the issue may be resolved or change or the author might change their mind by the time the book is out - nonetheless I do think its good for authors to speak their mind about important topics). How do you define "literary" because I define it as well written (good style, strongly conveys the theme), relatively original (either a new idea or a new/updated/completely different take on an old idea), widely appealing and applicable to an issue (doesn't have to be a political thing, can be something like mental health, over-reliance on technology or family problems, but a theme that is larger than only the author's subjectivity if that makes sense)? Does that make sense?

[@iancossey105]

@@aleksandragieralt7370 Yes, makes perfect sense. I’d agree almost entirely with your definition, except perhaps the stipulation that it should necessarily have wide appeal. But then, I kind of grew up on literature that wasn’t always popular so much as innovative (usually at the level of form rather than content, but not always), but innovative for good, sound thematic reasons, not just for the sake of showing off the writer’s skill - authors like John Fowles, Italo Calvino, Angela Carter, Umberto Eco, Thomas Pynchon, Margaret Atwood. So maybe my idea of what’s “literary” (and “high concept”, come to that) is skewed by that? But then, I had a big phase on Graham Greene when I was younger, who’s definitely skilled, literary etc, but maybe not especially ground-breaking in that sense, so who knows? All I do know is that, like any writer, I try to ape and take lessons from writers whose work I admire, and a lot of mine seem to err on the side of authors who are considered somehow “literary”. Exactly what that *means* in the end seems tricky to properly pin down. It’s such a subjective subject! :-D

[@ShammyKat]

Western romance....but ghosts. (Back burner project of mine that will probably never be finished. Love interest is a ghost dude that haunts a stable. Don't ask because I don't know.)

[@elvia_arthur_]

I don’t think my story is high concept because I’m really struggling to find how to name the pitch 😩

[@nbucwa6621]

If you don't mind, what's your story about?

[@mischarowe]

@@nbucwa6621 I find myself curious too.

[@aleksandragieralt7370]

I used to struggle with this too when I first wrote it, but I've given it so many times it's now "A little Polish girl and her mischievous chinchilla have adventures in the Tatra mountains."

[@dianeverrochi6468]

And here I thought I was just being a goof calling my project "Buffy Ames, Wayward Nurse," when, in fact, I was being high concept! Just probably also too obscure to make sense to most folks under 50.

[@etjmusic]

Hmm, now to figure out how to reword my elevator pitch to give it that high concept feel!

[@springthyme1]

I love how YA counts as one word😂😂. Also couldn't high concept also be a bad thing? Sure, it's easy to describe, but wouldn't you want your book to be complicated, without clear cut lines?

[@AlexaDonne]

High concept should just be the pitch, rather than the substance of the book. If a story fails to have any complexity, it's a failure of story.

[@springthyme1]

@@AlexaDonne okay thanks that cleared it up

[@clintcarpentier2424]

Battleship vs Bureaucracy kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6m9aX-wapmAoKM She fell a fowl of bad whether on the way, Mr Prez, I'm afraid we lost her.

[@thiacross69]

So, is it okay that I can pitch my WIP as "It's Black Butler meets Tokyo Ghoul in WWII", right? I've been having some trouble of how to pitch my story so that's why I'm glad I saw this video posted. What do you think? Is this okay?

[@purpleghost106]

Well, that sounds interesting to me! However, since your pitch-concept needs to be recognizable to the person you're pitching it to, you might want to pitch it using things from a similar medium if possible. So if your WIP is a manga that'd be fine, but if you're pitching a novel the people you're pitching to may not be familiar with even popular manga and anime-- and your pitch consequently wouldn't land. The other thing is both Black Butler and Tokyo Ghoul have multiple themes and conventions. Given what Alexa said of knowing what a book is using that pitch, it doesn't quite work because there's multiple ways they could combine, and even though I know them both I could hardly guess what your WIP would be like. It's set in WWII, but it could be about a demon who is bound to service but in a city with patrolled districts, or a person who is not-quite human doomed to eat flesh who also happens to serve a noble, or it could be about a child who has to play against the machinations of an evil organization of inhumans. Or something else entirely. Hopefully you see what I mean (and with luck observation was helpful to you? I hope so) Best of luck!

[@thiacross69]

@@purpleghost106 My story is something else entirely so yeah, I really need to work on the pitch. Or perhaps "Vampires meeting Downton Abbey in WWII" or something. I don't know. I'll work on the pitch

[@AliviaHaven]

I currently can't thing of a single comp for my nano project haha. Maybe that's a good thing? I thought it was a pretty unique premise soooo

[@kaitlingreco1826]

I wish I enjoyed working on high concept fiction. But my favorite thing to write about is character development. I tried to give my first novel a high concept pitch, but the first pages scream literary fiction.

[@iancossey105]

I think you can be high concept AND literary. The definition of 'high concept' highlighted in Alexa's video is (imho) rather a narrow and reductive one. High concept isn't necessarily all about pitches.

[@iancossey105]

@@blueskye2790 I’m flattered you’ve asked me, but going from Alexa’s vid and others’ comments, it seems very much like the publishing industry’s definition of ‘high concept’ is rather different to what I would have previously thought the term meant, so I’m not so sure I’m the person best placed to provide any insight. I can only say what, outside of that specific usage of the term, I believe the wider definition to mean and, very broadly, it would be novels that have a relatively unique premise and/or form of execution, ones that are perhaps experimental but not merely for the sake of it, the form and content of their experimentation underpins the story being told in some way. They tend toward the ‘literary’ because of that, but don’t necessarily need to be. I’m not as widely read as I should be, so my examples only come from a very small pool, but I’d include novels from authors like Alisdair Gray, Thomas Pynchon, Angela Carter, John Fowles, Robert Coover, Jeanette Winterson, Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, novels that successfully employ magic realism, metafictional elements, creative anachronism, things like that. Specific novels, off the top of my head: Tristram Shandy, Metamorphosis, Riddley Walker, Lanark, 1982 Janine, Catch-22, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Alice in Wonderland, The White Hotel, Ulysses, To the Lighthouse, The Sot-Weed Factor, A Clockwork Orange, Don Quixote, New York Trilogy, Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry, The Passion of New Eve, Mantissa, Gravity’s Rainbow, Foucault’s Pendulum, Invisible Cities. I don’t know if that helps in any way; it’s just my understanding of the term. Again, it’s just my personal opinion, but if what you’re struggling with is this whole business of condensing your novel down to a pithy, saleable soundbite, then I‘d suggest it’s not really necessary and to stop worrying too much about it. It probably just means that your novel is not what publishers would consider ‘high concept’, but to me, it doesn’t necessarily follow that that means your novel isn’t ‘high concept’ in the wider sense of the term. I’m not convinced the ‘soundbite test’ is very useful, and rather than waste time trying to chase an ideal summary simply for the sake of marketability, it’d be a whole lot better if the work could be left to speak for itself. I understand why this isn’t the case, but I think it’s a great pity nonetheless. Anyway, take my opinions with a pinch of salt. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert, and from what I’ve read, most other people are likely to disagree with me. Do you mind if I ask what your idea is? (Be as long-winded as you like!) Don’t worry if you’d rather not say - I nearly mentioned mine as a way of illustrating my point, but then decided against it because I didn’t want to risk some sod nicking it! :-D

[@tiborlankovacevpirnar8458]

WOW, i suck at this concept: my book probabbly won't be over 200 pages but i need at least an entire pharagraph for explaining it's idea.

[@sharonefee1426]

It's okay, you don't have to use this method if you don't want to. I think it's much easier if you already use existing things as inspiration.

[@tiborlankovacevpirnar8458]

@@sharonefee1426 thnx for ur advice :-)

[@iancossey105]

@@sharonefee1426 That's a great point. I don't think everything that can be considered 'high concept' is so easily boiled down to a 5-word jingle (and nor should it be).

[@theatheistpaladin]

High fantasy with Magic machines Vs Cyberpunk tech Vs Steampunk Alchemists on a shell world.

[@iancossey105]

...on Ice! :-D

[@theatheistpaladin]

@@iancossey105 When hell freezes over.

[@iancossey105]

@@theatheistpaladin "When hell freezes over." Now *there's* a great HC pitch in itself! :-D

[@0ioiuibgfg]

Proud and Prejudice Zombie

[@kentshawn8986]

Yo, Alexa, I am a new subscriber, here is my pitch: Gender reversed Kill Bill with superpowers.

[@wtk6069]

Doesn't that mean almost any story is high concept if you're naturally pithy in describing it?

[@zaqareemalcolm]

Ultimately depends on the writing of the final product and how much it delivers on the high concept part.

[@t.c.s.7724]

I really enjoy your analysis. However perhaps I can further develop your marketability. Please remember to ask yourself: Who is my audience? Example, Jane Austen appeals to an entirely different audience than those typically drawn to sci-fi. Thus "Jane Austen in space' has no real built in audience. WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? I do believe this is hurting box office and book sales today, confusion regarding audience. Perhaps there is no such thing as a four quadrant intellectual property.

[@refriedboogie]

Late 60s usa meets robots

[@refriedboogie]

Us civil war meets Chinese conquest

[@refriedboogie]

9/11 meets demons

[@refriedboogie]

Soviet Russia meets the garden of eden

[@refriedboogie]

Middle ages meets mom looking for her adopted son

[@marcv2648]

Jane Eyre in space is a trope, not a high concept.

[@Blastarr1]

High concept "3 class citizen must lead the Earth forces against invading aliens. While hiding he is a 3rd class citizen."

[@username2062]

High concept? Sound more like “Mixed concepts”

[@ZombieJohn]

Great stuff! ❤️

[@dianeverrochi6468]

And here I thought I was just being a goof calling my project "Buffy Ames, Wayward Nurse," when, in fact, I was being high concept! Just probably also too obscure to make sense to most folks under 50.