Finding the Key Concept: The Heart of Storytelling

To Start with a Concept

The heart of any story is its key concept or message that will resonate with its audience, which makes any story great. This concept drives the story forward, creating meaning and purpose behind the characters, plot, and setting. But how do you find that key concept, and how do you use it to craft a powerful and engaging story?

These tips will help you to find the key concept or message in writing a story for a book, movie, script, or game:

1. Start with your inspiration: Every story begins with inspiration, whether it’s a personal experience, a historical event, or a piece of art. It could be someone else’s work, nature’s, or one of your past works. Think about what inspired you to tell the story first and what you want your audience to take away from it. If you can’t think about that, write a summary of the story you want to tell as a first revision and look for what themes could be taken or added to it for greater meaning to be given to the audience reading it.

2.Identify the core themes: Once you have your inspiration, it’s time to identify the core themes that will drive your story. Themes can be anything from love and loss to power and despair, and they will help you create a framework for your story. Remember to look for aligning themes and characteristics. Many concepts do go hand in hand with completing one another. From the earlier example of love, many different concepts could be used, such as bliss, addiction, revenge, theft, triumph, loss, expectance, growth, and wishing for the happiness of others, to say a few. What is important is that you don’t have too many overlapping concepts or ideas that you are trying to get across, and it becomes a mess of a story that confuses the reader until they are fatigued and put the story down. Remember, we only have so much attention span until we become fatigued. 

3.Develop your characters: Characters are the vessels through which your key concept will be expressed. Think about how the concept will affect your characters and how their actions will reflect the themes of your story. It is best to keep it simple. Plan and simple, but never doubt the intelligence of the reader and make everything so obvious that it is predictable and they lose interest. Your characters are to live within their stories, worlds, and lives that you are crafting, so make them believable as your concept is flushed out within their life.

4.Refine your plot: Your plot should be driven by your key concept, with every event and action serving to reinforce the themes of your story. If not, then a buildup that leads up to the concept and themes needs to happen. Refine your plot to ensure that it is consistent with your key concept and message. We want consistency and patterns to be within the story.

5.Keep it simple: As mentioned above, the key concept should be simple and easy to understand. Don’t try to pack too many themes or messages into your story, as this can dilute the impact of your key concept. It may be as clear as mud or become a flop of a story. I am meticulous in saying this because it is that important. There is beauty in simple and complex things, but if you make too many things come together, it will be no different than salt water. If we wish to see the crystal structures form, we must cut out and evaporate the water; otherwise, it looks like plain old, unappealing water in a glass jar.

Concluding Thoughts 

In conclusion, finding the key concept or message in writing a story for a book, movie, script, or game is essential for creating a powerful and engaging story. By starting with your inspiration, identifying your core themes, developing your characters, refining your plot, and keeping it simple, you can create a story that resonates with your audience and leaves a lasting impact.

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