7 Excellent Strategies for Concept Writing

1. Understanding the Importance of Concept Writing

Concept writing is a crucial initial step in the writing process that sets the foundation for your story. It helps you avoid common pitfalls such as plot holes, inconsistent character development, and a lack of direction. By organizing your ideas before starting the first draft, you gain clarity and confidence, making the drafting process smoother and more efficient.

Concept writing has helped me stay focused on the message of the story. Most importantly, I am able to get an idea of what my characters will be and how they will evolve as the narrative unfolds. This initially helps me stay focused without trailing off if I wrote the story blindly.

However, concept writing is best when coming up with long form narratives such as novels and screenplays. For short story writing, I’ll write a brief concept, such as my main characters, and summarize the plot line. My experience with concept writing showed improvements in my storytelling abilities because of how organized everything is.

I have experimented with writing straight through verses, writing with a concept on the side. It is very easy to lose track when writing straight through if you take a break. The trick to finish is to write from the beginning to the end. This is only possible when writing a short story, not a novel.

When I was a senior in high school, I wrote unofficially a book that I never published. I wrote this book without a concept. When I looked at it today, I noticed a significant amount of errors from plot holes to poor character development. The story didn’t make sense whatsoever. I cringed as I read each word of the pages that I had to stop myself. But this was a lesson learned.

Today, when drafting for 8-bit, my concept for it is much more organized from how many words I plan to write, how many possible chapters, the summaries of each chapter. I also wrote character biographies for many of the characters who will appear in the story. I even wrote technical jargon since it’s a techno-thriller and how I will have a character explain it in easier terms. I have a notebook filled with notes and ideas that I later organize on Microsoft Word.

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RELATED: Begin the Writing Process

2. Defining Your Story’s Core Elements

Defining your story’s core elements during the concept writing stage is essential for creating a cohesive and engaging narrative. These core elements include the main plot, themes, setting, and characters. A clear understanding of these components helps ensure that your story remains focused and compelling from start to finish.

So far, whenever an idea comes to mind, it starts with an overarching theme. Before I wrote The Devil’s Disciple, I was binge watching Faustian theme films and read stories when I noticed a similar theme. That is to sell your soul, you get rich and famous. Then one random night I bumped into a movie about a troubled cop with lack of security for his family and I thought about what if that cop simply sold his soul for the security of his family and avoid any immediate danger?

Then, as I developed this idea, another theme came to mind was how fast time goes by when enjoying the good things in life. Since my cop character in my story wasn’t going through any danger and his family was thriving, his life start to move on faster and faster and with a snap of a finger he’s already at an older age. But the theme is what drove the story, then I focused on characters and setting.

Once I have a few themes in mind, I start to develop them and summarize its importance. What can we learn from them, and how can I subtly convey that message? From there, a story start to formulate, but not a first draft story. I mind dump the story before properly getting a blank document and begin the writing process.

3. Creating a Detailed Plot Outline

Creating a detailed plot outline involves mapping out the major events and turning points of your story. This includes the beginning, middle, and end, as well as any subplots that will be woven into the main narrative. A comprehensive plot outline helps you stay on track, maintain narrative flow, and ensures that all plot points logically connect, making the writing process more structured and less overwhelming.

When I begin concept writing, I outline my plot by summarizing the story overall. I start with what the theme is at the very top and begin writing broadly what the beginning, middle, and end would look like. This part of the concept writing may take about a few pages to write. But it’s a mess. The story can be all over the place. Some characters may be out of place here and there, but I will fix that, eventually. As long as I know what the plot will be like, I then break it down piece by piece.

The theme is already established, now I break down the summary of the plot, if it makes sense or not. Then I’ll take the characters mentioned in the summary and give them a full biography of who they are and what’s the point of their appearance in the story. I’ll then take the plot summary again, review it and see how many chapters I can break it down to, then write a less than a page summary. I care about only what’s the end goal of each chapter.

One important time when concept writing, having a detailed plot outline, helped me stay on track was when I wrote Deadly Sins. Now, Deadly Sins is an anthology, but the overall theme is the same. However, each story was vastly different from one another. They all shared the same theme, which is the challenges of mental illness.

For each story, I had to write a separate concept for each. But since they were no more than 10,000 words in each story, the concept was easier and more condensed. The stories were tightly focused on characters and their struggles.

Having a concept on the side has helped me avoid writer’s block and allowed me to write the story naturally. If I would feel lost on how certain scenes came up, I would look back to my concept to give myself a reminder of what the message I am trying to convey.

4. Developing Strong Characters

Developing strong characters is essential for creating a compelling and engaging story. Well-rounded characters with distinct personalities, motivations, and arcs drive the narrative forward and connect with readers on an emotional level. This involves fleshing out your characters’ backgrounds, desires, conflicts, and growth throughout the story to ensure they are dynamic and believable.

After creating the summary and plot of concept writing, I’ll create the list of characters that are important. Primary and secondary characters. Minor characters will have a short brief description of their purpose as they might not be seen anywhere else in the narrative. For each main character, I’ll create a biography and use a character development template.

You can find these templates anywhere online and use them to your advantage. Not every line needs to be filled out in the template, but the more that’s filled out, the better you get to know your characters. This bio will provide an idea of how I want my characters to play out. This will help me stay on track without any surprise changes as I progress into the writing process.

As you write your story, naturally you’ll see your characters change and develop throughout the plot. With a bio next to you or if you have a grand idea of a bio for your character, you’ll start to see the changes flow smoothly.

RELATED: Character Development

5. Setting the Scene: World-Building

World-building is crucial for creating an immersive and believable setting for your story, whether it’s set in a real or fictional world. A well-developed setting enhances the story’s atmosphere, provides context for the characters’ actions, and can become a character in its own right. Effective world-building involves detailed descriptions of the physical environment, social structures, cultures, and histories that make up your story’s world.

When writing the setting for concept writing, it is easier to write based on what you know. For example, most of my stories are set in New York City because I’m from here. Unless I go on vacation elsewhere, then I’ll write my story taking place there since I’m familiar.

It is difficult to write a story taking place in an area where the writer is not familiar with. However, this doesn’t mean writers shouldn’t experiment with settings with proper research. When writing out characters in a certain setting, you are putting a part of you or a part of who you know that makes writing a bit smoother. This goes the same for writing settings.

In one of my stories in Deadly Sins, WRATH  – Unfinished Lessons, Tony lives at home with his mother in New York City and works as a doorman. It is during the holiday season when the weather is freezing temperature. The laws are also different from they are at where he goes on vacation, Florida.

As a writer, I have NOT visited Florida at the time of writing this story. I was told that their gun laws were more lenient than New York, which is essential to the narrative. The idea of the story is Tony going for revenge against his middle school teacher, who now is a professor in Florida. With proper research, I was able to write this story with confidence. The importance of the setting played a huge role in how laws were set up.

6. Integrating Themes and Symbols

Integrating themes and symbols into your story adds depth and layers of meaning that can resonate with readers. Themes represent the central ideas or messages you want to convey, while symbols are objects, characters, or events that represent these themes. Thoughtful integration of themes and symbols can enrich your narrative and provide readers with a more profound and reflective experience.

When I want to write my narrative, I normally think of the theme first. Occasionally, I’ll write a story from scratch and have theme naturally formulate, but when I want to properly write a narrative, I’ll come up with a theme. At first, I’ll write in a notebook the central idea I want to discuss. I’ll let it sit for a few days and when I come back to it and still find it interesting to write about, I’ll go ahead and start the concept writing. This usually occurs when I can’t resist the urge to write about it and more ideas and scenarios ignite my imagination. Next thing you know, I’m jamming on the keyboard.

I wrote a short story called Onryo, which is about an interior designer looking to modernize a haunted home that belonged to a dead writer. This story is filled with symbolism without explicitly stating why it’s there. Readers will get the idea when they read through it. But for the sake of this post, an example would be a lone hanger which symbolizes self-induced abortion which is how the writer, Linda Hofmeister, died.

As the story progresses, there are more symbols that would represent horrific consequences and the lack of proper health care. This mirrors the life of interior designer Gary Kaleb when he refuses his girlfriend, Anna Jung, to get an abortion, believing this is fate. When writing this story, I compiled a list of symbols I want to add throughout the story, where it would make sense.

7. Utilizing Tools and Resources

Utilizing various tools and resources can greatly assist in the concept writing process, helping you stay organized and focused. Writing software, templates, and workshops can streamline the planning phase and keep your ideas well-structured. These tools can enhance your productivity, provide inspiration, and offer support throughout your writing journey.

There are tools and resources that I found most helpful for concept writing. I use ProWritingAid to help me with any grammatical and spelling errors. Sometimes I use it to help me rephrase certain sentences when I feel it doesn’t make sense. Get yourself a 20% discount. I also use character development sheets or templates you can find online to help me create my character bio.

I’m also a fan of handwriting, so I’ll use tools like Five Star notebooks, multi-subject and different sizes. I’ll get fresh new pens and then I’ll start jotting ideas down.

RELATED: Benefits of Handwriting

Recommended Books on Concept Writing

The Anatomy of Story by John Truby: This book provides a detailed guide on crafting compelling stories, including concepts, characters, and plot development.

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody: While primarily focused on novel writing, this book offers insights into structuring and developing story concepts that apply broadly to storytelling.

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks: This book breaks down the essential elements of storytelling, including concept development, plot structure, and character arcs.

The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler: Based on Joseph Campbell’s work on mythic storytelling, this book explores the hero’s journey and its application in developing story concepts and narratives.

Final Thoughts

Concept writing is important before starting your first draft. It helps you stay organized with your story and your thoughts. Whenever you go off track with your writing, your concept will help bring you back. It is essential to have it by your side so that way you won’t feel lost when writing your narrative.

Investing time in concept writing saved me a lot of headache in the long run when writing my stories. Better to spend time organizing your writing than to waste time coming up with ideas and feeling stuck in the process. Write your concept however you want as long as it is organized for you and helps you finish your stories.

Have fun and enjoy the process!