I fell in love with this pack of dogs and their people
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I am sure I have shared this little “Ah-ha!” moment before, but I’ll do it again. When I was getting started digging into how to publish Miss Missy’s School, I started coming across phrases like “elevator pitch,” advice on how to write a synopsis, and such. I kept hitting a brick wall. None of the formulas on how to write these things worked. Keep in mind, I know how to write formulaic things. I have publications in a few science journals. I know how to do this.
But it just didn’t work. I could not fit Miss Missy’s School into the proper cubby holes.
And then one day I came across the term, “high concept.” Almost all the stories out there these days are high concept stories. I reasoned that if there was a “high” concept there just might be a “low” concept. And sure enough, there is.
What’s your book about?Well, sure. It’s about a pack of dogs starting a school but that doesn’t really capture it does it?
A low concept story is “not easily explainable.”
What happens? What’s the excitement? Let’s see. A stray hound and her pup are rescued but that’s not really all that exciting. Bebe thinks she can count but she can’t. There’s an open house!
A low concept story is about everyday life and relationships.
In three sentences or fewer, what’s the plot? Impossible to do this. Trust me, I tried for months.
A low concept story is character–not plot–driven. Readers “fall in love.”
I cannot tell you how much better I felt having this weight lifted. All the advice–everything–was aimed at a sort of story I did not write.
As Missy says,
In our tale there are no dragons for heroes to slay, or worlds for wizards to save. It’s simply the story of how my pack and I came to realize we needed a school for all the animals on our farm who wanted to learn and teach from those great books of knowledge passed down to us through…
Missy, back cover blurb
One reviewer confirmed that I was correct in my analysis.
I fell in love with this pack of dogs and their people
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