Sometimes people who have worked in other professions will attempt to make the switch to writing. They struggle at first because they’ve never spent all day living entirely inside their heads.

the first question you ask yourself at the start of any project is, “What’s the concept?”

What exactly is a high-concept movie? A high-concept movie is a film 1) whose narrative idea can be communicated in ten seconds or less (in other words, the perfect sound bite for an ad or a word-of-mouth recommendation), and 2) as soon as you hear the idea, you can imagine all the cool scenes that are certain to be in the movie (and that you want

concept frames (or, more frequently, re-frames) the issue entirely.

good concept makes the audience see your product from a very specific, sympathetic point of view and by its logic (or faux logic) renders all other points of view and all competing products moot and impotent.

concept takes a conventional claim and puts a spin on it. A concept establishes a frame of reference that is greater than the product itself. A concept sets the product in a context that makes the viewer behold the product with fresh eyes—and perceive it in a positive, compelling light.

from a single campaign concept, if it’s strong enough, can come dozens of individual ads and commercials (also known as “executions.”) Each one works as part of the broader concept and each one reinforces the overall theme.

Nobody wants to read your shit. 2) If you want to write and be recognized, you have to do it yourself.

You learn to ask yourself with every sentence and every phrase: Is this interesting? Is it fun or challenging or inventive?