What Means "High Concept?"

Pre- Black Hole of Suck, I taught Pre-K at a super fun preschool/daycare. It was one of my favorite jobs ever A) because I met one of my besties, Felicia, there, and B) because I looooooove 4 year olds. Seriously. They cracked me up all the time, and there are few things better than a job where you can just randomly put on music and dance around a table for thirty minutes. Well, I guess you could do that at any job, but they'd probably call the men in white coats.

The kids in my Pre-K class were obsessed with the busted-ass computer I had in the room, and one of their favorite games was a Candyland knock-off. Problem was, well...they were four. So they had some trouble figuring out how to play it, and i was no help because I didn't know how to play it, either. So one night I took it home and played it all the way through, the better to understand the COMPLEX INTRICACIES of a game that was labeled 3 and up.

Next day, I bring it back to class and announce that I can now help with the Candyland game as I have learned how to win.

That's when one of my precious angel babies looks up at me with sweet, wide eyes, and says in this tiny little voice, "Ms. Rachel? What means...'to win?'" It was like he was a little alien child on Star Trek asking Captain Kirk, "What means...'peace?'" after he's lived on a war-torn planet for years or something.

And it was the funniest thing ever. I laughed and laughed about it, and then was all, "You dumbass, you know what it means to win." (Note: I did not in fact call said child a dumbass. I may have thought it, though.)

Anyway, this ridiculously long story is all to illustrate that "What means...[random word]?" is a saying often employed here at Chez Hawkins, usually ironically. Like when Small Son was first born, we used to say, "What means...sleep?" Or when we were really broke, "What means...money?"

And so on.

So you may have heard about High Concept and how everyone in publishing wants some of it, and you may be asking yourself, "What means...High Concept?"

Well check out Agent Holly's most excellent post on the subject. Yes, yes, she mentions yours truly, which is very nice, but it's a great post and I think it sums up what high concept means really well. So go check it out, and bask in the awesome!