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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40471
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

All bestselling fiction has a strong concept. The concept is the red thread that leads the reader through the story. It is the reference point against which the actions of the characters become meaningful.

I have been admonished by this site's community for saying so, but it is a banal truth that not all readers are highly intelligent. If you want to appeal to the less intellectual part of the reading public, you will have to provide (besides a simple language and uncomplicated characters) clear and unmistakable directions through your story. These directions, or this guide, is your concept.

Hollywood movies and million-selling books usually have a very simple, very clearly stated, and unmistakeable concept, and for all these the concept comes first.

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As a writer, you can think of concept as the ground on which the character arc rests.

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In literary fiction – another term many members of this community despise – all considerations for your readers may be set aside. In literary fiction you do not write to sell, but to realize an artistic vision. Therefore, that vision comes first. It may or may not entail a concept.

Where you place yourself between these two extremes is your decision.

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