Concept Stage - "Broken Egg"

I’m working on my new short “Broken Egg” and now’s a good time to make a post about the first stage: concept. This stage is not a very complicated... well... concept; very simply it’s where I decide whatever I want to do with the project - where I want it to go, what I want it to say, etc. This is where notebooks, sticky pads, unused envelopes, and napkins come in handy. Usually an idea pops into my head as a feeling or something abstract but, at that time at least, reachable. I need to write down the bullet points of that feeling or idea quickly when it’s there, that way when I go back and look at them later they’ll either illicit the same or similar feeling or idea... or they won’t; most of the time I read them later and think they’re crap. Sometimes, though, I get one that I think I can explore more.In this case, the idea was pretty simple. It came from a thought I had on this desire for so many people to have excitement in their lives and not appreciating what they have. I don’t mean excitement with things like skiing in the Alps; I mean desiring actual tragedy and drama because it’s compelling but somehow not grasping the obvious fact that real tragedy is painful. That led to other thoughts and examples I had run through in my head and out popped the concept for “Broken Egg.”The concept needed to be fleshed out from the initial idea I had so I took out a notebook and ran with it. I jotted down some general feelings about where the idea applies and got this (below are the notes jotted in my hand notebook and below that is the translation for those that can’t decipher my brain-droppings):

Someone feeling that he’s stuck in monotony and nothing gives him spice of life. His only wish is for something - anything - to happen that will make his life more interesting. That kind of deal with the devil is always a double edged sword and, while he does get the excitement he’s after, it turns out that catastrophe and tragedy are the way he finally finds what he’s looking for. When all is said and done, is he happy that he got what he wanted or is he remorseful of what he had to go through and give up to get it? Is it both?

That's a setting for a bitter-sweet ending and one open for interpretation depending on how someone sees it. That concept has always interested me and it was one I wanted to explore more. It sat in limbo for about a year or so and since I’ve gone back and revisited it, the concept still holds up to the feeling I had back then - so I’m going ahead with the project.