Are there Jobs where a person gets paid to come up with story ideas without having to write out the story in thousands of words?

Silver7 2025-09-07 18:14:57 UTC #1

I think the job I'm describing is called a creative consultant but are there specific jobs like the one I described?

I mean come up with ideas for movies, TV or video games, you name it

Also, how would I get hired to do this exact job?

kyupol 2025-09-07 18:20:39 UTC #2

Know the right people.
And that goes for any job too. I've seen a lot of unqualified / underqualified people in many jobs I did. It's obvious they only got the job due to WHO they know

Oriflamme 2025-09-07 18:26:18 UTC #3

It’s called being a producer at a large company. It’s the people who have/handle loads of money and pay others to make an idea come true. If you want the job try to go into business school/ management, know a lot of the right people, and be lucky. Being a sociopath might also help.

Seriously, the job you described doesn’t really exist because everybody is an idea guy. Anybody can come up with a cool story concept, but it is harder to follow through and actually make a cool story. The reason I said producer is because there are often movie and tv show horror stories of producers getting a bright idea and forcing it on the production crew.

Caro 2025-09-07 20:45:06 UTC #4

Consultants are not exactly the “job” you’re describing. These are people with some sort of specialized knowledge that can be used to assist a story that is usually already pre-conceptualized. For example a TV crime procedural might employ a consultant who has experience working in law enforcement. This can range from the example I mentioned to the subject of a biopic giving input to the writers, or someone who maybe has previously worked on or created a piece of media and may consult on spin-offs of their work they have not personally created, etc.

But yeah as you’re describing it truly the only way to get to do any of those things is with a lot of hard work and not just hard work but very tried and true work. For someone with no deep sort of familial ties to the scene and/or a lot of money to spend, you’re not going to just be trusted to “have ideas”. Everyone in the world has ideas they think are good (keyword: think)— most of them will just live in people’s heads. A few number of people will turn it into a script, a book, a comic, etc something they can do on their own. And even fewer still will have those works gain any sort of traction that will pique the interest of any Hollywood agency. You have to show your work and you have to show you can make reliably good work. Ideas are easy but executing them is the job and that’s the hard part.

moontokkym 2025-09-07 22:30:25 UTC #5

What your describing isn't a job, it's an element of multiple different jobs, all of which require work.

Writers, directors, concept artists, and producers are all paid to come up with story ideas, but they also have to do the work of having a ton of well-written, well-drawn, well-directed and well-produced stories in their prior arsenal to just be able to say "hey, get a bunch of other people to do my idea", and at that point they're not getting paid, they're paying the people making the stuff because those people are the ones doing the work.

What you're describing isn't a job, it's being a lazy writer.

Silver7 2025-09-07 22:40:51 UTC #6

I wrote a 40K word story, 40K words is enough to turn into a movie, right?

LunarScyphozoa 2025-09-07 23:16:39 UTC #7

Short stories often get adapted into movies, it’s not a matter of how many words but how much those words do. A good story can get a movie, even if it’s not a full novel series. Getting your story turned into a movie is not necessarily employment, however, depending on how it’s done.

vapidink 2025-09-07 23:35:40 UTC #8

Well, I do actually have some experience with book to film adaptations and it's not an easy thing to manage. You don't simply get an adaptation because you want one, you get one after proving the story is worth the investment. So, what's the process like?

First, you have to have a script, then you have to find some way to get a foot in the door. Most writers would depend on their agent to get some eyes on the script. If you don't have an agent or a company backing you, then that makes it more challenging.

The other way would be to submit a pitch during the rare times studios are open for submissions. They usually have some things they are looking for so your story might not be suitable for every opportunity, for example, if you write a fantasy story and they're looking for horror.

Even if you have a story being shopped around by an agent, getting someone to greenlight an adaptation can take time, even years, if it doesn't fall through. That's even worse of late with studios not wanting to take as many risks. They are more likely to invest in franchises with established fanbases and bestsellers. They want a ready audience to feel more secure before investing.

Writers who have a movie made from their work are usually first paid for the option rights, which varies. This is what a writer is paid to agree to have their work shopped around to studios, regardless of whether an adaptation is secured. The amount varies, but it's usually no more than a couple of thousand. If an adaptation is greenlit, you get paid for film rights. How much you get depends on how much the movie budget is and how big your book is, so a bestseller will get a lot more. It really depends on how good you and/or your agent is with negotiations.

Basically, lots of people have good, even great, ideas, but we don't get to see them adapted because most people don't have the connections and resources to facilitate this. Even those who have a chance don't always get a movie deal, and even if they do, it doesn't always guarantee a secure job and continued success.

moontokkym 2025-09-08 07:04:30 UTC #9

It's not a question of just quantity, it's a question of quality. 40k words is possibly enough for a short film, 10-15mins or so, but that's ONE thing, and it's also the first completed thing of this length you've written to my knowledge. Spoiler: it's probably not great, and you're going to have to do 1) better than that and 2) more stories than that to show it's not just a fluke if it is alright and 3) some longer stories.

You need to understand that to direct a film you came up with the idea for you need to have written and rewritten the script, and either have your own millions of dollars laying around to pay for production, or be such an exceptionally good writer and director that a studio will just give you the money to make your idea, and even then that's a lot of work, more than you've ever done in your life.

You really need to understand that the "writing out thousands of words" part of the job is the part that the people who have those jobs enjoy. You have to, otherwise you don't get the job or you burn out, because it's very very underpaid for most of your career.

Having good ideas means nothing unless you can execute them well. Everyone can have good ideas, only skilled artists can make them great.

Silver7 2025-09-08 15:47:31 UTC #10

Anime fans from the writer's factory discord that have read it thought that it was a cool story

moontokkym 2025-09-09 06:53:24 UTC #11

That's lovely. My artist and writer friends also enjoy my writing, they're not lit agents, publishers nor directors looking for their next project, their standards are way lower.

DokiDokiTsuna 2025-09-09 12:24:27 UTC #12

I gotta be honest, the first thing that came into my head when I read the title was "AI prompter...?" Which is a real job (today...) you can go out and get that.
Although tbh most of the listings I see in that field are for AI trainers...so even those kinds of people need knowledge and expertise more than idea guys, it seems. ^^;

I think you missed the part where they mentioned "having a ton of well-written, well-drawn, well-directed and well-produced stories in their prior arsenal". <-- That's called having an impressive resume/portfolio and industry reputation...simply finishing a story is not enough to get people to throw money at you. That's not how being a writer works, and it never has been.

The fact is, if you don't want to write, 99.99% of the time that means you will have to pay someone else to write for you, not the other way around.

It's nice that you wrote 40K words, and that other people seem to like them. But if the implication is that you're "done now" and people should trust you enough to pay you for simple ideas...that...kinda is just being a lazy writer...