Premise The Premise
One word, many meanings.
So tell me about the story you’re writing?
It’s a question that creates stress and enjoyment. Stress for those who think they know their story but don’t fully know what it’s about. Now I don’t mean the plot, I mean the real purpose of the story. We tend to splurge everything about the story. the plot, the twist and turns, and by the time we are done, we are standing in the elevator alone. Not cool.
You see when I was in school, I learned that a premise is a logline, or it’s a one to two sentences about the characters, story, and theme. To be honest, it can be confusing.
According to Google, a premise is “an assertion or proposition which forms the basis for a work or theory.” Even now I look at this and still don’t understand it.
There is a lot of meaning behind the word but instead of throwing it away and ignoring; we need to embrace it. It is one of the most important things in writing.
To me, a premise is an idea, the goal, and the path for your tale.
It starts here.
Now hear me out, this is just one way to make a premise and one form. I believe it starts with three things a Character, a Conflict, and an End. I will explain what I mean for all three.
Character
This is not your main character. This is the suggested character, the flaw that your main character or characters will embody. For example, Hatred, this suggests a hateful character.
Conflict
This is the suggested conflict that takes the character somewhere. For example, Hatred leads to…, Hatred digs it’s own…, and Hatred conquers…
End
This is the suggested end of the story. It is what the character leads to or digs or conquers. You could call this the lesson of the story. In my example, we can conclude it with isolation. Hatred leads to isolation.
The end concludes the premise and sets a goal for your story. This is the message you are trying to convey to your audience.
Conclusion
Many writers don’t think of the premise and go straight into story building. This is not bad, but it is equal to driving in a snowstorm without lights. You can do it if you drive really slow.
The premise helps you stay on track, keeps you focused on the task at hand. Your story could be super wild and crazy, but at the core, it has a point to it.
The premise is your ideology; it’s what you believe in. So the premise must be true to you. It can be wrong in everyone else’s eyes, but as long as you believe it, you can write about it. That’s what makes the premise important, it’s not about how cool the story is or how cool the powers you are going to give the character are, it’s about the purpose of your piece.
It’s alright if you don’t have one right away. The more you story build or write the premise will eventually find you. That’s the funny thing about writing, in the end, we find meaning in it.
Thanks for reading, stay tuned and for more of my work.
Egri, L. (2011). The art of dramatic writing: its basis in the creative interpretation of human motives. Rockville, MD: Wildside Press.
