What’s the premise of your novel? Do you need one? Why would you not?
Premise is the combination of character and situation.
What if Person A is forced to confront Situation F?
What if a teenager, after fighting to leave her mother and live with her father, discovers that her father is an alcoholic and a drug addict?
Story or rather plot answers the question, or as some might say, the hypothesis.
Every story holds a hypothesis. The best ones make it clear, and answer it.
In this way, stories and novels are like science experiments, the bringing together of two variables, a character and situation that lead to a reaction, which form the plot.
The writer must know the who, and what, the writing of which answers, how to state the premise of her or his story.
Where, and when give context. Why expands on both character (who) and situation (what).
Is it helpful to think of your story from the perspective of identifying its premise?
I find it so.
Why?
Answering these questions provides direction like a map.
A map prevents me from getting lost, and getting stuck as with writer’s block. I find neither of these fun.
Knowing my premise frees up energy for me to do all the things I love and enjoy about story writing– exploring symbols and amplifying character, creating and describing a more a more detailed and textual setting. Knowing my premise allows me time to create the extra’s that deliver a more tantalizing and engaging story.
This excites me.
Creating and clarifying the premise of my story energizes me as I write.
Consider a story you have recently read. What was its premise?
How long did you have to read before realizing the premise?
How engaging and enjoyable was the story?
Please share.