Introducing the essential magic of PREMISE.
This post might change the trajectory of your career as a novelist.
It just might be the singular awareness that gets you over whatever lull or hump or wall you believe you are stuck behind. If you are already an experienced writer, your response might be… “well duh….” (which, if that’s you, this response might be a bit on the arrogant side, because trust me, all of us – including you – were once on the dark side of this awareness).
It is that important.
In this post I will present — after having done so many times on this site, and with an entire chaper in my new book — THE EIGHT ESSENTIAL CRITERIA FOR PREMISE.
I can’t stress enough how important this list is, for experienced writers every bit as much as for new writers. Often the former have these criteria engrained in their storytelling instincts, while newer writers can look here to understand why their work is being rejected.
Because almost always, on the story execution side of things (your writing being the other essential core competence, with roughly a 50-50 split between which deficiency resides at the root of your rejected manuscript), one or more of these criteria have been short-changed (including simply being less than compelling) or omitted altogether.
Here’s a confession: I’ve struggled with this post. Just as I struggled with this a particular chapter in my new book (Chapter 7). Because this topic — the eight essential criteria for Premise — is too easily minimized… if… the writer skips, under-values or doesn’t get/appreciate the valuable context that must be applied… both before and after encountering these criteria.
Because there are two principles that underpin an understanding of premise. Leading to this — any one or more of these criteria — nearly always being part of the reason a manuscript is rejected, or deemed in need of massive revision. Mangling any one of these will take you out of the game.
And then, there are two forms of premise that the enlightened writer can use — the abbreviated pitch form, or the fully formed premise, which is a checklist for story efficacvy — each for entirely different purposes.
I’ll deal with all four of these issues in tomorrow’s post.
Just remember… in genre fiction it isn’t a story until something goes wrong. Which creates a hero’s story quest, which becomes the Dramatic Arc of your novel… that being the principle that is the header for the eight criteria for an effective premise.
You can’t finish or apply these eight criteria UNTIL the full nature of the Dramatic Arc is clear to you. Which is where too many pantsers drive off the cliff, and too many outliners don’t know what they don’t know. Because these eight criteria are, in fact, a drill down into your Dramatic Arc. And, your chosen process, whatever it is, is a means of discovering and fleshing out your dramatic arc… working toward a compelling compliance with these forthcoming eight criteria.
In other words… the collective eight criteria actually become — they are — the dramatic arc of your story. Like an eight-cylinder engine, if one goes bad the vehicle sputters to a stop at the side of the road.
Here are those eight essential criteria for an effective premise:
- A protagonist/hero whose life (within a given time, place, location, sociopolitical subtext) is interrupted, disrupted or otherwise leads toward… (this being the setup of the story…)
- … a specific problem, need or opportunity THAT YOUR HERO MUST RESPOND TO…
- … launching a quest with a mission about, and toward, a specific desired outcome, beginning with a response to the need or problem… launchin a journey that the reader will ROOT FOR, rather than simply just observe…
- … for reasons (stakes) that compel the character to respond, then resolve the issue… (motivation)…
- … in the face of opposition from an antagonistic force or person(s) with opposing goals and their own motivations
- … calling for higher and stronger responses and course of action… (the story must both intensify and accellerate as it EVOLVES along the dramatic path)…
- … moving toward an ultimate confrontation or strategy that leads toward brilliant and courageous resolution resulting from the Hero’s decisions and actions…
- …which become the primary catalyst that manisfests a specific outcome, returning the hero to a life that is contextually different than where the story began.
An understanding of these elements will elevate you toward a higher level of the craft… where nuance and breadth and qualitative and conceptual value-add becomes part of your repetoir.
These excerpts are taken from my new craft book, “Great Stories Don’t Write Themselves,” with the addition of some framing new content here. Feel free to share with your writer friends, directly or via social media.
This post, in particular, might be the one you’ll want to share with your writing friends and colleagues.
