Contain Three Things Usually Look At The Directio
Whether you’re writing a book, a blog post, or anything else, it’s tempting to just dive into your writing project. However, you will likely save yourself time and create a better end product if you settle on a solid premise before you start writing.
What is a Premise?
The definition of a premise is:
- “A proposition supporting or helping to support a conclusion,” according to Dictionary.com (Links to an external site.)
- “The fundamental concept that drives the plot,” according to Wikipedia (Links to an external site.)
Before you can write a good plot, you need a good premise. This is the first stone that’s going to make up the foundation of your story— and you want it to be sturdy.
In a nutshell, the premise is your story’s central idea. In other words, what are you going to say when editors ask, “What is your story about?” If you can’t answer this quite yet, try taking a step back and asking yourself another important question: Why do I want to tell this story?
Fundamentals of a Premise
Your premise needs to contain three things usually in a single sentence:
- A protagonist in two words, e.g. young girl or a world-weary witch.
- A goal. What does the protagonist want or need?
- A situation or crisis the protagonist is facing.
Here’s an example from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum:
A young girl is swept away to a magical land by a tornado and must embark on a quest to see the wizard who can help her return home.
Again, three things:
- A protagonist in two words: a young girl
- A goal: return home
- A situation: swept away to a magical land by a tornado
For this Assignment
Using the document below, write a brief description (a paragraph at most) of the story you would like to write – make sure to include the elements listed above as well as its relation to the constitutional theme you have chosen.
