In a post on the When You Write blog, Jessica Majewski offers tips for writing a great premise and explains why you should. “A well-crafted story premise is a valuable asset—the heart and soul of your story in one or two neat sentences,” she says. “It communicates the story’s direction and purpose to the reader and acts as a guide or flashlight for the writer.”
A solid premise – also called the story sentence – will briefly describe your protagonist(s), define their core goal, and establish the conflict or obstacles to that goal. But why should you write one? Majewski shares some good reasons:
- A premise sets the cornerstone for your story. “A premise…gives you a basis for the major decisions that you have to take as you write or research your book,” Majewski says. “Once you have a good premise, you can use it to check to see if something fits that premise, and you either add or remove that thing according to its alignment with the premise.”
- It can prompt story ideas. A premise serves as a story compass when you get stuck for ideas what to do next.
- It can help with marketing. “A good premise is marketable,” Majewski writes. “Just that one, well-crafted sentence has the power to land you a publishing deal or TV show.”
- It condenses your story idea. “You don’t need a complex idea to have a great story,” Majewski says. “If your ideas are complex, condensing them into a line or two will simplify things for you.”
A strong premise puts your theme front and center and highlights your protagonist’s mail goal. Brevity is your goal. If you can’t boil your novel down to one or two sentences, start with a paragraph and then combine and trim until your premise is as brief as possible. If you need more than 50 words, that might be a sign your novel lacks a strong story goal and may be disjointed. Read the back of the book blurbs for novels in your genre. Some movie posters put the premise front and center. Using published works with will give you an idea how other writers and marketers described their stories in as few words as possible.
