(The following is an excerpt from my book Novelsmithing.)
PREMISE POSSIBILITIES
With this example behind us, let’s look at some possibilities for a Premise. Keep in mind that conflict creates a tension that gives the story an inevitable sense of forward motion and puts on the brakes when it is resolved at the end. Here are some examples of a “three-word” Premise:
Intelligence overcomes stupidity.
Anarchy overcomes order.
Forbidden love destroys the lovers. (Romeo and Juliet?)
Jealousy destroys the person. (Othello?)
Unbridled ambition destroys the person. (Macbeth?)
Faith conquers pride.
Intelligence overcomes superstition.
Procrastination destroys the person. (Hamlet?)
Poverty destroys society.
Love overcomes hatred.
The order of each of these, and thus the outcome, could be reversed. The number of possibilities is endless.
The Premise not only provides conflict, but also takes sides in that conflict. By doing this, the Premise provides meaning and exposes an underlying truth, or what the author believes to be a truth. And now we come to one of the great paradoxes of novel writing:
The Premise is never specifically stated.
The Premise, although it is the “be all and end all” of storytelling, will never be explicitly stated in the novel. If it is stated explicitly, you will be preaching to your reader. The reader must be left on his own to form his opinion of what the subject matter means. The author can only go so far down the road to get his meaning across.
To make sure you understand the concept of Premise, let’s approach the origin of your Premise one more time:
Question: How and where do you find your Premise?
Answer: You must uncover the Premise from within your idea for the novel.
The idea will usually, but not always, come first. You’ll pull some event from your life experience or elsewhere, and then start looking for meaning and a Premise. The Premise will seem trivial, but it will take on greater significance within the full context of the novel. As you develop all the elements, you should always return to the Premise for guidance. You will get tired of thinking about Premise before it is all over, but don’t let your irritation get the better of you. Your ability to handle the Premise will either make or break you as a novelsmith.
EXAMPLES FROM STORIES WE ALL KNOW
The conflict can be internal to a single individual, as in Dostoeveky’s Crime and Punishment. Raskolnikov is in conflict with himself. He eventually turns himself in for murdering two sisters. In the movie Groundhog Day, the Premise might be stated as: “man overcomes his own base nature,” or in three words: “man overcomes himself.” One might suppose God is the teacher giving Phil the chance to live one day over and over until he gets it right. Phil’s conflict is with himself. He can’t get past his own base self to win the girl he loves.
It can be a conflict between two rights (which turns out to be the most philosophically profound) as in the Dustin Hoffman/Meryl Streep movie Kramer vs. Kramer. Both parents love their child and have a right to custody. Note that the conflict is expressed in this movie’s title and that it relates to the Premise. But it doesn’t tell the outcome, so it isn’t the Premise. So what is the Premise? Could it be “altruism overcomes personal need”? That might be it for Meryl Streep’s character, but I’m sure you can come up with many more that apply.
Since the Premise is about conflict between opposing wills, let’s say a few words about what does not fit this pattern. Frequently, we hear adventure stories expressed as “man versus the mountain.” But a mountain has no will, so this is not even a true conflict. A man or woman struggling to climb a mountain is struggling against his or her own will and physical limitations. This is an internal struggle, and can be covered by Premise quite easily as “man overcomes himself.” You might say that the will to continue overcomes the desire to turn back. In this same vein, “man overcomes lion” is a worthy Premise, because a lion has a will and can stalk the man just the same as can a serial killer.
Remember that the Premise will expose character and the nature of the conflict, as well as dictate the beginning and end of the story. It exposes character because the individuals who are in conflict care deeply about what they are in conflict over. The way they deal with the conflict, i.e., whether they want to argue or grab a gun, exposes character. The story starts when the conflict is locked, and ends when it is resolved.
The Premise may, and usually does, raise a question of universal significance. The movie Star Wars has a cosmic landscape because of “The Force,” and has universal significance because of the struggle between good and evil. The universal question raised concerns the relationship between good and evil. Which is the most powerful? Which is the right path to follow? The universal comes from the particular. Luke, the embodiment of “good,” is a single human being engaged in a battle against Darth Vader, the embodiment of the “evil” or “dark side” of the Force.
A Premise will exist for each sub-conflict (subplot) in the novel. This then defines what a subplot is: a secondary conflict between opposing wills. All subplots must also be resolved by the end of the novel. This is what we commonly call “tying up all the loose ends.” Realizing that each subplot is essentially a conflict that must be locked in the beginning (or close to it) and resolved at the end (or close to it) provides the author with a handle to manage all the sub-conflicts.
Something that may not be immediately obvious is that Premise always, at least on a metaphoric level, connotes cosmic forces at work and provides the spiritual level necessary to insure you’ll capture the full human experience. It may contain a moral, although that is not necessary. It may be optimistic, pessimistic, or simply state the way the world works. In the movie Titanic, the cosmic conflict is “God destroys arrogance.” This conflict is locked when Cal (Rose’s fiancé) says, “Even God couldn’t sink the Titanic.” The principle human conflict in the story is between Rose and Cal. Rose is the protagonist, Cal the antagonist. This conflict is locked when Rose boards the Titanic and likens it to a slave ship with she herself being taken aboard in chains. The Premise for this conflict is “freedom overcomes bondage.” The word “freedom” tells us a lot about Rose as a character. We know she craves freedom above all else. The word “bondage” also tells us a lot about her mother and her fiancé. They believe Rose should bow to society’s demands and their own requirements of her. The word “overcomes” also tells us the ending of the story. We know Rose will escape to live her life to its fullest. The screenwriter knows the outcome before he starts writing, but the audience will only learn the full nature of the Premise at the end.
The Premise is elusive, and your impression of it may change throughout the development of the novel. Still, you need to make a guess at the start to organize your material and develop a complete storyline. Writing a novel is an iterative process. That’s why having a synopsis before starting the actual writing of the novel is crucial. The synopsis is the first cut at the complete storyline.
A quick word about Premise and its relationship to Jungian psychology, since you might have the feeling that we’ve gone a bit far afield. You can rest assured that Premise does have its roots in Jungian psychology, as I will describe in detail in Chapter 10, “Psychology of Creativity.” As a preview, I’ll say that the source of creativity within us is hidden away in the subconscious. Access to this portion of the psyche is through a gate guarded by a “presence” that is in conflict with our conscious self. This internal conflict is voiced though the projection of conflict into our thoughts and daily activities; it wants all these conflicts resolved through a process known as “talking it to death.” Throughout eternity, this internal process has manifested in storytelling. Our conscious selves, together with the contrary presence standing at the gateway into the subconscious, and the argument that ensues, has the essence of Premise.
Novelsmithing