FSN - Day 4 - What's Your Premise?

[ladyseishou]

Stories had always been told about male genies coming out of bottles,
but they were usually fat, old men. Never had the genie been a
gorgeous woman, so that idea really appealed to me, and I created
the series based on that premise.

- Sidney Sheldon

So Nano Writer, what's your story's premise?

According to the Writer's Digest, The Premise of Your Story is:

...the foundation of your story - that single core statement, says James N. Frey, "of what happens to the characters as a result of the actions of a story."

Working with your theme from yesterday, can you expand this idea into a one-line sentence that describes something that happens to your view point character based on the answers to your questions from Tuesday?

For example:

From my previous examples, I decided to work with a theme based on "purpose." So playing around with that, I ask myself a few "what if" questions...

What does it mean to have to work in a world where magic is commonplace?
What kind of jobs might still be necessary in this world?
Beyond being necessary to support himself, what else would a job mean to my character? Is it a source of shame or pride?

Now I add in my theme (what gives life a sense of purpose?), apply it to my character's situation and finish with a little rewording of the expression "on a silver platter"...

In a world where magic is commonplace, a young man discovers that his life has a sense of purpose when he learns to do things for himself rather than have things handed to him on a magic platter.

So how about it, Nano Writer? Can you come up with a short/one sentence story premise inspired by your theme?

Come on, give it a try. Problems? Questions? Way too easy? Tell us about it!


Tomorrow, we'll put it all together (genre, theme and premise) and fine tune those story descriptions before we dig into the real heart of our stories: character. So until then, keep writing Nano Writer!