Steph Beth Nickel

What do you think of when you hear the word premise?

According to The Write Practice, a premise is “a single sentence summary of your central plot or argument of a story book or other kind of writing.”

According to Kat of The Novel Writing Roadmap, “You should be able to express the central idea of your novel in just a few sentences,” this being your premise.

Did you notice the commonalities of the two definitions above? Central plot. Central argument. Central idea.

You may want to consider the premise of your story the anchor point. No matter how many twists and turns you take, you won’t want your story to break free of the premise and go floating out to sea. This will leave your readers—and your story—untethered and potentially, confusing.

But I’m a discovery writer, a pantser, you might say.

So am I.

For the most part, I only want a few basic ideas before I sit down to write fiction. While the first draft may need an abundance of rejigging, I find this type of writing propels me forward and gets my mojo flowing.

That said, both plotters and pantsters could benefit from establishing a premise before sitting down to write their story. Just like the story itself, the premise may need to be reworked later, but it does serve as a reminder to the writer what they set out to do.

Not all experts in the field recommend formatting a premise in the same way. According to Writer’s Digest, the premise of your story can be expressed by asking a question that addresses four questions: What? Who? Why? And when? Although this is just one way to express your premise, it is interesting and can effectively whet your reader’s imagination and make them curious about how your story answers the question you’ve posed.

On Dani Petrey’s website, she poses this What if . . .? question about Raiders of the Lost Ark: “What if an archaeologist is hired by the U.S. government to find the lost Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do?”

Why not give it a try yourself?

Create a What if . . .? question about each of the following well-known works:

The Pilgrim’s Progress

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Lord of the Rings

Tress of the Emerald Sea (While this book may not be well-known to you, I highly recommend this story by Brandon Sanderson. I found it laugh-out-loud funny, not his typical epic fantasy.)

And because the Christmas season has just past . . .

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

For more info about pinpointing the premise of your story, check out the following resources:

Premise: Definition, Examples, and Tips

Preview – 4 Steps to Creating an Engaging Premise

How to Write a Premise: The Novel Writing Roadmap: Step One

Special Request

I will be compiling information for a second post regarding story premise and would love to include your contributions.

Please email the title of your book and its premise to stephbethnickel@gmail.com and include Story Premise in the subject line. Feel free to do so for both your fiction and nonfiction works. Deadline: January 17, 2025

Steph Beth Nickel is the outgoing moderator of the InScribe Pro Blog. She is currently serving as the InScribe Contest Coordinator. Steph is a freelance editor, a writer, and an author. She and her coauthor, Paralympian Deb Willows, are currently working on Deb’s second memoir, tentatively titled Keep Looking Up.