Beginning a novel is difficult: often we, as writers, will get hit with a brilliantly shiny new idea that just can't wait. Then one of two things happen. Either it truly was a magical idea and the story simply pours out. Most of the time, however, we founder, sputter, and eventually the shiny new idea will be doomed to sit forever in the depths of our hard drive.
If you're in the planning stages of a new project, or you've just been hit by a shiny new idea, the posts below are for you. They're a collection of the best advice we've featured over the years aimed at making sure our story idea is ready to go, so we can see it all the way to the end.
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Sit down, and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.
~Colette
Building a Better Novel Premise
Last week while I was writing my list of
Forty Questions for a Stronger Manuscript, I mentioned that I had written my elevator pitch and logline before I even started plotting my new novel. That may seem strange, but I wish I'd caught onto that process sooner. I would have saved myself, and my critique partners, soooooo much grief. It's a lot easier to tweak a pitch than it is to change an 80,000 word novel. Seriously.
And there are reasons to tweak the premise. However well we write, however creatively we move our characters across the storyboard, if the basic idea we want to convey isn't worth reading about, we're facing too much competition from other authors and entertainment options to hold a reader's attention.
Before I started my current manuscript, I wanted to be absolutely sure I'd made the premise as strong as possible. I've read dozens of posts and books on that elusive "high concept" beast we've all heard so much about lately, and I started thinking through how what the experts said related to my favorite books. Basically, what I've gleaned is that for me, there's a difference between gimmick and high concept. And there's a BIG difference between high concept and well-executed concept.
A gimmick is something with a WOW factor, but once I've heard the WOW, I'm done. It loses its appeal because after I unwrap the shiny packaging, there's nothing much inside. It's like the wizard standing behind the screen in Oz. Once he's visible, all the magic fades.
With a great concept, there's a great wrapper, a WOW factor, but there's layer after layer of solid goodness underneath. And isn't that the key to any great piece of literature? Layers? Depth? Great characters? Beautiful writing? Universal appeal? Connection?
Yes, a great concept has to contain a "hook," but that's just the ending point. To make the hook resonate, the premise also has to have:
- At least one fascinating character: Someone bigger than life, who cares very deeply about someone or something and is willing to fight for it.
- An interesting setting: A location or world where readers have never been but want to visit either in our dreams or in our nightmares.
- An inherent conflict: The situation that pits the fascinating character against someone or something that is going to keep her from getting what she wants--while keeping readers at the edge of our seats unable to guess the outcome.
- An emotional appeal: The reason readers understand the stakes, care about them, and connect to the events and characters on a personal, heart-deep level.
- A universal or familiar idea: The connection to something we already know something about or have previously wondered about.
- An original twist: The aspect of the story that makes it different from any other story--the way ordinary things are combined, slanted, spun, and stacked to take the universal or familiar idea and warp it into something unique and unexpected.
- A piece of coolness: A tool, ability, artifact, or something in the character, setting, or situation that makes our jaws drop.
- A high-impact inciting incident: The situation that catapults us all into the story with no way back.
- High stakes: The reason it matters if the fascinating character loses, not just to her but to other people. The actual consequences of failure that the reader can't bear to contemplate.
- A great title: A word or two or three that intrigue and sum up the book.
Notice, there's no "hook" in that list. For me, the hook is the innate simplicity of the premise--something that lets us take all those things I've just listed and sum them up in one or two easily-understood sentences.
Beyond that, if the premise hits at least one or two of the following "it" factors, so much the better:
- A topical or current subject or event.
- A controversial, sensational, or heretical topic or subject.
- An alternate view or explanation for a known person, event or potential event.
- A mythological connection.
- A primal fear.
Simple, right? Let's all jump get on it and come up with some best-selling ideas.
But one more thing--and this one's critical: I think the best-selling idea,
your best-selling idea, has to make
you care. It has to have elements
you want to explore, characters
you absolutely love. Otherwise, the heart will be missing from your writing. For me, that's just as important as concept, and a lot harder to define.
So what do you think? Is high concept or a hot premise important to you? Can you think of any other way to beef yours up? What do you ask yourself before you sit down to write a new idea?
Are your favorite books high concept? What "high concept" books do you want to read over and over again?
Happy writing,
Martina
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of books sent to me from authors that have both traditionally and non-traditionally (be it self-published, P.O.D or any other format out these days) published books from children to main stream. Many I have enjoyed, while others I have walked away with thoughts of how the story could have been better. But the one thing I noticed no matter how the author went about publishing the book is this…the stories I truly enjoyed, related to and found myself lost in as a reader all had a well defined premise.
All well told stories start with a premise. This isn’t me just stating my own belief about writing or how it works for me as an author sitting down to write. This is a hardcore truth we all must face and if we as writers sit down without knowing this premise to our story before our fingers hit the keys—we need to be honestly open to feedback we get before and after we publish our work.
For those new to writing or still learning the ropes, let me explain what a premise is and why it is important to this before sitting down to write—if you truly want to be like the “Great” authors we all cherish—be it Dickens, Wolf, Pearson, King, Rice, Tolkien, Rowling and so on.
In a writing meeting I attended, one of the authors shared the following about premise and I liked it so much, I wrote it down. I now share it with you.
In How to Write a Damn Good Novel, it is explained, “Writing a story without a premise is like rowing a boat without oars.” To go a bit further Carol shared the following:
• The premise is the reason you are writing what you are writing. It is the point you have to prove, your purpose for telling this particular story.
• The premise is NOT a universal truth. It is true only for that novel.
When you think of your premise, keep what Hemingway once said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” This quote has always really hit me as an author because as we sit down to write, we are opening our soul to the world. We are sharing bits of ourselves with each word, thought and action our characters take. Each story comes from something deep within us that we either need answered or feel we need to share with others—our original idea or premise.
You may also notice a premise can be used as your pitch line to an agent or publisher. Premises are also used has the “Hook” on the blurb of most books. Most readers when asking about your manuscript or published book want to know the premise, even if they don’t use this term. As you can see, knowing your premise, keeping it at the front of all your writing and truly letting it guide you through your plot will help you create an original work that will engage and bring your reader deeper into your story.
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VS Grenier is an award-winning author & editor, founder of Stories for Children Publishing, LLC, chief editor for Halo Publishing, Int. and also the founder & host of blog talk radio's featured station The World of Ink Network. Learn more at http://vsgrenier.com
Today's Ypulse Guest Post from Gregg Witt, Creative Director and Partner for Premise in honor of the two holidays that took place yesterday. I'll let Gregg explain. And if you work in youth media or marketing and have an idea for a guest post, feel... Read the rest of this post
