Get your story premise right, and the rest of the story-writing experience will go much smoother. Crafting a solid story premise is your come-to-Jesus moment. It’s the moment of reckoning. It’s your story skeleton’s skeleton. Do this first. Do not write the story, the novel, the screenplay, and then reverse-engineer the premise to fit the unwieldy monster you have created.
What Is a Story Premise?
A story premise or log-line is a basic map to your story. We’re going to work off of John Truby’s definition:
The premise is your story stated in one sentence. It is the simplest combination of character and plot and typically consists of some event that starts the action, some sense of the main character, and some sense of the outcome of the story.
Hold on. Let’s back up and peel that apart, because every word is important.
Your Story Stated in One Sentence
Limiting yourself to one sentence forces you to stick to the basics. In reality, I think you can do two sentences, as long as you stay within reason. In that case, aim for 20 t0 30 words, with 50 words as the maximum.
This premise is 21 words and does the job:
The hot-headed youngest son of a Mafia family takes revenge on the men who shot his father and becomes the new Godfather.
This premise is 25 words:
After a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife.
Event That Starts the Story
Sometimes this is called the Inciting Incident, the thing that kicks off the story and sends the Hero on his or her journey.
shot his father
Character
The character named in the story premise is always the main character, the hero.
son of a Mafia family
Sense of Main Character
This is simply an adjective or two that rounds off the character and helps us see that character better.
hot-headed younger
Plot
What does the Hero do in the story?
takes revenge on the men
Sense of Outcome of the Story
And finally a hint of how the story ends.
becomes the new Godfather
Examples of Story Premises
Find 500 examples of story premises on this page.
How to Construct Your Story Premise
Fill out the table with around 2 to 6 words per space:
| Event That Starts the Story | |
| Character | |
| Sense of Main Character | |
| Plot | |
| Sense of Outcome of the Story |
For example:
| Event That Starts the Story | agrees to a wager |
| Character | phonetics professor |
| Sense of Main Character | misogynistic and snobbish |
| Plot | transform a flower girl |
| Sense of Outcome of the Story | make her presentable in high society |
Link the information with connecting words:
A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can transform a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.
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