Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s what you do with them that counts.
Writers and business people have touted some variation of the above for, well, probably as long as there have been writers and business people, if we’re being perfectly honest. But what does it really mean?
Recently, I answered a question as part of a very gratifying conversation with a fan about what sorts of things make me say, “Hey! That would make a great premise for a story or world!” I started talking about how ideas come to me and what happens with them once they do. Having that chat was a tremendous amount of fun, but afterward I wished I had been a bit more clear on one thing.
The Difference Between an Idea and a Premise
Everyone knows a premise is the thing a story is about.
But wait? Aren’t ideas also the things that stories are about?!
As we said in the 90s, what gives?
While these two concepts may seem pretty interchangeable on the surface, they’re actually quite distinct. When I have an idea, there isn’t a whole lot I can do with it at first. Even if I’m really excited about it. At the idea stage, there simply isn’t enough there yet to actually create anything with.
Why is that? Because ideas are elemental to other things (such as a premise) which you need to build a story or fictional world.
They’re like electrons. You can have as many of them grouped together as you want, but if there aren’t any protons or neutrons there, too, you’re never going to have an atom.
An idea (as it relates to creative projects) is a thought which may or may not be complete, inspiring further exploration of a concept.
Premises, on the other hand, are something I can do rather a lot with. Once a concept reaches the point where I can call it a premise, it has enough substance to it I can use it as the starting point of something bigger.
A premise is a complete story idea boiled down to its simplest possible expression. Or alternatively, the foundational concept from which I may build a complete story.
I use ideas to build premises and premises (along with many other tools) to build stories. So how do I get from one or more ideas to a premise?
How I Work With Ideas
Ideas come to us every day. Many of them are bad or forgettable ideas, but they come to us all the same.
Once upon a time, I used to write down ideas immediately, the very instant they came to me, for fear that a great one would slip through my fingers and disappear forever. I remember many a time as a teenager feelings pangs of regret that I couldn’t remember the fantastic idea I had in class that day and wasn’t able to write it down because of furious note-taking. As my parents can likely attest, losing what I was sure was an earth-shattering and wholly original story idea caused me many an anxiety-filled night.
However, there were a few times when I actually managed to recover these ideas later. Whether through mental effort or simply finding myself in the same context again, the idea would come rushing back with a font of familiarity at its side to let me know it was my lost gem. It elated me beyond measure every time.
Do you want to know what’s funny, though? Once recovered, those lost ideas usually weren’t all that great. I almost never ended up using them.
After that happened a few times, I stopped being so feverish about making sure I wrote down ideas right away. I do still write ideas down, eventually. For the most part, though, I’ve adopted the Terry Brooks method. If an idea didn’t stick with me for at least twenty-four hours, it probably wasn’t that great of an idea to begin with, so I let it go.
For most creatives coming up with ideas isn’t all that hard. I have yet to personally meet a creative who doesn’t have far more ideas than they’ll ever be able to execute on in their lifetime. (I know even fewer who don’t experience the occasional bout of existential dread because of this, but that’s a subject for another time).
Using ideas is like making tea. It needs to steep for a while to get the best flavor. Only once an idea has simmered for a time can I take the best essence that distills out of it and develop it with intent.
How do I know when an idea is ready to be worked with intent? I’m not one for arbitrary rules, but after thinking over how I work ideas, I’ve concluded that, in general, three things need to be true.
1: The idea must suggest roughly three or more of the following to me
- A character
- A backstory (which can differ from a character, believe it or not)
- An object or piece of knowledge that a character can possess
- A location
- A historical or world event
- A scene or conversation
- A universal rule or law, such as a magic system concept, geological or atmospheric oddity, etc.
- A MacGuffin
- A cultural concept
2: The idea must stimulate more questions the more attention I put toward it. Questions, ultimately, are what drive the development of an idea.
3: It helps but isn’t strictly necessary if the idea doesn’t have easy or quick answers to the questions that it suggests.
Build a Premise From Ideas
All this work with ideas eventually builds into other things, one of which can be a premise. As we discussed earlier, a premise provides me with much more direction than an idea does. You could say that an idea is a concept, while the premise is the direction in which I take that concept.
If you’ll indulge me in a couple of examples from famous fantasy:
- An evil ring housing a dark lord’s spirit, from which he can resurrect himself, is an idea. Sending Frodo, an unlikely hero from the most peaceful place on Middle Earth, on a quest to the fires where the ring was forged to destroy it and end the dark lord’s reign for good? That’s a premise.
- Children visiting a nature preserve for magical creatures is an idea. Two children discovering that their grandparents run a preserve for magical creatures, who must then save it from destruction when a rule gets broken, unleashing an ancient, arcane evil. Yep, that’s a premise.
“Lord of the Rings” and “Fablehaven,” if you somehow hadn’t guessed already, haha.
A premise is what results when I take the lovely essence that distills out of ideas and develop it with intent. I know I have a strong enough essence to work with in creating a story or world once there’s a sense of change or transformation that comes with it. At least one of the following is generally true:
- Something has changed from what it was in the past.
- Change is currently taking place.
- Change is about to occur, whether the people it will affect want it to or not.
- Nothing is changing, but there is a powerful desire for it to and the will to make it happen from one or more parties.
So, once I have an idea with all the necessary components, how do I go about forging it into a premise?
Why it’s a simple matter, really. All I have to do is…
Follow the questions!
Essentially, I thought web, following the various questions that occur to me and exploring what their potential answers might be. Sometimes this is a physical process with pen and paper, and other times it occurs entirely in my head. I try to come up with multiple answers so that I can see which ones feel more fitting compared to each other.
Sometimes this involves answering questions with even more questions, which can be fun and aggravating at the same time.
I’ve found it’s important to consider every question that occurs, no matter how trivial it might seem. Questions that might seem patently unimportant can lead to great story or world elements, so I’ve learned not to dismiss a question just because it seems too… well, too anything.
This is the part of the process where I really have to let the systems half of my brain do the heavy lifting. Building a story or a world is a fascinating exploration of the connections between things, and the systems brain (some might call it the right brain) is tailor made for this. I find the connections between different things; I allow those connections to build upon each other, recombine as necessary, and eventually, a larger picture emerges.
When I’ve uncovered the most important connections and the questions I’m following are producing more answers than they are additional questions, that’s an exciting stage. Answers and connections are building blocks I can use for the rest of the world or the story I’m creating.
Creating a premise is a matter of finding the simplest possible expression of the building blocks I’ve generated for myself.
The Seeds of Stories
Ideas and premises are both necessary to bring a story to life. Growing a verdant story requires a goodly amount of seed in the form of ideas. When I’ve watered and cared for them enough, they sprout into a premise, which can eventually grow into something even grander and more amazing.
Not every idea, or even every premise, makes the cut. But I, for one, am always eager to explore the next one of either. Hopefully, the end result is worth it for everyone who gets to experience it.
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