Premises Premises

A story's premise is its foundation. There are many types of premises, far too many to cover here, but look at a few examples.

On the darker side of fiction, I like this one: What happens when evil clashes with greater evil? That question by itself is too general. To get a premise for a story, add some specifics and then all kinds of interesting plot possibilities will appear. We might have a drug dealer meet a serial killer or we might see a thief try to steal from the Devil.

Here's another one. Are things what they seem? I prefer to vote no. That way I've got the element of surprise. Thus, the abusive drill sergeant is a grackle on the lawn with her hatchlings. Or, perhaps, the fireflies in the tree canopies are fairies. Or, the dog you just took in is really a werewoman (see the June issue of FSF).

The best science fiction comes from strange premises. What if the fire department's purpose was to start fires? (Read Fahrenheit451.) What if mature women from planet X would die without regular sex? (Read the Ultimatum.) Or we could get in to the hard stuff, and turn science on its head. What kind of creatures would we get if we eliminated one the nitrogen bases, say cytosine, from DNA? What if we added a new base?

Next time you read fiction, ask yourself this: What was the story's premise? If you can't answer that question, I bet you didn't like the story.