Category: Katie Ganshert

Writing the Story Premise

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

What is a story premise?
A story premise answers the question: What is my story about? And does so as succinctly as possible.

Why is a premise important?
It focuses your story.

How do you write one?
Let me introduce you to my good buddy Dwight Swain. Can I just say that Techniques of the Selling Writer is one of my all time favorite craft books? Some people say it’s a laborious read. I say the labor is well worth it.

According to Dwight, a story premise has five elements:

  • Character
  • Situation (what’s the backdrop of trouble that forces character to act?)
  • Objective (character’s story goal)
  • Opponent (no opponent = no conflict = no story)
  • Disaster (the unutterably awful thing that could happen)

You should do your best to make each of these elements as specific and concrete as possible, and put them together to form two sentences. No more. No less.

Sentence 1: A statement that establishes character, situation, and objective

Sentence 2: A question that pinpoints the opponent and disaster.

There is wide-spread debate over whether or not to put a question in your premise. You decide if you want to make the second sentence a question or not.

Let’s look at the Wizard of Oz.

  • Character: Dorothy
  • Situation: tornado brings her to Oz
  • Objective: get to the Wizard of Oz so she go home
  • Opponent: the wicked witch of the west, who wants her ruby slippers
  • Disaster: never going home

Sentence 1: When a tornado drops her house in the middle of a strange world (situation), a teenage girl named Dorothy (character) must find her way to Oz so she can talk the wizard into sending her home (objective).

Sentence 2: But will the wicked witch of the west, who wants Dorothy’s magic slippers (opponent), stop her from ever seeing home again (disaster)?

Put it together and you get the premise of Wizard of Oz:

When a tornado drops her house in the middle of a strange world, a teenage girl named Dorothy must find her way to Oz so she can talk the wizard into sending her home. But will the Wicked Witch of the West, who wants Dorothy’s magic slippers, stop her from ever seeing home again?

Here’s an example from one of my novels:

  • Character: widowed mother, Robin Price
  • Situation: neighboring businesses are struggling and so is her cafe
  • Goal: keep her husband’s memory alive through the walls of her cafe
  • Opponent: handsome project manager who wants to buy her out
  • Disaster: losing everything she’s held on to since her husband died

Premise: Even though business isn’t doing well, widowed mother, Robin Price, is determined to keep her husband’s memory alive through the walls of her cafe. But when a handsome and charming businessman comes to town with plans to buy her out, will Robin lose everything she’s held on to since her husband’s death?

Question to Ponder: Have you ever written a premise? What do you include? Do you follow Swain’s formula, or do you have one of your own? If you have any tips, please share them here!

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3 C’s – It’s Friday

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Cares:
Sometimes waiting isn’t too bad. Other times, it drives me absolutely bonkers. I’m feeling a little bonkers right now. Like there’s this hyperactive bug crawling through my veins, only I’m in the silent section of the library, so the polite thing to do is sit and be quiet. Please tell me you know that feeling. Or am I the only one?

May I highly recommend writing flash fiction when the waiting starts to drive you nuts? The entire process is SO much quicker. For both the actual writing and getting it published. It’s a nice break for a girl whose roots run deep in the soils of immediate gratification.

Concerns:
Parent Teacher conferences next week, which I love for the sake of getting on the same page with parents and students. But seeing my family? That’s a rare commodity during conference week. It’s tough not getting home until 9 pm with a toddler at home.

Celebrations:
I’m getting a short story published in CFOM in January (Wendy?). I wrote it a few nights ago after reading a verse in Isaiah. It’s not what I usually write. It’s sort of allegorical. Not even sort of. I guess it is allegorical. I’m excited to share it.

God is so good. ALL the time. When I face disappointment. When I wait. When I jump in jubilation. His goodness doesn’t change. I want to live my life for Him. I want to glorify Him in everything. I want to rest in the peace and joy that comes from knowing Him. There are so many things to chase after in this world, but none satisfy like the arms of Jesus and that is most definitely something to celebrate.

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations today?removetweetmeme

A Synopsis Template

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Take my 100,000-word novel and condense it into a few pages? No thank you. It feels like I’m taking a brand new outfit and dicing it up until only the buttons and a string of fabric remains.

Despite my lack of love for the synopsis, every novelist who writes for publication needs to know how to write one, and how to write one well.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been spinning two potential story ideas through my brain. In order to flesh them out, I decided I would write the premise, back cover blurb, and a synopsis for each of the two ideas. I was floundering with my first synopsis. Until last week.

Stories have structure. At least they should. So I took a hodgepodge of structure points from Jim Bell’s book, Plot and Structure, Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck’s blog, My Book Therapy, and Dwight Swain’s book, Techniques for the Selling Writer, and used these points to create a synopsis template.

After I created the template, writing the synopsis got a whole lot easier.

Here it is, for you to use if you’d like. Keep in mind, I write romance. Also keep in mind, that while every story has a structure, it is not this rigid thing. You’re allowed to move around the paragraphs to best fit your story. I find that paragraphs nine through eleven are particularly fluid.

Synopsis Template for Romance:

First paragraph:
Introduce the heroine (include the lie she believes, her greatest fear, and/or her greatest dream) and her disturbance. What event interrupts the status quo of her normal life?

Second paragraph:
Introduce the hero (include the lie he believes, his greatest fear, and/or his greatest dream) and his disturbance. What event interrupts the status quo of his normal life?

Third paragraph:
The first doorway. What hurls hero and heroine into the story to the point where they can’t turn back?

Fourth paragraph:
Heroine’s statement of story goal and her motivation for the goal

Fifth paragraph:
Hero’s statement of story goal and his motivation for the goal

Sixth paragraph:
Turning point. How do things get worse and how does the goal matter even more for hero or heroine?

Seventh paragraph:
Another turning point. How do things get even worse and how does the goal matter even more for the hero or heroine?

Eighth paragraph:
Second doorway. What is the catalyst that hurls hero and heroine into their black moments?

Ninth paragraph:
Heroine’s black moment and epiphany. The point where the lie she believes is overwhelming, her biggest fear comes true, which leads to her discovery of the truth (freedom from the lie).

Tenth paragraph:
Hero’s black moment and epiphany. The point where the lie he believes is overwhelming, his biggest fear comes true, which leads to his discovery of the truth (freedom from the lie).

Eleventh paragraph:
The climax. What situation will force hero or heroine to choose between two concrete, alternative, irrevocable courses of action? One way leads to hero or heroine accomplishing his/her goal. The other leads to hero or heroine sacrificing goal for the sake of love and/or principle.

Twelfth paragraph:
The Resolution. What results because of the hero or heroine’s choice? Since I write romance, this typically involves a kiss and a profession of love.

And there you have it. Twelve paragraphs to sum up an entire novel. I hope you find it useful!

Questions to Ponder: How do you feel about writing synopses? Do you write them before your write the novel or after? What’s the best tip you’ve ever received when it comes to writing one?removetweetmeme