Theme and Premise - What's the Difference?
I was asked this question by an esteemed subscriber this week and thought it might make an interesting article. In the publishing and movie industry the terms theme and premise are bandied around liberally - and it's assumed that writers know the difference, even if agents, publishers and marketing people are not so up on the precise meanings. Basically the premise to a story is your starting point. It's the idea behind it - its reason to be. I've seen members of writer's groups ask the question: "Can you write a story without a premise?" I would have to say you could try - but fairly soon you'd run out of things to say. You need a premise to give a story legs. Besides which, most writers are able to sum up what their story is about - or going to be about - in a short sentence of two. So what makes a premise? Mostly an intriguing idea, a what-if scenario or a justaposition of two disparate notions fused together. The premise is usually an...