Your thoughts on premise statements. suggestions?

[meg_evonne]

Please do not post your premises here or on the forum.  Also this isn't a continuation of a specific question raised by a poster.  It is simply your best thoughts and practices on premise statements and their value in marketing and selling your work.

I've been in discussion with a fellow poster on the 'value' of pursuing a story.  In that process, premise statements were brought up.  Here are my thoughts.  What are yours?

If you're concerned that wasting time on it (I interpreted as - is this marketable, publishable, etc)  It is the story you string upon the world and the dilemma you've created that helps me determine that.

Take a look at the Bourne Identity books/movies.  It's about political corruption, but the heart line is about Bourne's need to discover the truth about himself, or protecting someone he loves, or revenging the death of his love.  In the process the political is solved as well, but the STORY is in what and how Bourne grows and changes. The Manchurian Candidate was a political intrigue, but the story was about the main character's journey.

In other words, if you are seriously moving toward publication goals, then I would need to see what the story is about in a premise statement, which is no more than two sentences (preferably one] that tells the human element or story within your neat world and your conflict.  This sentence will be your main character's journey.  

I sent you samples of those statements. These are neat because they have proven effective in the real world. They all ended up sold.

Do not share premise statements on line.  Those are too easily taken, especially if its a great premise!  The story could be worlds different, but it WAS your intellectual property drawn down to two sentences.  Thus the caution.

I've included 12 premise statements that authors and Michael Bourret successfully used to sell these books over the past 12 months.  What better example than premise samples that worked?

From Publisher's Marketplace:
Children's:
Young Adult        Nova Ren Suma's IMAGINARY GIRLS, a tale reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's supernatural family dramas, it is the story of two sisters, their strong bond, and the dead body that threatens to break it, to Julie Strauss-Gabel at Dutton Children's, at auction, for publication in Summer 2011, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).
mbourret@dystel.com
Posted:       July 13, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern
      
Non-fiction:
Science        Marcus Wohlsen's BIOPUNK, chronicling a rising geek underground that wants to do for DNA what the Internet did for information, exploring both the potential for innovation and for destruction, to Courtney Young at Portfolio, for publication in 2011, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).   I love this premise and it's science! Not sci fi!
Posted:       July 16, 2009 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern
      
Children's:
Young Adult        Heather Brewer's THE SLAYER JOURNALS, a five-book spinoff from the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series, centering on the character of the slayer that accidentally befriends vampire Vlad before learning of his true nature, to Maureen Sullivan at Dutton Children's, for publication in September 2011, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).
Posted:       August 7, 2009 at 3:06 p.m. Eastern
      
Children's:
Young Adult        Dori Jones Yang's DAUGHTER OF XANADU, about a spirited young Mongolian princess who must decide between her growing attraction towards a young foreigner, Marco Polo, and proving to the Khan, and to herself, that she can be a bold warrior, to Michelle Poploff at Delacorte, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).
Posted:       August 18, 2009 at 5:03 p.m. Eastern
      
Non-fiction:
Narrative        Author of Blue Clay People and Whispering in the Giant's Ear William Powers's TWELVE BY TWELVE: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream, a twenty-first century WALDEN and meditation on globalization about the author's experience in an eco-community after returning from a decade as an aid worker in Africa and South America, to Jason Gardner at New World Library, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).
Posted:       September 9, 2009 at 9:49 p.m. Eastern
      
Children's:
Young Adult        Debut author Aaron Hartzler's RAPTURE PRACTICE, a humorous, poignant YA memoir about growing up in a fundamentalist Christian home while questioning one's faith and sexuality, reminding readers that sometimes life is stranger than fiction, and often in hindsight, just as entertaining, to Jennifer Hunt at Little, Brown Children's, for publication Spring 2011, by Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (world English).
Posted:       September 28, 2009 at 11:23 a.m. Eastern
      
Film rights        Suzanne Selfors's SAVING JULIET, to Disney with Peter Chelsom attached and the Gotham Group producing, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.   Power of a timely name.  Julie and Julia, Letters to Juliet.. can it be that simple and trivial? yep  Fun to grt the scoop on a film that won't come out for a couple years!  Publisher's market place is fun!
Posted:       October 20, 2009 at 3:13 p.m. Eastern
      
Non-fiction:
Cooking        Brad Thomas Parsons' BITTERS, the history and mystery of how this concentrated alcoholic infusion of aromatic plant roots, bark, herbs, spices, and fruit was first used as a tonic to remedy ills, but has since gone on to be an essential element in quality cocktails, along with more than 100 recipes for homemade bitters and classic and contemporary cocktails using them, to Aaron Wehner at Ten Speed Press, for publication in Fall 2011, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).
Posted:       November 10, 2009 at 9:10 a.m. Eastern
      
Children's:
Young Adult        Joelle Anthony's THE RIGHT AND THE REAL, following a seventeen-year-old whose father throws her out of the house when she refuses to join the cult he's gotten involved with, forcing her to survive on her own; but when Dad finds himself in danger, she comes to the rescue armed with her newly acquired street smarts, again to Stacey Barney at Putnam Children's, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (world).
Posted:       December 4, 2009 at 3:35 p.m. Eastern
      
Children's:
Young Adult        NYT bestselling author of Wake and Fade Lisa McMann's DEAD TO YOU, about a teenage boy who was abducted nine years ago and is now returning to his family, and THE UNWANTEDS, about kids who are exiled from their homeland when they display signs of creativity to a hidden world where they are trained to use their abilities and hone their magical skills, to Simon Pulse and Aladdin, in a four-book deal, by Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.
Posted:       December 11, 2009 at 4:49 p.m. Eastern
      
Children's:
Young Adult        Erin Downing's ECLIPSED, about a girl who has always happily existed in the outer orbit of high school cliques, but is suddenly thrust to the center of the social universe after a mysterious occurrence during a Lunar Eclipse changes everything and flips life-as-she-knew-it onto a bizarre new axis, to Ari Lewin at Disney-Hyperion, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2012, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (NA).
Posted:       March 4, 2010 at 5:06 p.m. Eastern
      
Children's:
Young Adult        The Dust of 100 Dogs author A.S. King's EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS, about a teenage boy who, as he struggles to cope with a relentless bully, mysteriously communicates with his long-lost POW grandfather still missing in action in Vietnam, to Andrea Spooner at Little, Brown Children's, for publication in Fall 2011, by Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World English).

[Kali]

The problem is, and I'm sure you know this, this is the easy part.  The idea, the concept, the real heart of the story, they're a dime a dozen.  I can come up with ten or fifteen of them off the top of my head without even breaking a sweat.  Mind you, distilling an already written story down into one sentence is brutal.

The hard part is telling the story, then telling it well is a whole different level of difficulty.  That's why no one buys an idea from an unproven author; because anyone can come up with a cool idea.  You can pitch an idea, but they're gonna want to see your synopsis and first five chapters, and then if those go well they're going to want to see the entire manuscript.

That's why I don't really like the recent spate of "Is this a cool idea" threads.  There are a million cool ideas.  And, as Jim has pointed out, a million bad ones that nonetheless make for really good stories.  It absolutely doesn't matter if your idea is cool, if you can't write it.  And even if 20 people think your idea is stupid, you can laugh in their faces if you write a stellar book out of what seemed to be a stupid idea.

You'll need this one-sentence pitch if you're going to do the handshake rounds at a writer's conference.  But don't get all tangled up in knots over it until you've written the bloody thing.  Come up with one, sure.  You'll probably have something in mind before you start writing.  But if you can't put it into words yet, so what?  Or if it seems sorta long and clunky, big deal.  Write the story. 

Another problem, perhaps a little more prosaic, is I've noticed that for a great number of people, discussing the idea removes all desire to write the story.  Once it's out there and discussed, they feel like the story's told and the impetus to write goes away.  So...  y'know.  Less talky, more writey.

[meg_evonne]

On the other hand we can't deny that trends are the meat of the industry for every published and unpublished author.  Also my best writing now has stemmed from premise statements.  They help you condense down to your character's heart-line. They help you focus. They can keep the marketable storyline on track. Premises can be more than a hook. Example: the decision to write a sibling piece marketable to boys and girls. Ages that are aimed where you think the market is hot. A storyline that grows from a hot sub genre.

A DNA structure is key to helping you decide if your idea has the legs to make it into print. IMHO, however I will never go back.to seat of my pants writing. I am investing too much of my life, my time, and my effort into a story and I want to know it has more than a snowball's chance in hell of going all the way.  Does that make sense?  The sheer number of revisions and perhaps years of time to get this premise into the story you want to tell is enough of a handicap and just part of life.  

The premise is your bone structure.  If the right bone structure isn't there to begin with it would be almost impossible to go back and insert it later.


edited because i simply can't do so on my droid, as much as I love it!