Plot Vs Premise
This is something I had intended to incorporate into yesterdays entry on Wonderbook, but that is not how things wound up, so I thought I would just make a new entry. I could actually have named this as a direct entry on Wonderbook, but I am not referencing the content directly, and the next section becomes quite specific about plot. So, consider this an addendum to that discussion, though it has been separated.
Generally, the plot is thought of as a stories core element. The events of the story are what makes it and drive it forwards. This is true, but it is also possible to build a story from a premise, instead of a plot. This can serve quite well for episodic work, which is clear in television, and in some film series, but also can be found in fiction. The Harry Dresden novels come to mind, indeed one can think of most mystery series in general as falling within this category. As well, character driven series are often premise based, with the premise being that the character is place into a particular context. The Curious George books illustrate this well, but it can also be true in more mature works. If you consider serial fiction, the individual books will often fit these formulas.
Now, of course, within any individual installment, the plot is important, but the plot is not as central as the premise. Their are plot driven series, where each installment builds the larger plot, and in such cases the premise is usually not a major consideration in the same way. Tolkien built a long plot that involved an entire world, but it was a singular narrative arc that went all the way through. Terry Pratchett created an extensive universe with consistent qualities and characteristics, but did not confine himself to one central plot. For Pratchett, the center of the novels is the setting. The premise of the series is the world that all these events take place within, and each individual novel is a specific iteration of that premise. Damon Runyon's stories can be seen in the same light, though they also share a single narrator, it is still clear when reading them that they are held together as a corpus by their setting and the rules of the world they inhabit.
Premises are generally more commercially oriented, as they have to be considered in the light of a larger series. It is also possible for a writer to come up with a premise after they have written a single story. A character can become so powerful to the writer, or so popular, that they choose to follow them through other adventures. This can be easy to do, if the character is a detective or another professional type (an analyst like Jack Ryan, for example, or a priest like Father Brown, among a myriad of others), or if the character can be turned into a professional from what happened in the initial story. It may also be that the character, in a fantasy setting, just happens into various strange settings (Nesbitt did this quite well in his Five Children And It series), where the character exists in a world that has strange elements that somehow they are connected to. Notice that one can take that in the direction of a specific plot quite easily, by making the issue of why that character keeps having such experiences a driving force. But, if that is never a central question, or if it is dealt with in a way that does not develop a central narrative arc, it does not have to.
Of course, I make it sound like the two are not interconnected, but both can be used. A series of novels can sometimes afford to have both elements. In many cases, this is done by an author who builds a huge world, where specific series within their work tell a certain story about that world, but other novels may tell individual stories that are in the same setting and their own plot. A chapter in a book can do this, as well, of course, where a character takes a side-quest that is only tangential to the story as a whole.
The truth is that a premise exists in every story, just as a plot has to exist as well, but a writer has to consider which is central to them. In many cases, a premise is not something a writer considers at all, but that does not mean it does not exist. I think that premises tend to be easier to express than plots, in terms of pitches, and this means they often get more focus in commercial work. A premise generally involves explaining a few specifics, like character's and setting. A family on a shipwrecked island as in the Swiss Family Robinson, is an easy thing to understand. The plot is secondary, and fairly clear. We can see from the premise itself what type of things the story needs to be about.
At the beginning, it can be a premise, a certain character and a setting or situation, or it can be a plot. I might have an image of a clown who is also a burglar, and from it I begin to imagine a whole circus of criminals and develop the setting generally, realizing that it might be many stories. Or, I might focus in on that character, asking questions that are much more specific, and developing a singular story about a thief disguising himself as a clown and becoming redeemed through that new role. Both are based on the same set of ideas, but by thinking in terms of a premise I expressed ideas that did not involve character change or a narrative arc, I focused on the nature of the premise and how it could be developed. In thinking about a plot, I focused on those aspects of change, and how a specific story could incorporate these elements in a specific narrative. The two approaches are both valid, and they aren't truly separate, but it seems important to me to point out that plot is not the only principle for organizing the world of the story.
Generally, the plot is thought of as a stories core element. The events of the story are what makes it and drive it forwards. This is true, but it is also possible to build a story from a premise, instead of a plot. This can serve quite well for episodic work, which is clear in television, and in some film series, but also can be found in fiction. The Harry Dresden novels come to mind, indeed one can think of most mystery series in general as falling within this category. As well, character driven series are often premise based, with the premise being that the character is place into a particular context. The Curious George books illustrate this well, but it can also be true in more mature works. If you consider serial fiction, the individual books will often fit these formulas.
Now, of course, within any individual installment, the plot is important, but the plot is not as central as the premise. Their are plot driven series, where each installment builds the larger plot, and in such cases the premise is usually not a major consideration in the same way. Tolkien built a long plot that involved an entire world, but it was a singular narrative arc that went all the way through. Terry Pratchett created an extensive universe with consistent qualities and characteristics, but did not confine himself to one central plot. For Pratchett, the center of the novels is the setting. The premise of the series is the world that all these events take place within, and each individual novel is a specific iteration of that premise. Damon Runyon's stories can be seen in the same light, though they also share a single narrator, it is still clear when reading them that they are held together as a corpus by their setting and the rules of the world they inhabit.
Premises are generally more commercially oriented, as they have to be considered in the light of a larger series. It is also possible for a writer to come up with a premise after they have written a single story. A character can become so powerful to the writer, or so popular, that they choose to follow them through other adventures. This can be easy to do, if the character is a detective or another professional type (an analyst like Jack Ryan, for example, or a priest like Father Brown, among a myriad of others), or if the character can be turned into a professional from what happened in the initial story. It may also be that the character, in a fantasy setting, just happens into various strange settings (Nesbitt did this quite well in his Five Children And It series), where the character exists in a world that has strange elements that somehow they are connected to. Notice that one can take that in the direction of a specific plot quite easily, by making the issue of why that character keeps having such experiences a driving force. But, if that is never a central question, or if it is dealt with in a way that does not develop a central narrative arc, it does not have to.
Of course, I make it sound like the two are not interconnected, but both can be used. A series of novels can sometimes afford to have both elements. In many cases, this is done by an author who builds a huge world, where specific series within their work tell a certain story about that world, but other novels may tell individual stories that are in the same setting and their own plot. A chapter in a book can do this, as well, of course, where a character takes a side-quest that is only tangential to the story as a whole.
The truth is that a premise exists in every story, just as a plot has to exist as well, but a writer has to consider which is central to them. In many cases, a premise is not something a writer considers at all, but that does not mean it does not exist. I think that premises tend to be easier to express than plots, in terms of pitches, and this means they often get more focus in commercial work. A premise generally involves explaining a few specifics, like character's and setting. A family on a shipwrecked island as in the Swiss Family Robinson, is an easy thing to understand. The plot is secondary, and fairly clear. We can see from the premise itself what type of things the story needs to be about.
At the beginning, it can be a premise, a certain character and a setting or situation, or it can be a plot. I might have an image of a clown who is also a burglar, and from it I begin to imagine a whole circus of criminals and develop the setting generally, realizing that it might be many stories. Or, I might focus in on that character, asking questions that are much more specific, and developing a singular story about a thief disguising himself as a clown and becoming redeemed through that new role. Both are based on the same set of ideas, but by thinking in terms of a premise I expressed ideas that did not involve character change or a narrative arc, I focused on the nature of the premise and how it could be developed. In thinking about a plot, I focused on those aspects of change, and how a specific story could incorporate these elements in a specific narrative. The two approaches are both valid, and they aren't truly separate, but it seems important to me to point out that plot is not the only principle for organizing the world of the story.
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