On Butterbeer

by Suzanne Y. Cordatos
www.suzannecordatos.blogspot.com

Quick--Name something that exists solely because a writer dreamed it up. One yummy example is Harry Potter’s favorite drink, butterbeer. On tap and wildly popular in Florida, a butterbeer can foam your lips courtesy of a JK Rowling-approved recipe. After reading a scene in the books or visiting Hogsmeade in the movies with Harry and friends, you can’t help but crave a butterbeer mustache of your own.

Does your writing contain powerful objects? Do you create symbols? Do you simply hand your characters a cool prop when convenient? People intuitively know a good thing when they read about one. Make your object important and they’ll remember it.

Consider butterbeer. A frothy, slightly fizzy, kid-friendly butterscotch drink, butterbeer is on hand to celebrate a Quidditch win or relax on a day off school. Is it a coincidence that Harry's friends often smuggle the stuff into their cozy common room? Is it an accident that the worst wintry weather coincides with pub trips? In contrast to the cold outside, the friends holding the mugs take on the warmth and comforting qualities of the drink. Who doesn't need friends, warmth and comfort? I'd guess J.K. Rowling designed butterbeer moments with great intention. 

The orphan Harry was friendless as can be before arriving at the wizard school. It is friendship—love—that ultimately gives Harry the strength he needs to defeat the villain Voldemort. Friendship is a powerful theme in the Harry Potter books, and butterbeer is a symbol of that theme. No wonder fans make the trek to Orlando to taste it!

Ordinary objects can hold great significance. A photo of a person or place your character hopes to see again. An apron once worn by a treasured grandma who knew how to cook her way into a family’s heart. The smell of a flower or a few notes of a melody remind your character of a person, place or aching need.

Create a symbol:

            Is it necessary to the scene? To the overall story?

            Are your scenes cluttered with objects? Can fewer be given a spotlight?

            Does the object represent anything else going on? Does it symbolize a theme?

            Fantastical or ordinary, is your symbol grounded in humanity? 

Characters come alive when they need to do things such as eat, drink, love, sleep, clean, communicate, travel and defend rights just like us. Your characters will leap off the written page and resonate with readers.            

Writing - Theme and Your Story

Theme and Your Story

By Karen Cioffi

Theme can be a frightening topic. Do you have a theme in mind before striking the first key? Or, do you write your first draft and then decide what the theme is? Do you have a problem deciding what the theme is, even after you’re in revisions?

In an article, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Theme,” in the Writer’s Chronicle, May 2010, Eileen Pollack discussed theme:

“The concrete elements of any story constitute its plot—Character A, in Village B, is torn by a specific conflict that gives rise to a series of concrete actions through which she relieves that stress. The more general question raised in the reader’s mind by this specific character acting out this specific plot constitutes the story’s aboutness—or, dare I say, it’s theme.”

This description of the elements of a story holds true for any fiction work, including children’s stories. The elements, woven together with theme as the foundation, are what makes the reader continue on, turning the pages . . . it’s what makes the reader care.

According to Pollack, “Theme is the writer’s answer to the reader’s rude, So what?” And, if the theme is poignant, and captures what some or many people actually do, allowing the reader to recognize the situation and actions, the reader will be engaged. Hopefully, the reader will be able to take the theme, however subtle it is, away with him.

For those worried about the theme affecting the story’s natural flow, Pollack advises deciding on your theme after your first draft. Once you have your theme in hand, go over your story again and again. You can now let the theme subtly permeate your story. Pollack goes on to say, “The most powerful use of theme is the way it allows you to fill in your character’s inner lives.”

Literary agent Mary Kole, in her blog at Kidlit.com, also sheds light on the worrisome theme:

“When you revise, think about what your work is saying. You’ve got to have a reason for writing it. There should be distinct themes and ideas that you could point to as the center of your book. [. . .] Once you know what these are — and you usually won’t until you’ve started revising — you can use them as a lens. [. . .] A theme for your work should color everything in it, subtly, especially the descriptions.”

So, there you have, after you’ve written your story and are working on revisions, if you haven’t gotten it yet, your theme should become evident. Using it as a “lens” and filtering each paragraph through it, you should be able to convey the theme to the reader.

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Editors Want to Know Your Story's Premise

Editors Want To Know Your Story's Premise by Joan Y. Edwards

Editors ask: What is your story's emotional premise? What is your story about in three to six words?

Before you write your story, while you are writing your story, or after your story is finished you must know what your premise or theme is. You must know what your story is about. What are you proving about life with the characters and the situations in your story. Are you proving that poverty plus distrust leads to crime? Are you proving that faith versus fear leads to success? Are you proving that ambition plus jealousy leads to failure?

Bill Johnson said a good story revolves around human needs in his article: Premise -- Foundation of Storytelling (2000) http://www.storyispromise.com/wpremise.htm

William Foster-Harris says premise is a solved illustration of a problem of moral arithmetic, such as pride + love = happiness in his book: The Basic Formulas of Fiction (1944).

According to James N. Frey, author of How to Write Damn Good Novel, “to find your premise, you start with a character or a situation, give the protagonist a dilemma, and then say what if such and such happened.” In his book, The Key, Frey adds that premise has to have character, conflict, conclusion, and conviction of the author.

James N. Frey, Emily McKay, and Debra Dixon agree that every character in your story must have a (GMC) goal, motivation, and conflict. However, the goal, motivation, and conflict of your protagonist is the one upon which the proof of your story’s premise should be based.

A premise is what you, the author, set out to prove in your story. With your premise, you are saying to your readers, given these characters and this situation, human nature is such that it will end up this way. It is a very short emotional summary of your story that says this human emotion, quality, or condition struggling against an extremely negative emotion, quality, or human condition leads to a final changed human condition at the end of your story. It doesn’t always have to happen that way in real life. However, it’s that way in your story.

Your premise is a message for your readers that when two particular human emotions, qualities, or conditions are pitted together, you come up with a concluding emotion, quality, or condition.

The same premise can be used for different stories. A premise is universal.

Joan’s Emotional Premises for Movies

Blind Side (2009) Premise: trust plus compassion leads to family.

Saying, proverb, cliche: One person can make a difference.

Love Story (1970) Premise: courage versus illness leads to unselfish love

Saying: Perfect love means unselfishness.

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) Premise: addiction plus respect leads to love.

Saying: Practice What You Preach

Fatal Attraction (1987) Premise: love versus obsessive jealousy leads to death

Saying: What Goes Around, Comes Around

Liar Liar (1997) Premise: lies plus love leads to divorce; truth plus forgiveness leads to reunification

Saying: Lies Catch Up with You in the End

Make your main character with one of these, struggle for or against one of these, and end up with one of these emotions, traits, vices, virtues, qualities, or conditions of his/her body, soul, and mind.

Emotions, Traits, Vices, Virtues, Qualities, and/or Conditions of the Body, Soul, or Mind

abundance, acceptance, accusation, addiction, admiration, affection, alienation, ambition, anger, annihilation, anxiety, apathy, approval, attention, authority, awareness, awe, beauty, belief, belonging, betrayal, blame, brutality, challenge, chaos, cheerfulness, choices, coming of age, competition, compassion, commitment, confidence, contempt, cooperation, corruption, courage, cowardice, creativity, crime, curiosity, death, debt, deception, dedication, desire, despair, destitution, destruction, dignity, disillusionment, disapproval, disaster, disbelief, discomfort, disgust, dishonesty, disrespect, distress, distrust, divorce, doubt, dream, education, enlightenment, enthusiasm, envy, equality, experience, etiquette, evil, excitement, failure, faith, faithfulness, fate, fear, forbidden, forgiveness, freedom, friendship, fun, fury, future, gain, generosity, genius, good, gratitude, greed, grief, guilt, handicap, happiness, hatred, honesty, honor, hope, humility, humor, hunger, identity, independence, indignation, individuality, initiation, injustice, innocence, insanity, intelligence, interest, isolation, jealousy, joy, justice, judgment, kindness, knowledge, lack, legal, lies, life, loneliness, loyalty, marriage, materialism, money, morality, murder, nature, nobility, order, obsession, oppression, pain, panic, passion, past, patience, peace, pity, power, peace, persecution, perseverance, pleasure, possibilities, poverty, principles, prejudice, pride, problems, protection, punishment, rage, rebelling, rebirth, redemption, rejection, relationship, religion, respect, responsibility, revenge, reverence, reward, romance, ruin, rules, sacrifice, sadness, satisfaction, security, selfishness, self-doubt, sex, shame, shelter, sickness, sinfulness, sorrow, spirit, starvation, stinginess, stubborn, success, suffering, suicide, surprise, survival, talent, taxes, tenderness, terror, thankfulness, thirst, time, tragedy, trapped, triumph, trust, truth, understanding, unfairness, ungratefulness, valor, vengeance, violence, vulnerability, war, wisdom, wealth, wonder, work, and wrongdoing.

Use the Practice Chart below and put what you think would happen with the two traits I’ve chosen. Make your own chart listing the premise for each of the stories you have written. Write a premise for ten of your favorite movies. Write a premise for ten of your favorite novels.

Joan’s Practice Chart for Writing a Premise
Your Character with what trait?	+ Dilemma Conflict Struggle Has to Fight Against What Trait?	Leads to What Result?
Extreme Positive or Negative Emotion, Quality, or Condition	Conflict with, struggle against or fight for powerful, emotion, quality, or condition	Leads to Different Extreme Positive or Negative Emotion, Quality or Condition
1. extreme love	extreme disgust	leads to what?
2. extreme respect	extreme fear	leads to what?
3. extreme peace	extreme hate	leads to what?
4. extreme perseverance	extreme greed	leads to what?
5. extreme loyalty	extreme envy	leads to what?
6. extreme curiosity	extreme cowardice	leads to what?
7. extreme humility	extreme grief	leads to what?
8. extreme courage	extreme lust	leads to what?
9. extreme faith	extreme suffering	leads to what?
10. extreme hope	extreme hunger	leads to what?

I have heard people call this a theme, rather than a premise. Regardless, you have to have it, you have to know it, you have to believe it 100%. After you have your premise, you can write your pitch and the events of your story from the beginning, middle, and the end. Your premise will be proved by your story. Universal emotions and conditions that are understood by all human beings is transferred to your reader, and you will have a best seller.

Books That Discuss Premise

Art Of Dramatic Writing (1946,1960) by Lajos Egri free download of Chapter 1 http://www.writerswrite.com/fiction/egri.htm

How to Write a D... Good Novel (1987) by James N. Frey http://www.amazon.com/Write-Damn-Novel-Step---Step/dp/0312010443

How to Write a D... Good Novel, II (1994) by James N. Frey http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Damn-Good-Novel/dp/0312104782

How to Write a D... Good Mystery (2004) by James N. Frey http://www.amazon.com/Key-Write-Fiction-Using-Power/dp/0312300522

Goal, Motivation, and Conflict by Debra Dixon http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Motivation-Conflict-Building-Fiction/dp/0965437108

The Key: How to Write a Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth (2000) by James N. Frey http://www.amazon.com/Key-Write-Fiction-Using-Power/dp/0312300522

Online Articles That Discuss Premise

Basics of Screenwriting, Session I, one of the contributors is Amy Dunkleberger

http://www.fathom.com/course/21701762/session1.html

Definition of Premises http://www.dictionary30.com/meaning/Premises

Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Writing by Emily McKay http://emilymckay.com/for-writers/everything-i-ever-needed-to-know/

Premise--Foundation of Storytelling (2000) by Bill Johnson: http://www.storyispromise.com/wpremise.htm

Story Premise (1998) by Kim Kay: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/novel_writing/12453

Start with a Solid Premise, ScribblePlay.com: http://scribbleplay.com/start-with-a-solid-premise/

Theme and Premise by Jeanne Vincent: http://www.jeannevincent.com/theme-and-premise-whats-the-difference/

Theme vs. Premise by Joel Haber http://funjoel.blogspot.com/2005/09/theme-vs-premise.html

Understanding Theme and Premise by Susan J. Letham http://www.anthologiesonline.com/Articles/theme_and_premise.htm

Online Articles That Discuss Emotions and Human Needs

1. Fundamental Human Needs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_human_needs.

2. What Are the Universal Themes http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081022125536AAzRGHD

3. List of feeling words: http://www.eqi.org/fw.htm

4. List of negative feeling words: http://www.eqi.org/cnfs.htm

5. List of general emotions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emotions

6. Basic Emotions by ChangingMinds.org http://changingminds.org/explanations/emotions/basic%20emotions.htm

7. Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions

8. Robert Plutchik’s Eight Primary Emotions and How to Use Them, Part 1 and Part 2 by Daniel Benjamin Smith http://dragonscanbebeaten.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/plutchiks-eight-primary-emotions-and-how-to-use-them-part-1/ and http://dragonscanbebeaten.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/plutchiks-eight-primary-emotions-and-how-to-use-them-part-2-of-2/

9. Nine Emotions from Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sedona+Method+Emotions+What+Are+the+Sedona+Method+Emotions%3F-a01073854886

10. Nine States of Emotional Empowerment by Swati Chopra
http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/Emotions/Nine_states_of_Emotional_empowerment92004.asp

11. Paul Ekman’s Big Six Emotions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ekman

12. Character Helps for Writing from SFF.Net, Julie West http://www.sff.net/people/julia.west/CALLIHOO/dtbb/emotions.htm

13. Character Helps for Writing with Intense Feelings from SFF.Net, Julie West http://www.sff.net/people/julia.west/CALLIHOO/dtbb/feelings.htm

14. Feelings Clip Art: http://www.clipartguide.com/_search_terms/feelings.html

15. Great pictures matched with emotions: http://www.feelingfacescards.com/

16. Good description and pictures of emotions: http://www.face-and-emotion.com/dataface/emotion/expression.jsp

17. Lists of emotions: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emotions

Thank you for reading this article. I am honored. I hope my explanation of premise helps you latch onto it and make your stories stronger, more meaningful, and highly marketable. I appreciate James N. Frey reading over this article to make sure that I didn't lead you astray.

Do something good for you.
Never Give Up

Joan Y. Edwards
Website: http://www.joanyedwards.com
Blog: http://www.joanyedwards.wordpress.com
"Joan's Elder Care Guide:" Release Date, June 2015 4RV Publishing