The Importance of Premise

I've been reading about the importance of a novel having a premise today. As James N. Frey puts it in How To Write A Damn Good Novel: writing a story without a premise is like rowing a boat without oars.

So what is a premise?

Well, Mr Frey thinks it's

• the love in a marriage
• the point you have to prove
• the reason you are writing what you are writing
• the raison d'être of your novel

Basically, the premise holds the author to his/her subject, contends Mr Frey.

Example premises?

• Premarital sex leads to disaster
• Premarital sex leads to bliss

You will see that premises are clearly not universal truths; they must be true in the novel, though.

Not everyone agrees with the need for a premise, and I am in no position to argue one way or another about it.

However, having said that, if you think of a premise as the answer to the question "what if...?" or a statement as to what happens to the characters as a result of the core conflict in the story. If you can do that, then I think you will agree that the notion of a premise has its uses. This is especially so, actually, when you consider that knowing the premise helps the writer choose what to include in a novel, as well as what to omit.

My novel shall have a premise.