SECTION TWO
THE OVERALL PICTURE—THE DIFFICULT DECISIONS OF STORYFORMING

CHAPTER 4

Storyforming from a Premise

In order to create a complete story, in order to generate a cinematic masterpiece, most of us—simple, mortal screenwriters—start with a Premise.

A Premise such as this one:

"Unconditional Sacrifice Leads To Freedom."

Okay, sounds typical. 

But what is a Premise?

A Premise is neither a universal truth nor a product of pristine logic.  It's just a writing tool.  A Premise is a single sentence that holds the thematic core of the story.  It helps us tremendously in explaining our point to producers and co-writers, works wonders for shaping our drafts, and, in the end, reflects our personal truth—the personal statement that will be fully demonstrated by the end of our movie.

Okay. Now, how do we get our Premise?

(CONTINUED)

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Based on a theory and materials developed by Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley

None of these materials may be copied or reproduced without
prior written permission from Write Brothers, Inc.

Copyright © 1994-2009 Write Brothers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Based on theories and materials developed by Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley
Dramatica is a registered trademark of Screenplay Systems Incorporated. Patent #5,734,916; #6,105,046