Fiction University
blog.janicehardy.com › 2013 › 05 › the-difference-between-idea-premise-and.html
Fiction University: The Difference Between Idea, Premise, Plot, and Story
The premise is a general description of the story you plan to tell, and what the story is about. A key factor in a good premise is a suggestion of the conflict that will drive the plot.
Good Story Company
goodstorycompany.com › blog › premise-vs-plot
Premise vs Plot — Good Story Company
July 31, 2023 - A book needs a beginning, middle, and end. In weighing whether you have a great premise vs. plot, take a look at how quickly you can sum up your concept. Of course, it’s great to have a one-line description, but does your premise go beyond that? The first thing a plot needs is a character.
Videos
PLOT vs. PREMISE // my favorite writing "advice"
05:00
The #1 way to create a PREMISE for your story (and why it works ...
17:06
Ep. 560: The Main Reason Your Story's Premise Is Important - YouTube
Ep. 390: Premise Vs. Plot with Sarah Adler
Understanding Plot, Premise, and Theme in Writing
First Second Books
firstsecondbooks.com › home › behind the scenes
The Premise vs. The Plot - First Second Books
March 21, 2024 - Nonfiction is pretty easy to grok, premise-wise.) The premise and the plot of a book are two different things. The premise is the concept of the book. The plot, on the other hand, is what happens in the book — all the [...]
No Film School
nofilmschool.com › difference-between-story-plot-premise
Story vs. Plot vs. Premise: The Core Differences Every Writer Should Know | No Film School
November 13, 2025 - The main constituents of a good premise: the main character, their goal, and the central conflict. Okay, let’s take a look at a few examples of the differences between story, plot, and premise.
Medium
medium.com › writing-break › story-vs-plot-vs-premise-6c3bf1c810f7
Story vs Plot vs Premise. Write the perfect premise | by Editor Rosemi | Writing Break | Medium
July 26, 2023 - While we often use plot and story interchangeably, strictly speaking, plot and story in literature are not interchangeable terms. An easy way to remember the difference is that story is internal and plot is external. Going further,
Reddit
reddit.com › r/fireemblem › premise, plot, story
r/fireemblem on Reddit: Premise, Plot, Story
August 4, 2023 -
So to me these words all mean something different. Premise is the basic idea of something. Plot are the basic points of a story that it needs to hit. Story is how the plot comes together, the twists and turns it takes betweens the basic plot to form something bigger than a checklist of what needs to happen.
In FE the basic premise of the games are often MC must reconquer home for evil dude. The plot points are usually: MC's home is conquered, MC makes allies, MC learns inportant history about the world, and MC is successful in reconquering their home.
Marth, Roy, the Twins, Ike, Chrom, Michiah, Alear, they all fit into this for me (I think Lief does too but that is the only mainline game I haven't played, also Dimitri does too since in AM he isn't king and does have to reconquer it from Cornelia and the Empire).
So my question is what do you all think of this basic premise/plot combo and what is you favorite story told here? I think it's interesting that even though so many games follow this formula, none of these games feel the same to play.
Top answer 1 of 5
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I would say that the things that comprise a story are pitch, plot, characters, world building, and presentation. Pitch matches pretty much just what you said for premise, the super bare bones of a story that need to be expanded into a full story. Like you're writing a super quick paragraph on the story as a summary to pitch to your boss World building is how expansive and real your setting feels. Ideally, the world should feel like a place that events could reasonably happen in, and the world isn't just there for the sake of playing out the story. Characters are pretty self explanatory, but the personality of each character, the interactions they have with other characters, their reactions to events happening, etc. Stuff that you could technically remove from the story and the game would still make sense. Plot is the events of the story. What actually happens that ties everything together. If you made a map, and tracked the journey of the characters by writing everything that happened to them at each location, that's what I would consider a plot. And presentation is how all of this information is communicated to the player. If it's done through extensive cutscenes, subtle environmental clues to pick up on, support conversations, or anything else, it fits into the presentation category. Usually you don't need all of these elements to make for a compelling story. For example, Binding Blade's presentation is awful, with the entire story being Merlinus saying something incredibly stupid, followed by Roy looking like a genius by saying something slightly less stupid. But it does a great job building a sensible world, and setting up some excellent characters in supports, that you can make the argument that it has a good story.
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For me, how the three break down are along the lines of: Premise is the ideas of the story. Plot (sometimes known as capital P Plot) are the story points that you put into a summary. The main centre beats. In FE's case, it would exclude stuff like supports, convos, etc. Story is just kinda a catchall to describe the general story experience. I feel sometimes people put too much weight in trying to be reductive. You see it most with the whole, "Every FE story is the same defeat the evil dragon." If you try to reduce every story to being the same then of course you would say they are all the same, but that ignores everything else since stories are more than just summaries. In general, I am also a person who really values ideas and premises even if they might not always be delivered elegantly. I can still walk away from a work thinking fondly if I still find value and success in it achieving its ideas and themes. The stories I don't like are the ones that I find that are not able to do that. In FE's case, my favourite stories are the ones in the Jugdral and Tellius games which kinda is a basic answer since they're often touted as the best. FE4 is just so captivating. It is not as robust as the modern games are in story content, but the space it leaves out is also part of the charm. It allows you to fill the space yourself in your mind which creates a lot of Jugdral brain-poisoning. A lot of people praise the first half, but I also really like the second half because they are two pieces of a whole story and personally the second half holds a lot of that resolution of ideas that I really like. FE5 has a really strong narrative I like and main theme present throughout its plot and characters. A strength for many of my favourite stories is how the gameplay interconnects with the story to create a really great experience and FE5 is really strong in that department. FE9/10 tell this grand narrative over the course of two games. When the payoff comes in RD, it hits really hard. Bit of an unconventional answer but I also like Engage a lot for its story because I do really like its ideas and themes. It really resonated with me so when the game ended, I walked away really fondly. This isn't to mention the parts of the other games' stories I like. FE6 has really great support for its cast and I really like the world of Arachnea.
Wordpress
museinpocketpeninhand.wordpress.com › 2018 › 09 › 10 › writingnotebook-plot-vs-premise-mapping-out-your-novel
#WritingNotebook: Plot vs Premise – Mapping Out Your Novel
June 30, 2021 - A premise sets up the characters and setting, and reveals the genre of the story. But plot introduces the conflict and sets up the stakes.
Captivate
writingbreak.captivate.fm › episode › story-vs-plot-vs-premise
The Difference between Story, Plot, and Premise - Writing Break
Remember, plot is your character's physical journey and story is your character's emotional journey. Now, we move on to the premise.
Whisleredits
whisleredits.com › blog › b › premise-vs-plot-dont-let-your-story-idea-fizzle-out
Premise vs. Plot: Don’t Let Your Story Idea Fizzle Out
Plot = how the writer chooses to unveil the consequences of that situation on the characters · Premise and plot aren’t interchangeable.
Writers in the Storm
writersinthestormblog.com › home › writing craft › a premise isn’t a plot. but it’s a good start.
A Premise Isn’t a Plot. But it’s a Good Start.
December 22, 2024 - A premise novel frequently has multiple point of view characters (and a lot of them) because it's trying to show the idea from all sides. But when you try to identify the protagonist, you can’t. There’s no clear character at the center of the story. Since there’s no protagonist driving the plot, there are no goals to pursue or conflicts to resolve.
Bridge to Story
bridgetostory.com › classes › lessons › lesson › 47 › premise-vs.-plot
Premise vs. Plot | Bridge to Story
A premise is an idea that asks, “What if…?” A plot is your answer to that first “What if?” question and any that follow.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/screenwriting › [question] what is the difference between a premise and synopsis for your screenplay?
r/Screenwriting on Reddit: [question] What is the difference between a Premise and Synopsis for your screenplay?
November 28, 2017 -
When someone asks me for either/or, I assume it's the same thing. Generally, I keep the Synopsis 5 sentences or less. Thank you.
Top answer 1 of 3
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You shouldn't give away your ending in your premise. Synopsis should be a description of the whole film. The premise just the setup.
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A premise is something you can say very quickly: A rookie narcotics detective goes out on his first day of training with a veteran detective and learns far more in one day than he ever bargained for. (Training Day) That's even shorter than a logline. It's just a quick statement of the setup. A synopsis of the entire screen story is much longer... it could be a whole page.
Nelsonagency
nelsonagency.com › 2021 › 08 › premise-plot-prose-what-happens-when-one-is-missing
Premise, Plot, Prose: What Happens When One Is Missing? - Nelson Literary Agency
It’s about making connections and ensuring that every character, scene, description, internalization, line of dialogue, etc., has a job to do and earns its real estate on the page. Even pantsing (writing by the seat of one’s pants) is a method of plotting—pantsers, too, must eventually arrive at a structure that the human brain recognizes as “story.” It’s just that a pantser’s process is to get there by writing multiple drafts. Agents will read further into this type of manuscript than they will the previous type. If you’ve hooked them with a great premise and masterful prose, then they’re more likely to stick with your story to see if the plot is sound—if the story hangs together and if you nailed the landing.
Jericho Writers
jerichowriters.com › home › what is a premise in writing? start your story strong
What Is A Premise In Writing? Start Your Story Strong – Jericho Writers
May 9, 2025 - Getting it right is crucial if ... one chance to make a good first impression’. A solid premise should express the plot of your story in a one or two-sentence statement....
Magicalwords
magicalwords.net › carrie-ryan › distinguishing-between-plot-and-premise
Distinguishing between Plot and Premise
April 2, 2012 - I'm gonna put my shoulders back and look you straight in the eye · There’s a difference between the premise of a book and the plot and it’s important to be aware of the distinctions between the two. The premise is the general idea — the one line summary you give to someone who asks, ...
Liz Verity
lizverity.com › home › posts › story premise: what it is and what it isn’t
Story Premise: What It Is and What It Isn't - Liz Verity
June 25, 2024 - Today, we’re going to explore what a premise really is and how it helps writers create their stories. A premise is the basis of an argument, or, in literary terms, the basis of a story. It’s the underlying foundation of a tale.
MasterClass
masterclass.com › articles › how-to-ensure-your-story-has-a-strong-premise
How to Ensure Your Story Has a Strong Premise - 2026 - MasterClass
Story premises serve as both a hook for the reader and a guiding light for the writer, providing a storytelling roadmap from the first page to the last. ... A story’s premise is the foundational idea that expresses the plot in simple terms.
Whisler Edits
whisleredits.com › blog › premise-vs-plot-dont-let-your-story-idea-fizzle-out
Premise vs. Plot: Don’t Let Your Story Idea Fizzle Out — Whisler Edits
January 30, 2024 - Plot = how the writer chooses to unveil the consequences of that situation on the characters · Premise and plot aren’t interchangeable.
Kidlit
kidlit.com › home › how to write and publish children’s books › query letter plot pitch: premise vs plot
Query Letter Plot Pitch: Premise vs Plot | Kidlit
January 27, 2023 - You CAN have a gay character who is in love with her best friend, a friend who has recently broken up with her boyfriend, and now has to decide whether to help her best friend heal or to make a move before the upcoming prom, because she hears the ex is trying to make a comeback. That’s a plot. Keep fiction premise vs plot in mind when you’re thinking about your book strategy.
StudioBinder
studiobinder.com › scriptwriting › what is the premise of a story — definition and examples
What is the Premise of a Story — Definition and Examples
May 28, 2025 - A premise is the central concept of a story expressed as simply as possible. A good premise combines a story’s central character, their motivation or goal, the world, and the obstacles they face within one to two sentences.