まろ's writing classroom: Lesson 2 [Preparing homework] Establishing the premise

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The author of this article まろ is the author of the light novel “Southern Cross”. He hopes to use his own experience to help more friends write good stories. Thank you for authorizing the “Content Hacker” website to reprint it. Thank you hereby.

Plays are about writing human stories, so let’s start with the desires and beliefs that drive people’s hearts.

Recently, netizens have been asking me about “how to write good novels”. Therefore, I organized my experience in writing light novels into 34 themes, divided into three stages: [Preparation Assignment], [Plot Process] and [Writing Management].

Whether you want to write a novel, a biography, or a business history, these articles can help you. No matter what your writing level is, I will guide you through the two stages of [preparation] and [plot flow] to complete a piece of work. Let’s get started now!

All eternal things are beyond the reach of the naked eye and must be felt with the “heart”.

After reading [Lesson 1: Adjustment of Mood] (click to read), we are going to start weaving the story. You must have a story you want to write, or a story you must write because of work needs. Please practice with me!

Strangely enough, friends who are interested in writing often ask me, “Writing a story should you start with characters or worldview?” The high frequency and the number of times make me think this is some kind of myth or urban legend. Therefore, I specially separated the theme of “premise” because it is the soul of the play. From an engineering-oriented thinking, the same premise can be applied to different characters and world views, so it is the highest priority item among the story elements, and it is also the most important item for me.

Although we are only in the second lesson now, it should be a very simple subject in theory, but “establishing the premise” is one of the most difficult subjects in dramas, and perhaps even the most difficult element to judge whether it is good or bad. The “premise” directly determines the depth of the work (it can be said to be philosophical), which almost entirely depends on the author’s own experience. Therefore, the conduct of this class will be special. I will provide three different levels of premise establishment methods. Please choose which state you want to go to based on your own experience; it doesn’t matter even if you can only experience the most basic state, you can still construct a complete story.

The premise is the value you want to convey, which can be roughly divided into two types: “desire” and “belief.” What desire or belief forces your character to leave their comfort zone and triggers a chain of events?

So, let’s start with the most basic “desire”! I think everyone must have desires, and as an author, to some extent, you project your own desires onto the characters and present them nakedly to your readers. So if you are very worried that works with “desire” as the core will cause your friends to look at you differently, I suggest you choose a pen name and say to your friends, “This is written by a strong friend of mine. Let me share it with you.”

If you think you have no desire, but still want to write a story (although I think this psychological state is a bit strange), you can imagine what actions you will take when the people and things you care about most are robbed/stolen?

For example: the bento main dish you specially planned to enjoy slowly disappeared, the private money you secretly saved disappeared, and your favorite bag or doll was thrown away. Even more cruel, for example, your long-term boyfriend and girlfriend are hacked away by your best friend. If you find that the emotions triggered by a certain event can make you crazy or even collapse, then congratulations, you have found the premise that is most suitable for you to exaggerate.

Of course, to complete a story with a rhyme, you also need some plot structure and narrative skills, otherwise it will be similar to the complaint articles that are flooded on social networking sites. But at this stage, as long as you have this level of prerequisites, it is enough.

At the end of this paragraph, please think about what factors will lead to you or your character taking action in an attempt to change? If you are writing about a celebrity or a company, also ask your clients or founders of the company, what made you want to do something different or start a company?

In the next stage, we have to move on to the “faith” part. Not everyone has faith, so if you find that you don’t quite understand the content of this paragraph (and the next paragraph), don’t worry, just read it. As long as you continue to hone your observation skills and listen to your heart, one day you will understand.

Beliefs can prompt us to take counter-intuitive and unreasonable actions. Therefore, stories with beliefs as the core are very important for the characters to implement their beliefs, otherwise they will become superficial and pretentious.

I think in terms of basic themes of faith, there is nothing more moving than self-sacrifice. For example, the movie “Dracula: The Legend of Eternal Damnation” (Dracula Untold is a good example. The protagonist of the story, Vlad III, used dark power to become a vampire in order to protect his wife, children and citizens from the invasion of the Turkish army. Such a premise gives vampire stories a whole new depth and subverts established stereotypes.

Another movie that is also very interesting is John Woo’s masterpiece “Face/Off”. In order to eradicate criminal forces, federal investigator Sean exchanges faces with the gang leader Custer who is in a vegetative state. Unexpectedly, Custer woke up later and killed everyone who knew about it, and the two really exchanged identities.

These huge and dangerous sacrifices for the sake of a higher vision deeply affect us as ordinary people in the city. Those lofty and even holy goals and visions can trigger many emotions. Therefore, if you want to build a premise with faith, you must first have faith yourself and understand why you are willing to devote yourself to the faith at the expense of yourself. Only then can you express this emotion through the character.

In my mind, the highest-level premise requires a bit of paranoia, dystopia, and the qualities of a philosopher to understand, and that is “paradox and big question.” If these premises are not woven into a complete story, and if you ask people directly, you will probably get the reaction of “Why do you think about such a problem?” “You are full and too busy to think about such things, right?” Because this kind of hypothetical problem is usually divorced from the reality of ordinary people and is hidden in the dark side of the world. It is not easy for ordinary people to encounter this kind of thing, and the disadvantaged groups who encounter this kind of thing have no way to speak out. If they are not determined to face the darkness and hope that the world can be renewed, they probably will not care about these philosophical issues.

For example, the movie “National Killing Day” series, especially the second part “[National Killing Day: Lawless]” (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9C%8B%E5%AE% 9A%E6%AE%BA%E6%88%AE%E6%97%A5%EF%BC%9A%E7%84%A1%E6%B3%95%E7%84%A1%E5%A4%A9)》(The Purge: Anarchy). This story constructs a rather philosophical premise: “If the weak in society can be legally removed, will the entire society be stronger?” If you think intuitively, the answer may be “yes.” But this immediately raises the next question: “Who defines the weak in society? The mentally and physically handicapped? The poor? The homeless?”

This type of subject aims to uncover the scars of utilitarianism. On the surface, all the beautiful world is actually built on the brainwashing and lies of those in power. I think this is the charm of this subject.

Another very interesting work is the comic work “[Death Notice]” by Japanese creator Genro Maze (https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E6%AD%BB%E4%BA%A1%E9%A0%90%E5%91%8A) “(イキガミ), the premise of the story is “If people have a one-thousandth chance of being forced to die in their prime, will they appreciate the value of life?” This is really a very shocking assumption. If the author had not completed the discussion of both pros and cons, it would be easy to be overwhelmed by negative comments from readers.

As Yohei Sadoshima said: “We create the world with ‘hypotheses’.”

However, please pay special attention to it. Paradoxes and big questions are very likely to cause you to question life and even everything in the universe, so be sure to stop it in moderation. If you feel stuck in an emotion that you can’t escape from, seek help from a psychosomatic doctor.

At this point in the writing, I have briefly discussed “Desire”, “Belief” and “Paradox and Big Questions”. You may feel that stories or characters centered on “desire” seem superficial? In fact, it is not entirely true. Sometimes the boundaries between desires and beliefs are very blurred. A character may have desires and beliefs at the same time. It usually depends on the proportion of self-interest and altruism. Moreover, “desire” and “belief” have their own hierarchical relationship. We can refer to Maslow’s “Five Levels of Human Needs” theory: [](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhUR85ziTYq6y0561eOGXF9FpZRoPBAvI9XoAGwPxStbaj6 EwePj6OPeHRAxySjOZJxn9Ny7jMitXouWjPnruRsvFiIO6IJFM3J_4Fl2oJ6A4yUBJh0afa4HIUthdYo5i2GnkSOircL0k/s1600/%25E9%25A 6%25AC%25E6%2596%25AF%25E6%25B4%259B%25E7%259A%2584%25E3%2580%258A%25E4%25BA%25BA%25E9%25A1%259E%25E9%259C%258 0%25E6%25B1%2582%25E4%25BA%2594%25E5%25B1%25A4%25E6%25AC%25A1%25E3%2580%258B%25E7%2590%2586%25E8%25AB%2596.png)

You can cut it from the middle of “social needs”. The lower you go, the closer you are to desire, and the higher you go, the closer you are to belief. So belief is definitely superimposed on desire, depending on which level you want to focus the narrative.

In terms of corporate philosophy, it must be relatively high-level. If you want to write a celebrity biography or corporate history, it is best to first look for applicable premises from celebrity quotes, for example:

Musk: “We don’t set up a company for the sake of building a company, but we really want to use the company to solve problems.”

Jobs: “Are you going to continue selling sugar water for the rest of your life, or are you going to seize the opportunity to change the world?”

If your client really hasn’t thought about these things… please help him think about it (wry smile).

Coming to the end of this class, we want to talk about how to construct a unique and reader-acceptable premise, as the book “Let the hero save the cat first” says:

Give me something different! But don’t be completely different!

To give a simple example, if you tell a friend, “I started a business and am selling Biliba Lihong,” your friend may be surprised; but if you say, “I am selling Biliba Lihong flavored chicken steak,” your friend may laugh and say, “What kind of flavor is this!?” So you have to add somewhat contrasting elements to the premises that most people can accept (desires, emotions, beliefs, etc.), and then find a way to give a good reason. Let’s actually construct a simple premise, down to the most basic character setting:

1. To help friends through difficult times.

2． A boy tries to help his childhood sweetheart through difficult times.

3. A boy dressed up as King Kong Barbie in order to help his childhood sweetheart get through trouble.

4. In order to help his childhood sweetheart, a boy dressed up as King Kong Barbie and pretended to be his best friend to fend off the stalker.

It doesn’t matter what the boy and the girl look like. The point is that the boy dresses up as a girl for the girl and turns into King Kong Barbie. It’s very interesting (laughing). How to reasonably explain why the girl made this request and why the boy complied? This is undoubtedly the focus of the next two lessons, “Character Setting” and “Creating Conflict”!

In my own work “Southern Cross”, the heroine Yizhi is obsessed with “I want to be happy” because of her own environmental factors. This is both a desire and a belief, so I gave her two kind-hearted and dedicated lovers to sublimate her desire into belief in this painful and entangled process.

Please prepare your story premise after class so that you can proceed to the “Character Setting” unit! If you have any thoughts and suggestions about this article, please feel free to write to maro.huang@hukaka.com and I will reply to you personally. See you next time in [Lesson 3: Character Setting (Part 1) - Individual Characters]! (Click to read)

If you are interested, here is further reading for this class:

• “Dracula Untold”

• “Face/Off”

• “National Killing Day: Lawless” (The Purge: Anarchy)

• “Death Notice” (イキガミ)

• Maslow’s “Five Levels of Human Needs” Theory

• [“We use “hypotheses” to create the world: Japan’s multi-million best-selling genius Sadoshima Yuhei, the miraculous rules that repeatedly make the impossible possible”] (https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010750081)

• “Let the Hero Save the Cat First: The Only Movie Screenwriting Guide You’ll Need in Your Life”

• “Philosophical Chicken Cake: Entertainment Snacks for Brain-Using Paranoia”

• My humble work “Southern Cross 1”

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Further reading

• Misaki’s Writing Classroom: Lesson 7 [Plot Process] Prologue (Part 2)
• Misaki’s Writing Classroom: Lesson 7 [Plot Process] Prologue (Part 2)
• Misaki’s Writing Classroom: Lesson 7 [Plot Process] Prologue (Part 1)

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