Crafting a Premise

The Premise in Subtxt is a single thematic argument that combines one Method of Plot with at least one Method of Character. By juxtapositioning both subjective (Character) and objective (Plot) elements, the Author encodes the message of their work into the structure of their story.

Story structure is ordered thought--what you want to say with your story dictates both the substance and order of the events within your story.

The Premise in Subtxt is a quick and easy way to visualize the meaning of your story:

Here, you see a Method of Character (running away) with a Method of Plot (bring everyone home). The message is clear: abandon, or give up, the motivation to run away from things and you can successfully bring everyone home.

Choosing a New Illustration

Let's say your story is not about bringing everyone home. Maybe you like the idea of writing a story about someone learning not to run away, but you want to change the Plot Method. If you tap on the underlined Illustration, Subtxt opens a selection window offering you a list of alternate choices.

Pay particular attention to how all of these Illustrations sound relatively the same. In the example above they're all about achieving or controlling something. This is a common Plot Method for many Western culture Action/Adventure films (and is why we made this initial choice the default).

Subtxt's core feature is keeping your structure intact while offering you the opportunity to tune the storytelling to your Artist's Intuition. These similar Illustrations are just one example of Subtxt maintaining the integrity of the story structure, while granting leeway for greater creativity.

You can either use this list as a source of inspiration, or as we'll see later, confirmation that you want to write something entirely different. If you see something that strikes or chord within you, or sounds like something you'd be interesting in pursuing further, tap the selection and Subtxt will make the exchange.

What if you don't want to write about someone running away, or someone else avoiding something altogether? (You'll note that all the Illustrations under this default setting sound like someone preventing or avoiding something).

To change the structure of the Character Method, you'll need to scroll down to the section entitled Key Character Element.