Hey guys, I'm currently in the character development process of an urban fantasy novel. I'm brand new to writing so go easy on me . I wish for this story to be premise-driven, but am unsure as to whether my current premise is going to carry the story and offer sufficient conflict. Please take the time to evaluate my premise and offer any suggestions and opinions as to how it might be bulked up, changed, or maybe even kept as is. Here it is: Premise: “Pursuit of one's dream grants purpose to life.”
Ok, so this is the theme which will serve as the tone and reason for your story. Now your object is to determine how you wish to show this. Does your MC get a clean ride from start to finish? Are there obstacles to overcome? Is the theme shown through the inverse, by not following one's dreams, thus lacking purpose? Is there are a combination of the aforementioned? What direction do you see the MC taking? How about secondary or ancillary characters? How does that direction allow/force the character(s) to grow in a way that brings the theme to fruition? The idea that you present: "Pursuit of one's dreams grants purpose to life" is not something that in and of itself that needs to be "bulked up" the way one would think of that in terms of the plot or character building. Think of this more as the reason why you are writing the story.
Mmm usually the premise can have the big idea conflict but the characters are what's going to show you the detailed conflict and journey. It's the difference between prison escape movies. Every single one of them can have the same goal - escape, same ideas - lets tunnel out - but how they do it - from Escape to Alcatraz to Shawshank Redemption to even The Great Escape - every character is going to change the story and make it their own. It's the little details, choices, obstacles, struggles, small victories that are going to make your character and your story.
First of all, thanks for your willingness to help me out! Ok let me give a bit more background so I might better explain my dilemma. The MC is a 13 year-old boy who lives in a world that's exactly like ours, an alternate reality, perhaps. He somehow unlocks an ancient power that resides within all human beings that only few in the world know about. Both the good and bad factions of this story become aware of this "change in energy" present in the world, caused by our MC's unlocking of said energy. Bad faction gets to him first and kills his mom, his only known relative, to burn his bridges, so to speak. MC refuses to join their ranks so they try to take him by force. Good faction shows up and offers MC safe haven. He refuses, still stricken by grief. The good faction, knowing MC's potential, gives him time and later returns to pick him up. Having little left in life without his mother, the MC reluctantly agrees to go with them. The bulk of the story will be about the MC's character development from this point on, his growth. How he learns to lean into his greatness. I wish to demonstrate this through his competitive training for "The Games," an arena-based game that implements the full breadth of the magic of this universe. MC will learn much about himself through training, competition, and dialogue with other characters that he admires. There will be a love interest in the story, as well as ancillary characters and, of course, the antagonist, who juxtaposes the premise my protagonist is trying to prove. I want the climax to go down at the finals of "The Games." MC and love interest are trying to win. Maybe they do win, maybe they don't. I'm not sure yet. While the finals are going, the enemy faction stages an assassination on the good faction's leader, this will drive the overarching storyline to the next book. Alas, we come to my problem. How do I fit in my premise in a way to still have the ending be one of bitter sweetness and doesn't get too distracted from the main message I'm trying to present through my premise?
