Powerful Premise: Writing the Irresistible

The Red Sneaker Writers #6

by William Bernhardt

Why do some books attract readers while others don’t? What are the essential qualities of an irresistible read, a story people can't wait to start? And what’s the secret to attracting a literary agent or publishing deal? The answer to all three questions Premise. A powerful premise is what separates ordinary novels from bestsellers. William Bernhardt explains the essential elements of breakout books, stories that reel in readers and attract serious attention. He discusses all the essential originality, high stakes, believability, inescapable conflict, emotional appeal, and others. Plus, in the final chapter, Bernhardt explains how to turn your powerful premise into a winning pitch to attract agents and editors. William Bernhardt is the bestselling author of more than thirty books, including the blockbuster Ben Kincaid novels and The Final Case of Eliot Ness, currently in production as an NBC miniseries. Bernhardt is also one of the most sought-after writing instructors in the nation. He is the only person to have received the Southern Writers Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (U Penn) and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (OSU), which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." The Red Sneaker Writing Center is dedicated to helping writers achieve their literary goals. What’s a red sneaker writer? A committed writer seeking useful instruction and guidance rather than obfuscation and attitude. Red sneakers get the job done and so do red sneaker writers, by paying close attention to their art and craft, committing to hard work, and never quitting. Are you a red sneaker writer? If so, this book is for you.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 6, 2015

About the author

William Bernhardt is the author of over sixty books, including the bestselling Daniel Pike and Ben Kincaid legal thrillers, the historical novels Challengers of the Dust and Nemesis, three books of poetry, and the ten Red Sneaker books on fiction writing.

In addition, Bernhardt founded the Red Sneaker Writers Center to mentor aspiring writers. The Center hosts an annual writers conference (WriterCon), small-group seminars, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-weekly podcast. More than three dozen of Bernhardt’s students have subsequently published with major houses. He is also the owner of Balkan Press, which publishes poetry and fiction as well as the literary journal Conclave.

Bernhardt has received the Southern Writers Guild’s Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (University of Pennsylvania) and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (Oklahoma State), which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." He has been nominated for the Oklahoma Book Award eighteen times in three different categories, and has won the award twice. Library Journal called him “the master of the courtroom drama.” The Vancouver Sun called him “the American equivalent of P.G. Wodehouse and John Mortimer.”

In addition to his novels and poetry, he has written plays, a musical (book and score), humor, children stories, biography, and puzzles. He has edited two anthologies (Legal Briefs and Natural Suspect) as fundraisers for The Nature Conservancy and the Children’s Legal Defense Fund. OSU named him “Oklahoma’s Renaissance Man.”

In his spare time, he has enjoyed surfing, digging for dinosaurs, trekking through the Himalayas, paragliding, scuba diving, caving, zip-lining over the canopy of the Costa Rican rain forest, and jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. In 2013, he became a Jeopardy! champion winning over $20,000.

When Bernhardt delivered the keynote address at the San Francisco Writers Conference, chairman Michael Larsen noted that in addition to penning novels, Bernhardt can “write a sonnet, play a sonata, plant a garden, try a lawsuit, teach a class, cook a gourmet meal, beat you at Scrabble, and work the New York Times crossword in under five minutes.”

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful

I love the red sneaker series. This one is packed with invaluable information to beef up any story. On to the next one!

[Joel Cutter]

The entire Red Sneaker series is very accessible for new novel writers and helped me get my first novel from idea to polished, published product. I recommend it for anyone who is trying to write their first novel or wants to. This book is perhaps the most important one I ever read from Bernhardt, because a powerful premise was something lacking prior to reading it, but is now an element I am routinely complimented for.

[Gail Baugniet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Red Sneakers tutorial

Powerful Premise is not just about coming up with a great idea for a book but about expanding and enriching that idea to hook readers with a powerful story. There's even a segment on writing a synopsis, something I find as daunting as completing a first draft.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Focuses on the importance of having a good premise before you start writing.

Information on what features make a good premise. So many books are published every year that you have to think of something unique to catch the reader's attention. You want him to take it off the shelf and start reading it.

[Peggy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read!

As a new writer this book has proven to be invaluable To me. Even though I had an understanding of the concept of premise Mr. Bernhardt Explain it to the point that I fully and completely understand how, when and where it works and the pitfalls of mistakes new writers make. He gives you clear road map to creating a great premise and doing it
right.
L

[Elena Caterina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend this series and this book. Quite helpful in writing my pitch and book blurb. It also offers a lot of insight so one can delve further into their story.

[Kay]

Quick and to the point, Bernhardt reads his own work in an engaging manner without any pretentiousness. The individual topics covered are essential for novelists and he has no problem with telling the listener how to write genre fiction that could be a powerful read as well as possibly commercially successful.

The only reason this short book took me a week was I kept rewinding to ensure I wasn't missing an important point as I walked to work. This is definitely a book chock-full of nuggets of advice for writers.

I not only want the rest of the books in this series, but I also want them all as ebooks in order to highlight passages and have the written exercises in front of me.

This will be a reread every time I start a new novel or any other work of fiction.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this series--each book is quick and to the point, and covers a specific aspect of writing fiction. However, this particular book was a little less helpful to me than the others.

I especially would have liked examples of possible one-minute pitches for famous books in the last chapter. There is one made-up example, but I would have like to see how a real book (hopefully one I'm familiar with) converts to a brief pitch. But he mostly only gives a few obvious DOs (practice your pitch, be yourself, be friendly) and obvious DON'Ts (don't be gimmicky, don't count on memorability making up for your book's content, etc.)

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, good book to remind you to keep your head in the premise game (which often looks like mental wandering). It will make your stories better. I am a big fan of Bernhardt's books in general, especially his writing courses.


Just a note though- the 9/11 reference/example is really...odd. "The worst thing to happen on American soil" (umm, slavery? Native American slaughter? etc.?) followed by vaguely Islamophobic/homophobic comments...not good.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do some books attract readers while others don’t? What are the essential qualities of an irresistible read, a story people can't wait to start? And what’s the secret to attracting a literary agent or publishing deal? The answer to all three questions is: Premise.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been taking a free screenwriting class through futurelearn.com and I thought this little book, Powerful Premise: Writing the Irresistible, might help. It certainly has a lot of good ideas packed into a small space, plus some helpful tips on pitching your book once it's finished.

[Abigail Sands · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Red Sneaker Writer's Series is an excellent resource for writers. Easy to understand and easy application.

[P.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gets to the necessary without all the blah blah and fluff. Very helpful, quick read.

FTC stuff; I received this book through a Goodreads, Firstreads contest.

[Rachel Ellyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good advice.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, clear and practical. Good book on writing novels.

[B. W. Wilhelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quick read in the Red Sneaker series. Definitely makes me want to pick up the others.