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How to Make a Crazy Story Idea Land for Readers: Bringing Believability to Your Premise

So you’ve got a killer idea for your book. It’s fresh, exciting, and it has that spark that you know could make for a truly compelling read. The only issue? It’s also the kind of premise that requires a pretty big leap of faith. For your idea to work, you need readers to suspend disbelief enough to accept somewhat unlikely circumstances.

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A leap of faith premise can take shape in many different ways: A protagonist doing something unthinkable or out-of-character, a grisly crime taking place in a peaceful town or in the middle of a wedding celebration, or maybe even someone faking their own death. In the case of my adult debut, I Might Be in Trouble, this premise revolves around David, a struggling author who wakes up to find his date from the night before dead in bed next to him. Desperate to bring his writing career back to its former glory, he enlists the help of his literary agent, Stacey, to get rid of the body and spin the misadventure into inspiration for his “next big novel.”

From the start, my agent and I loved this idea—it felt darkly funny, involved some pretty high stakes, and had potential for unique twists. But making this scenario believable was the real challenge. Why would these two characters risk moving a dead body instead of just calling the authorities? How would they get away with their actions if anyone were to see them dragging a dead man around? What circumstances would allow this premise to really shine, so readers would be excited to come along for the ride?

Here are some tips that worked for me, which might help you develop your own story idea:

1. Understand Your Characters Deeply

One of the best ways to sell a wild premise is to ground it in characters who have crystal-clear motivations. It’s important to keep in mind that, even if those motivations seem a bit outlandish, they must make full sense to your characters as they navigate the context in which you’ve placed them.

In I Might Be in Trouble, David is a writer with nothing left to lose. His literary career is crumbling, he’s estranged from his family and his ex, and he’s desperate to turn his luck around. For him, moving a dead body out of his apartment is a last-ditch attempt to salvage his career. Stacey, on the other hand, has a personal and professional interest in helping David (as he is one of her most important clients), and she may have killed two of her ex-husbands, which makes her much more likely to engage in criminal activities again.

As you take a look at your own characters, consider carefully who they are, what they want, and why they want it—and then tie their background and motivations to the decisions they’ll need to make to support your premise. If your story revolves around a law-abiding character who suddenly commits a crime, explore what past grievances or circumstances have led them to a breaking point. If your character must fake their own death to make your premise land, seek to understand their state of mind and the things they have to gain from such an outrageous decision. Or perhaps you’re writing about someone in a fantastical setting who chooses to leave the safety of home, in which case you must give them convincing reasons to venture out into the world.

The more you help your audience empathize with your characters’ logic, the more they’ll be willing to take that leap with them.

2. Choose Your Genre Wisely

A critical step in making your premise believable is choosing the genre that best serves it. Every genre comes with its own set of conventions and reader expectations, so stick to the one—or the blend of different ones—that will allow your story idea to shine.

Fantasy, by its very nature, demands that your audience be willing to take a leap of faith with you. But we can also consider how readers of thriller, satire, or science fiction might be willing to accept a different kind of outlandish circumstances than, say, fans of drama, romance, or literary fiction. Each genre offers a different level of leeway in what you can get away with as the storyteller, so think carefully about who will read your book and how much they’ll be prepared to suspend disbelief from the very start.

When crafting I Might Be in Trouble, I chose to write it as a dark comedy instead of a straight-up thriller. The reason was that this genre provided much more flexibility to explore the absurd decisions that I wanted my characters to make—and it allowed me to hit the perfect balance between outlandishness and heart.

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3. Utilize Your Setting to Support the Story

The setting of your story plays a crucial role in establishing believability. In The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the glitz and glamor of Old Hollywood provide the perfect backdrop for the main character’s journey as she navigates seven different marriages. In Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty, the tension among the parents and children at a kindergarten allows us to dive into the surprising dynamics that might lead to parents’ night ending in murder. In The Guest List, by Lucy Foley, the eerie, isolated island off the coast of Ireland helps foreshadow the murderous antics to come during a wedding celebration.

For I Might Be in Trouble, I chose New York City, where there’s a certain anonymity in the crowd. In other words, a place where everyone’s too self-absorbed to care much about what others are doing, which allows these two characters to go unnoticed as they carry a dead body. Had I set the story in a small town, though, where every neighbor knows everyone else’s business, David and Stacey’s escapade would’ve faced a whole different set of challenges. Think carefully about how the world around your characters can make it easier or harder for readers to get lost in your plot.

4. Watch Out for Plot Holes and Alternative Explanations

When your plot hinges on a bold premise, it’s essential to address potential plot holes before readers have a chance to stumble upon them. Spend time evaluating your story for gaps in logic. In cases where the reader might think, But why wouldn’t the character have done X instead of Y? make sure your narrative has already accounted for these alternatives.

A good way to address these potential weaknesses is to incorporate your character’s perspectives on the more “reasonable” courses of action and clarify why they reject them. For David and Stacey, the stakes are clear: If they call 911, they risk media attention that could destroy David’s fragile career and expose Stacey’s nebulous past. When you can anticipate the alternative paths readers might see and address them convincingly, your audience will be more inclined to stay with you on your chosen, wilder path.

Crafting a story around a bold premise is an exciting endeavor. But as we invite readers to step outside the ordinary, it’s our job as writers to build a world and set of circumstances that feel authentic. As long as you have fully realized characters with tangible motivations, plug potential plot holes before they unravel your story, and select a setting and genre that bolster your premise, readers will be much less likely to stop and question it—they’ll be too busy turning the pages.

Check out Daniel Aleman’s I Might Be in Trouble here:

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