Good stories don't start with plots. They start with questions. Your background in philosophy and criminology is a goldmine for these kinds of questions, which we'll call 'thematic triggers'. Forget searching for a story; instead, look for a compelling 'what if' scenario that pokes at a moral or social norm you find interesting.

Think about the dilemmas at the heart of your fields. For example, you might ponder the abstract question, 'Is justice always moral?' This is a powerful philosophical starting point, but it's not a story. To make it a story, we need to make it personal and specific. We need to ground the abstract idea in a concrete situation.

Suddenly, the abstract question has a face and a potential conflict. We’ve converted a philosophical dilemma into a narrative hook. This is the engine of your story. Your professional experience is full of these potential engines. Think of a case, a theory, or an ethical grey area you've encountered. What's the 'what if' that keeps you thinking about it? That's your starting point.

Once you have that narrative hook, you can build it into a solid premise. A premise is a single sentence that summarises the core of your story. It's your compass. A simple formula can help you structure it:

Let's apply this to our parole officer example, which started with the theme 'Is justice always moral?'

Combine these elements, and you get a premise: A by-the-book parole officer's belief in the system is tested when their new charge, a brilliant hacker, illegally exposes a vast conspiracy, forcing the officer to decide whether to uphold the law or pursue a higher moral justice.

This sentence gives you everything you need. It establishes the main character, their objective, the central conflict, and the story's thematic heart. It provides a clear direction for your narrative without getting bogged down in plot details. Before you write a single page of a script, you should be able to articulate your idea this clearly.