At the heart of every story is an inequity, an imbalance.
Inequity creates conflict.
The Dramatica ways to look at inequity are the ones presented in the software and theory. Namely, they are built into terms like problem, issue, concern, goal, throughline, consequence, everything in Dramatica. As the conflict ripples upward through the Dramatica model, it appears to get larger and less specific, similar to the size and shape of the rings ripples make when you disturb water. The non-Dramatica way to look at inequity can be useful too. The non-Dramatica use is the more traditional way of looking at inequity which is close to the idea of premise.