Dramatica Pro
The Ultimate Writer's  Companion

Dramatica  Pro
Cooltech Review by Michelle Alexandria

So you want to start writing that great American screenplay, or novel, but only have a kernel of an idea, but don't have any idea of where you want to go, or how to flesh it out.  Don't worry that's where Dramatica Pro comes into play. Dramatica Pro is a  writing to that guides you through the story building process from start to finish.

As you go through the system, it presents you with numerous questions relating to your story. It prompts you to answer a 250  questions in the "quick start" setup, or for a more detailed screenplay it'll  ask you literally thousands of questions that will help you think about your story, plot, and characters from every conceivable angle.

If you run into the dreaded 2nd act problems,  there's a unique feature called "spin the wheel" which will randomly shuffle some of your earlier responses. So for instance if you originally wanted your main character to be the quit stoic type who remains rigid throughout the entire  story, if you spin the wheel it may turn your character into someone who grows and changes by the end. As you go through your story creation process you can  run a series of pre-defined reports, up to 250. These reports will give you  complete psychological profiles of all your characters.

Dramatica Pro is more than a piece of story  building software, it's a whole new discipline that's broken out into five separate areas:

The Story Mind, The Objective  Storyline, The Main Character Storyline, The Obstacle Character, and The Subjective Storyline.

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The Story Mind

The one unique concept that sets Dramatica apart from all other theories is the concept that every complete story is a model of the mind's problem solving process. To fully explore any  issue, an author has to examine all possible solutions to that issue and make an  argument to prove to an audience that the author's way is best.

If you leave out a part of that argument or diverge from the point, your story will have plot holes or inconsistencies. Once you have covered every angle in your argument, you've  mapped all the ways an audience might look at that problem and, therefore, all the ways anyone might look at that problem. In short, you have created a  map of the mind's problem solving process.

Characters, Plot, and Theme are the  thoughts of this Story Mind made tangible. An audience can see them and learn. When a story fully develops this model of the mind, we call it a Grand Argument Story because it addresses the problem from all sides.

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The Objective Storyline

An audience is given two principal views of this Story Mind. The first is the Objective View, so called because it is a  dispassionate look at the issues of the story.

Imagine the argument of a story as a battle  between two armies. The Objective View is like that of a General on a hill overlooking the battle. The General focuses on the unfolding strategies and sees  the soldiers not by name but by their function on the field: foot soldier,  grenadier, cavalryman, scout. The General may care very much for the soldiers, but must  concentrate on the events as they unfold. The Objective Storyline is often thought of as plot, but as we shall see later, plot is so much more!

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The Main Character Storyline

There is a second view of the battle provided to the audience: that of the soldier in the trenches. Instead of looking at the Story Mind from the outside, what if that Story Mind were our own? That is what happens when we become a soldier on the field: we identify with the Main Character of the story.

Through the Main Character we  experience the battle as if we were actually participating in it. We are much  more concerned with what is happening immediately around us than we are for the  larger strategies that are really too big to see. This is the personal argument of the story as experienced through the Main Character Storyline.

As we shall explore shortly, the Main  Character doesn't have to be the soldier leading the charge in the battle as a  whole. Our Main Character might be any of the soldiers on the field: the cook, the medic, the bugler, or even the recruit cowering in the bushes.

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The Obstacle Character Storyline

For a moment, keep yourself in the shoes of the Main Character. You are right in the middle of the story's battle.  Smoke from dramatic explosions obscures the field. You are not absolutely sure  which way leads to safety. Still, before there was so much turmoil, the way was  clear and you are confident in your sense of direction.

Then, from out of the smoke a shadowy  figure appears blocking your way. You can't see well enough to tell if it is friend or foe. It might be a compatriot trying to keep you from stepping into a  mine field. Or, it might be the enemy luring you into a trap. What to do! Do you  keep on your path and run it over or try another path instead?

The shadowy figure is your Obstacle  Character. Which way to go is the decision that faces a Main Character as their  "leap of faith." Note: An Obstacle Character frequently is not the Antagonist of  a story.

To make an argument, both sides must be represented. To completely explore the issue at the heart of a story, an Obstacle Character must present an alternative approach to the Main Character.  The Obstacle  Character Storyline describes the advocate of the alternative path and the manner in which its impact on the Main Character grows.

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The Subjective Storyline

As soon as the Main  Character  encounters their Obstacle, a skirmish ensues in the midst of the  battle as a whole. The two characters close in on one another in a theatrical  game of "chicken." Each hopes the other will give in, eliminating the need for risk of  bloodshed on both sides.

The Main Character shouts at their Obstacle to get out of the way. The Obstacle Character stands fast, insisting  that the Main Character change course, and even pointing toward the fork in the road.

As they approach one another, the  interchange becomes more heated until the two are engaged in heart to heart combat. Which one is right? While the Objective battle rages all around, the Main and Obstacle¬  Characters fight their private engagement. The Subjective Storyline describes the course this passionate battle takes.

To help understand and guide you through this new system of writing, Dramatica Pro comes with outlines to over  100 films, so if you find you are stuck at certain questions, the program gives  you explanations and link to examples.  For instance, if you don't know how important a story title is, it'll not only provide you with a definition, but  it'll provide story examples, like "Star Wars", "Rebel Without A Clue", etc.

Once Dramatica Pro is done prompting,  nudging, and guiding you through this extensive and overly detailed process your script is complete and ready to go.¬  When you are done, view your reports, which includes a story treatment, you can output it into it's companion product  Scriptwriter which  is yet another writing tool, that allows writers to type scripts without worrying about the proper script format.

Dramatica Pro is an example of a program that works too well. It's pretty addictive program, but at the end of the day, you still have to go out and physically write your script with all your  dialog. At certain points doing all the prompting and handholding, you get to the point where you are like, shut up already, just let me write my script. 

Final Grade A

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