My copy of Dramatica arrived earlier this week. Like a few others here, I "bite" when a new piece of writing software is dangled in front of me. I bought Ttruby's StoryLine Pro earlier this year, and then along came Dramatica.

There seems to be some confusion over what Dramatica is all about. That's understandable. Dramatica is different. Very different. And the manuals don't clear away all of the confusion.

Truby's Storyline Pro is straight forward. Everything is intuitive. The interface is kludgy. It's written in FoxPro for Windows, so it has a pseudo-Windows interface. I curse at the interface from time to time and mutter at it a lot. But StoryLine Pro has a quick and easy learning curve. It handles characters, plot, and theme. It is strongest on plot and theme, much weaker on characters. I wouldn't want to do without it. I don't begrudge sending John $395.

Dramatic is much more complicated. It uses a story model that is unlike any I've ever seen. Add to a unique and very different model a whole new vocabulary. Dramatica ships with a dictionary volume as part of its manual set because it uses common terms in very different and quite often very unexpected ways. Unfortunately, the definitions quite often confuse more than they clarify.

There is a pamphlet available on Dramatica. Get it, if you're at all interested in purchasing Dramatica. The pamphlet does a good job of introducing Dramatica. It's also very flashy. It lured me, that's certain. I will try to give a brief description of what Dramatica does for those who are unfamiliar with it.

First, it is nothing like Plots Unlimited (something I have no intention of buying). You might think so from some of the talk about Dramatica, but it is very different. You start in Dramatica with "Storyforming".

Storyforming focuses on arranging the structures and dynamics of a story. It does this in very general terms. As you progress through the storyforming process, your story narrows from more than 32,000 possible combinations down to one unique storyform. The types of questions that you answer along the way include the following:

Which best describes what the main character decides?

· -- To Change

· -- To Remain Steadfast

· -- Choose Later

Which best describes the Main Character's approach?

· -- A Do-er

· -- A Be-er

· -- Choose Later

As you progress through these questions, your choices begin to narrow. By the time you've answered the 12 Essential Questions, you've narrowed your story down to one unique storyform. That opens up the rest of Dramatica to you.

The really nifty thing about Dramatica is the way it handles character relationships. You assign an icon to each character. Then you place these icons on various grids that define motivations (what drives them), methodologies (how they go about things), purposes (what they're trying to get), and evaluations (how they measure their progress). Depending on how you pace your characters on the grids, you can visually see how the conflict, complment, and contrast each other.

Once you have the structures and dynamics defined, you proceed to "Storyfilling". Storyfilling is where you illustrate the various elements of your story. This is where you take a single general storyform and map it onto the details of your story.

Now, all of this requires quite a bit of effort. So, why go through it? I think Dramatica is worth the price of admission. There are a couple of reasons why I think it's a good investment.

One thing I find especially attractive about Dramatica is its ability to track story "holes" -- always a possibility as we adapt, revise, etc. I am porting over a story I wrote from a stageplay to a screenplay. I am well on my way to having the necessary details entered into Dramatica. I can see that Dramatica will be a big help here. I am sure I will find it useful in analyzing my work, moving it from one medium to another, revision, etc. If you enter the information for each version of your work in Dramatica, the differences will be very pronounced in Dramatica's reports.

Another attractive feature about Dramatica is its ability to help you figure out why something doesn't seem to be quite right about your story. Niggling little story holes, logical inconsistencies, etc. become apparent in Dramatica.

The ability to play "what if" is also an important feature. You can see what happens to the rest of your story's structure and dynamics if you change even one element. This can be especially helpful during creative conferences with production people, since you can quickly and easily determine how the story will change follwing proposed changes in the story.

I am impressed with Dramatica. I use it. I don't sell it. I have no reservation about recommending it with the following provisions.

· First, expect to spend some time getting acquainted with it. Dramatica is not the sort of package you can put on your hard drive and away you go. Playing around with it without studying the manuals will only cause confusion and frustration.

· Second, if you write stories in a free form, free association sort of way, then Dramatica will be little or no help. I'm the sort of guy who writes extensive character bios, synopses, etc. before I start to write a story. With me, a story has to percolate a long while. I need to know the general direction

I'm heading. So programs like Dramatica and StoryLine Pro are just what I need.