Writers' Software: The Muse Without

Special effects aren't the only way technology is helping in Hollywood.
Find out how scriptwriters are getting good ideas from software.

By Matt Beer

March 19, 1997

(As found at http://www.thesite.com/0397w4/work/work435_031997.html)

Computers creating plays, movie plots, or best sellers: It really has an Orwellian flavor to it.

But that's what the folks at Dramatica hope they've accomplished.

Dramatica was created in 1994 by movie producers Stephen Greenfield, Chris Huntley, and Melanie Phillips. The software is the most ambitious of the myriad titles found on the shelves of The Writers' Computer Store, dual Los Angeles and Sausalito, Calif., meccas for writers seeking a software fix to their mind blocks.

Dan Douma, the founder of The Writers' Computer Store, says Dramatica has been one of the stranger success stories at the store.

"It's been kind of a love/hate-ish thing with my customers," Douma says. "[Those] looking for any kind of insight into their work welcome it. They're really hot about it."

But, he continues, those that think they know it all, "forget it. They hate it. They say, 'This is insanity! I don't need to think about this. I need to work.'"

Most creative writing software packages are simply glorified word processors modified to automate formatting, known as scriptwriting software. Or they're databases that store notes on a particular story. Whatever you put in, you get out.

But Dramatica claims to be an entirely new way of creating a story.

"Dramatica doesn't just spit back stuff you put into it," says Dramatica software architect Stephen Greenfield. "It actually tells you something totally different from what you've put into it."

Dramatica was created after Greenfield and his colleagues came to the conclusion that, although they were accomplished film producers, "we sucked as writers."

In trying to find out what makes a story work, the trio delved into a melange of theories, from Aristotle to Joseph Campbell's mythological studies. Eventually, they discovered a web of relationships that repeated themselves across different stories: for instance, the conflict of morality over self-interest, or the resolute vs. the changing character.

"It was truly astonishing," says Greenfield. "When I saw all of it, I was just blown away."

After late-night programming binges (Greenfield was an early computer nerd), the software debuted in 1994, outlining what Greenfield says is a basic grammar of storytelling, a system of questions and links that picks apart a narrative almost to the molecular level.

"It's comparable to music," Greenfield says. "There are a set number of notes and such, but you can make an infinite amount of music from those notes."

This grammar, Greenfield contends, actually makes the writer's chore easier in the long run.

"To paraphrase Orson Welles, 'The enemy of the artist is the absence of limitations,'" he says.

Dramatica begins its task by forcing the would-be author to learn an entirely new theory of story, with its own nomenclature.

Usually, the budding novelist, screenwriter, or playwright learns about three- to five-act structures, with protagonists and antagonists, climax, and resolution.

But Dramatica casts its theory of story in the context of a complex argument. And like any good argument, a Dramatica story covers all alternative counter-arguments that a viewer can come up with. The audience is then, according to this theory, left agreeing with the same conclusion, or the same premise, that the author intended.

Along the way, the writer is introduced to a story mind, which is a sort of holistic, distant view of the unfolding tale. There are also things like story engine, objective story mind, main character, and a whole host of other terms.

If all this sounds complex, that's because it is.

To really learn Dramatica, you have to spend a solid 20 hours plowing through the software and the thick book of theory that comes with it. If that doesn't sink in, you can listen to three 90-minute tapes ordered separately.

"It's definitely a steep learning curve," says Greenfield.

Dramatica, Greenfield adds, was not created to make your job easier. Instead, it was born to make your task harder, building an extremely detailed blueprint to make your plot as solid as possible. This, Dramatica's creator says, saves you time and sweat at the agonizing rewriting stage.

"The rewards are that you end up with a story that rings true for your audience," Greenfield says.

But does Dramatica storytelling make for good storytelling?

There are plenty of skeptics.

"I think creative software like that only takes you so far," says San Francisco screenwriting instructor Sam Scribner. "You have to remember that these kinds of programs are made by individuals, so you're limited to that individual's range of ideas."

But, adds Scribner, "any writer is limited in some way by his or her own experiences. These kinds of software will take you to places you wouldn't normally go in your own creative process. So, in that way, maybe the trade-off is for the better."

Dr. Marsha Kinder, a professor at the Center for Critical Studies, School of Cinema/Television at the University of Southern California, was doubtful at first about software helping to create a narrative.

"I had them (Dramaticas creators) come and demo the software for one of my classes," she says. "At first there was a lot of skepticism, and concerns about the formulaic quality of it. We definitely were struggling with some ideological issues about it."

However, Dr. Kinder says that she and many in her class found the software useful.

"It turned out to be a very good aid in viewing structure," she says.

Dr. Kinder adds, "If you already have a story, Dramatica is very useful in helping you think through options. It helps you either stick with conventions, or see conventions that you can turn upside down."

But, she cautions, if you don't know what your story is about, Dramatica is not going to help.

"No software can help you," Kinder says, "if you're clueless, story-wise."