Dramatica Mail
(D-Mail) Index
From
time to time we get interesting emails that are too specific to go into
the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section, and too frequent to be
used as the monthly Dramatica Tips. This is where they'll end. Of course
a question is more helpful with an answer, so were putting the answers
here too.
If you'd
like to ask a question, please send it to dramatica@screenplay.com.
It may not end up here, but it's sure to be answered.
NOTE:
All character names and story titles have been changed to protect the
aurhors' original works.
Question:
I have
a couple of questions for you: Why isn't this cheating to use software
like this? How can you safeguard against producing homogenous stuff.
In other words, if everyone uses this, won't all stories come out similar?
How can writers innovate and still benefit from this?
Answer:
1.
Why isn't this cheating to use software like this?
By "cheating"
I assume you mean giving a writer the means to produce a finished work
without having to create it entirely herself.
Movie Magic
Screenwriter is a script formatting word processor. In other words,
it helps a writer to type her manuscript in industry-standard formats.
StoryView is a visual outliner. It lets a writer structure and organize
her manuscript by laying out the text along a time line. Movie Magic
Screenwriter and StoryView are clearly tools in the same sense that
typewriters and index cards are writer's tools. These pieces of software
automate much of the drudgery of their physical counterparts, but are
nevertheless writing tools. They are no more cheating for writers than
buying paper and pencil at the local office supply store instead of
making them from scratch.
I suspect
that this question is more directed toward Dramatica Pro than our other
two products since it lacks such obvious physical counterparts as typewriters
and index cards. Dramatica Pro helps writers develop their story ideas.
On the one hand it acts as a mentor or writing coach by asking the writer
probing questions about the story. It also makes suggestions to support
choices a writer has made in the development of her characters, plot,
and theme. Since Dramatica is completely content independent, it doesn't
suggest anything that might end up in the finished work. It merely suggests
the areas a writer might consider while developing her story. The one
misconception about Dramatica Pro is that it will write or interpret
a story. It doesn't. Dramatica helps the WRITER to write and interpret
her story by asking her the questions that need to be answered. The
writer does all the answering.
By these
standards, I believe that the use of these writers tools don't fall
into even the loosest definition of "cheating."
2.
How can you safeguard against producing homogenous stuff. In other words,
if everyone uses this, won't all stories come out similar?
Good question.
The simple answer is that you can't, any more than you can safeguard
against producing homogenous stuff WITHOUT it. There are countless books
and films made without the use of these tools that prove the point.
Any tool
effects its user and the product of its use. Oil painters tend to paint
in certain styles because of the qualities of the paint, brushes, thinners,
canvasses, etc. Wood workers are impacted by the tools and materials
they use. Every artist is affected by the tools and materials they use.
The question is how strong is the influence, and is the work better
or worse for its use overall? Since Screenwriter and StoryView haven't
any impact on the content of a story, I'll address this question as
it concerns Dramatica.
Dramatica
presents one of many standards by which a writer may examine, evaluate,
and interpret a story. It is not, nor should it ever be considered to
be, the ONLY way. Dramatica has its strengths and weaknesses as a writers
tool, but the greatest weakness of any tool is to be thought of as the
only tool. Just because I have a hammer doesn't mean everything is a
nail to be pounded on. Similarly, just because Dramatica is a story
creation and analysis tool doesn't mean that it's appropriate for developing
every story.
The only
safeguard against producing homogenous stuff is to make sure that a
writer's world is filled with a variety of experiences, interests, and
means of expression. These software tools should be a part of that variety.
3.
How can writers innovate and still benefit from this?
It's best
to know the rules before you start breaking them. Innovation generally
comes from breaking the rules. Dramatica is designed to show a writer
the rules in such a way that it makes it easier to know how and where
to break the rules. Even Movie Magic Screenwriter lets a writer "cheat"
the page formatting.
But
let's be realistic here. A writer doesn't NEED these software tools,
or even a computer. She doesn't even need paper and pencil. All she
needs is an audience. It's the writer's audience that wants what a lot
of what these tools provide. They want better developed, better structured,
better written stories. Inasmuch as books, classes, and life experience
are part of the building blocks in a writer's arsenal, writing software
is another resource available to the writer in her quest for creation
and innovation.
(top)
Question:
I have
an idea for a story and have no guidence how can your program help me
put it into book form?
Answer:
There are
many ways in which Dramatica can provide guidance in developing a novel.
- Lead
you through the process of developing your characters, plot, and theme.
- Provide
you with tools to develop a story treatment or step outline.
- Provide
examples of other novels and/or plays and screenplays.
- Suggest
areas to develop in your story that you may not have considered but
may wish to expand.
...and
much more.
There are
two specific tools in Dramatica that specialize on guiding a writer
through the story development process.
The StoryGuide
is a step-by-step guide that interactively leads you through the development
of a (your) story. It does this through the Socratic method of asking
you questions and you providing the answers. This process is much more
than a "fill-in-the-blank" exercise. Dramatica actually responds
and makes suggestions based on your own responses.
The Novel
Template is the other tool supplied with Dramatica and works in conjuction
with the StoryGuide. The novel template comes with a preset set of chapter
suggestions, complete with instructions on what types of story material
might work best in each chapter. Though no novel is identical to another,
the novel template shows you the storytelling conventions of the novel
form. You are, of course, free to follow, modify, or ignore as much
of the template as you wish. At the very least, the novel template provides
a beginning point in your effort to create a story treatment or step
outline (the last major step before writing the finished piece). Dramatica
also comes with a screenplay template and a short story template.
If you
haven't already done so, you may want to check out the Dramatica website
at http://www.dramatica.com/ There are hundreds of pages of free material,
including story analyses, software reviews, and even an online version
of the 300+ page Dramatica theory book. (top)
Question:
My question
is: in using Dramatica to frame my story outline should I make use of
my private knowledge to treat Fred as the antagonist? More generally,
is there, in your view a dramatic price to pay by concealing or confusing
for a time the Dramatica-assigned roles when constructing the story?
Answer:
When dealing
with issues related to the storyform, such as OS character functions,
you should always assign character elements based on what is REALLY
going on, not what appears to be going on. Therefore, Sam would be your
"antagonist," not Fred.
I suspect
what you really want to do is to stay away from archetypal characters
and create complex characters. That way Fred can be Help or Conscience,
or Protection, or whatever is essential to keeping Robert from harm.
However, you can combine that with something like "Speculation"
or Desire or Chaos or Pursuit or something that you can have others
interpret as hostile. This will draw attention from Fred's more benign
story functions and make him appear menacing.
The inverse
can be done for Sam. Qualities such as Support or Feeling or Order can
mask other qualities such as Ending or Prevent or Uncontrolled.
Now, is
there a "dramatic price to pay for concealing or confusing for
a time the Dramatica-assigned roles while constructing the story?"
Absolutely not. It's an essential ingredient to create a proper thriller.
That is the difference between plot (what really is going on in the
story) and storyweaving (how the elements of the story are presented
to the audience). Misdirection is a key element of storyweaving thrillers
and tales of suspense. You might want to read the following section
on Storyweaving found in the online version of the Dramatica theory
book:
http://www.dramatica.com/theory/theory_book/dtb_ch_35.html
This section
has several suggestions for storyweaving techniques you can use to hide
the "plot" from the audience. (top)
Question:
I seem
to be very confused on what and Impact character's role is. Is this
person an Antagonist or something different. Do you have examples of
Impact characters in movies?
Answer:
One way
in which Dramatica describes a story is to see it comprised of four
throughlines: The Overall Story Throughline, the Main Character throughline,
the Impact Character throughline, and the Main vs. Impact Througline.
Each of these throughlines have elements of character, plot, theme,
and genre.
Since these
four throughlines are generally woven together tightly into the finished
work, the duties of the characters from the four throughlines are frequently
combined into single "players." Players allow an author to
combine characters from different throughlines into one entity, such
as a person, place, or thing. Therefore, it's important to note this
distinction when you ask the question, "Is the [impact character]
an Antagonist or something different?"
The characters
that populate the Overall Story throughline are called the Overall Story
characters (or overall characters for short). They are generally identified
by their function in the overall story throughline, most often in terms
of their impact on the effort to achieve the story goal. This is the
realm of the protagonist, the antaonist, other archetypal characters,
and complex characters.
The Impact
character represents an alternative world view to that of the Main Character.
Because of this difference, this character has the most impact on the
Main Character with regards to the MC's personal issues. Therefore,
the IC tends to be someone who can get close to the MC. If the MC is
also the protagonist and the IC is the antagonist, their roles in the
Overall Story make it difficult for an author to design personal interactions
that aren't overshadowed by the the protagonist/antagonist relationship.
That is why the player that is the IC is usually NOT also the antagonist.
The Impact
character can be any of the overall story characters such as the guardian,
antagonist, sidekick--even the protagonist. The Hollywood tradition
is to make the Impact character someone other than the antagonist, typically
the guardian character (such as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star
Wars).
Some Examples:
Star
Wars: Main Character: Luke Skywalker
Impact Character: Obi Wan Kenobi
Antagonist: The Empire (including the Gran Mof Tarkin)
To
Kill A Mockingbird: Main Character: Scout
Impact Character: Boo Radley
Antagonist: Bob Ewell
The
Fugitive: Main Character: Dr. Richard Kimble
Impact Character: Agent Sam Gerard
Antagonist: Chicago Police
Gone
Wtih The Wind: Main Character: Scarlett O'Hara
Impact Character: Rhett Butler
Antagonist: Various (Yankees, carpetbaggers, etc.)
You can
see 60+ more examples at the following url on the Dramatica site: http://www.dramatica.com/story/analyses/index.html
(top)
[The following Q & A
was posted on the Dramatica Mail Listserv]
Question:
In Robert
McKee's book "Story", he talks about the heart of a story
being a "value" that either starts the story negatively charged
and ends positively, or vice versa. Eg. The Fugitive: starts with Injustice
and after many zig-zags back and forth, ends with Justice. This provides
the "spine" of the story. (Sounds like the story Issue in
Dramatica, doesn't it?)
McKee
also discusses the story's "Controlling Idea", which is a
statement describing how and why life changes from one specific condition
of existence at the beginning to another at the end. In other words,
it says something about how to deal with an inequity.
These
sound a lot like what I would imagine a Grand Argument to be. Eg. The
Fugitive: "When you are smart, innocent, and wrongly accused, hard
core determination will allow you to clear your name." That argument
is "proved" by the story, is it not?
Except
I don't know if that's a Grand Argument, because I've never heard one
stated! Nowhere in the theory book or software is there an example quoted
of a grand argument. To tell me the storyform itself is the Grand Argument
is no more helpful than telling me the dang film or novel is the Grand
Argument (which of course it is!).
So to
put my question another way: if I were to look at a storyform, how would
I determine the Controlling Idea of my story?
Answer:
In a Grand
Argument Story (GAS), the entire story is the argument -- an argument
presented by the author to the audience. You won't find a single part
of story that "is" the GAS. It's the whole enchilada.
There is
an aspect of the GAS that might be contributing to this confusion. A
GAS has a characteristic similar to that of a hologram. If you cut off
a piece of a hologram, you can see a simplified version of the entire
hologram in the piece -- you see the entire image but is at a lower
resolution. In a GAS, looking at a quad (such as the domains) has the
feeling or meaning of the overall story, but the feeling or meaning
is less specific/more generalized than the entire story. So, what you
feel in each part of the storyform is a sense of the whole.
I think
the problem we're running into with this "vagueness" quotient grows
from our experience with descriptions of story (e.g. McKee) and Dramatica's
take on them. McKee's "value" is, in my opinion, extremely vague. Why?
Because it is far too simplistic to describe what is going on in a story.
It's an umbrella whose shade has no definition and whose shadow has
no edges. I could go on and on why I think your McKee example (i.e.
the negatively or positively charged "value") is an ineffective guide
to developing your story, but that's not subject here. The subject is
the story inequity and GAS.
I think
another reason there is a problem here is because there are a LOT of
ways to approach a story. Lots of places to start. Lots of frames of
reference. Etc. And we, as authors, often find ourselves approaching
different stories in different ways and for different reasons.
A third
reason this is difficult is that Dramatica presents the idea that there
are NO absolutes. There is no "right" storyform or "wrong" storyform,
only appropriate or inappropriate. It strongly enforces the idea that
meaning is contextual -- that in a story there is no capital "T" truth,
only multiple, contextual, lowercase "t" truths. More than anything,
I believe it is these MULTIPLE versions of "truth" represented by the
four throughlines that confuses writers the most.
This leaves
the how-to advice you're is looking for. Hmmm. I think the best how-to
advice I can give on this subject is to help you (authors) to figure
out where YOU'RE coming from in order to determine where to begin with
your story.
Complete
the following for your story:
1. Prioritize
the four throughlines in order of most to least importance to YOU as
the author of the story. For example, which are you most interested
in exploring? Least interested? Which do you think of first when mulling
over the story idea? Last or not at all? In a pitch, which throughlines
are you most likely to describe? Which are you least likely?
_____ Impact
Character throughline -- The "other" point of view
_____
Main Character throughline -- The personal issues
_____ MC
vs. IC throughline -- The relationship
_____ Overall
Story throughline -- The "big picture"
2. Prioritize
the following elements of story based on your personal interests as
an author in your story.
_____ Character
-- the players that populate the story
_____ Genre
-- the overall "feel" of the story
_____ Plot
-- the order and importance of events
_____ Theme
-- topical commentaries
3. Prioritize
the following aspects of the story creation process based on your interest
in them as they relate to your story.
_____ Storyforming
-- Your story's underlying message or meaning you wish to share with
the audience
_____ Storytelling
-- The descriptions you use to illustrate the story for the audience
_____ Storyweaving
-- The manner in which you relate the story to the audience
_____ Story
Reception -- The interaction between your story and your audience
4. Prioritize
the following based on what excites or interests you most about your
story.
_____ Something
Grand/General
_____ Something
Small/Specific
_____ Something
Overt/Superficial
_____ Something
Subtle/Sub-textual
Once you've
prioritized the four lists of items, you should have some sense of what
you know, like, or are interested in about your story. Use this sense
to figure out where it's best for you to focus your energies in approaching
your story in Dramatica. (top)
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