Additional Appreciations
Domain, Concern,
Range, and Problem are not the only appreciations in Dramatica. In fact,
there are six other appreciations for each of the four throughlines,
plus others that affect the whole story. Whether or not an author consciously
considers them while writing, these appreciations will clearly appear
in every complete story.
Additional Element
Level Appreciations:
At the Element level
where we already found each throughline's Problem, each of the four
throughlines also has three additional appreciations. Since each throughline
has a Problem, it is not surprising that each also has a Solution. The
Solution is found directly opposite the Problem in the thematic structure.
For example, the Solution for too much or too little logic is
more or less feeling.
If a Problem were seen as a disease, its Solution would be a cure. A
disease will also have symptoms, and treatments for those symptoms.
This is reflected in the same quad as the Problem and Solution in each
throughline, where one of the remaining Elements will be the Focus (symptom)
or Direction (treatment). The reason they are called Focus and Direction
is that characters, like real people, find their attention drawn to
the difficulties caused by a problem more than to the problem itself.
Whether the Focus and Direction we are considering falls in the Objective
Story, Main, Obstacle, or Subjective Story Throughline, they represent
the symptoms of the Problem which draw attention (Focus) and what the
characters try to do about it (Direction).
In the Objective Story Throughline, the Focus is where all the characters
concentrate, as that is where their troubles are most apparent. The
Direction is how they respond to try and alleviate those troubles. If
the story were a body with a disease (Problem), sometimes a cure must
be found and one must ignore the symptoms, not worry about a treatment,
and concentrate on a cure. Other times, the cure cannot be found, but
if one simply treats the symptoms, the body will recover enough to heal
itself.
In the Main Character Throughline, the decision as to whether or not
to change is intimately tied to whether the Main Character is driven
by the Focus toward a Direction of effort, or whether he seeks the cure.
The Main Character cannot tell which is the correct approach, but a
final decision at a leap of faith (or the more gradual shift from one
approach to the other) will ultimately determine whether the conclusion
of the thematic argument ends in Success or Failure and Good or Bad.
In the Obstacle Character Throughline, the Focus is where this character
hopes to have the greatest impact, and Direction is how he wants things
to change as a result of that impact.
Focus in the Subjective Story Throughline is the actual topic over which
Main and Obstacle Characters argue because it gets their attention.
The audience will see the real Problem between them, but the Main Character
and Obstacle Character will only see the Focus. Subjective Story Direction
describes the direction in which the argument tends to lead.
