|
|
        |
| What is Dramatica? | |||
| Dramatica Theory Book | |||
| Dramatica Dictionary | |||
| Tip of the Month | |||
| 12 Essential Questions | |||
| Theory FAQs | |||
| Additional Materials | |||
| Contact Us |
Dramatica Theory BookChapter
25: Storytelling and Plot Appreciations
(Continued) Since emphasis is a gray-scale kind of process, the story Goal may appear to be a highly focused issue in some stories and of lesser concern in others. In fact, all four throughlines might be equally emphasized, which would result in an audience being unable to easily answer the question, what was this story about? Just because no overall Goal is identifiable does not mean the plot necessarily has a hole. It might mean that the issues explored in the story are more evenly considered in a holistic sense, and the story is simply not as Goal-oriented. In contrast, the Concern of each Domain must appear clearly in a complete story, for Concerns are purely structural appreciations which are developed through storytelling, but not dependent upon it. When selecting a Goal, some authors prefer to first select the Concerns for each Domain. In this way, all of the potential objectives of the story have been pre-determined and the author then simply needs to choose which one to emphasize. Other authors prefer not to choose the Goal at all, since it is not truly an essential part of a story's structure. Instead, they select their Concerns and then let the muse guide them in how much they emphasize one throughline over another. In this way, the Goal will emerge all by itself in a much more organic way. Still, other authors like to select the Goal before any of the Concerns. In this case, they may not even know which Domain the Goal will ultimately be a part of. For this kind of author, the principal question they wish to answer is, what is my story about? By approaching the selection of your story Goal from one of these three directions, you can begin to create a storyform that reflects your personal interests in telling this particular story. There are four different Classes from which to choose our Goal. Each Class has four unique Types. In a practical sense, the first question we might ask ourselves is whether we want the Goal of our story to be something physical or something mental. In making this decision we are able to limit our available choices to Universe/Physics (physical goals) or Mind/Psychology (mental goals). Instantly we have cut the sixteen possible Goals down to only eight. Next we can look at the names of the Types themselves. In Universe: Past, Progress, Present, and Future. In Physics: Understanding, Doing, Learning, and Obtaining. In Mind: Memory, Preconscious, Conscious, and Subconscious. In Psychology: Conceptualizing, Being, Conceiving, and Becoming. Some are easy to get a grip on; others seem more obscure. This is because our culture favors certain Types of issues and doesn't pay as much attention to others. This is reflected in our language as well so that even though the words used to describe the Types are quite accurate, many of them require a bit more thought and even a definition before they become clear. (Refer to the appendices of this book for definitions of each). Whether you have narrowed your potential selections to eight or just jump right in with the whole sixteen, choose the Type that best represents the kind of Goal you wish to focus on in your story. |
|
Copyright
© 1994-2006 Write Brothers, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |