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Dramatica Frequently Asked Questions

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Storyforming FAQ

The Basics

Q: My question is: how do you know when you've got your storyform right? (click here)

Q: What is a Grand Argument Story? (click here)

Throughlines

Q: Can you provide a definition of the four throughlines? (click here)

Q: What is the point of developing an objective story line if eventually, through storytelling, all items will be present and at odds? (click here)

Q: What happens when I omit one of the throughlines? The Grand Argument is missing one segment, but will the story still work with just three? What else should I consider? (click here)

Multiple Story Works

Q: How can I tell if my script or novel has one story or two stories? (click here)

Q: If I can't have two main characters in one story, how do I use Dramatica to structure two stories with the same characters but different main characters when the plots depend each on happenings in the other plot? (click here)

Q: It seems Dramatica is set-up to only deal with one Main Character or one POV. How do I use Dramatica for a story like mine with two main characters/protagonists and one antagonist for both main characters? (click here)

Q: What does one do when one has so many characters, as in James Clavell's SHOGUN? (click here)

Domains

Q: How come when I get to domains it only offers me two choices? [Mind and Psychology] Is it "interpreting" what I said in synopsis or somewhere else to eliminate Universe and Physics? Can I add them back? (click here)

Q: Must all domains be present in one story according to Dramatica? (click here)

Q: How do I override the program's choices for MC Domain and OC Domain? (click here)

Q: I'm beginning to use Dramatica Pro to build a story, and I have a problem; perhaps you can help me. I'm using the workbook for the StoryGuide Pro, and having a lot of trouble figuring out what the Objective Story Domain is for my purposes. Can you help me see which of the four domains--Universe, Physics, Psychology, or Mind--I should choose to get the ball rolling? (click here)

QUESTION:

My question is: how do you know when you've got your storyform right?

ANSWER:

There is no right or wrong storyform. The Dramatica software makes sure that every storyform is a dramatically valid one. In fact, you could conceiveably calculate out all the different storyforms that can be created (32,768) and print them out, and just arbitrarily pick one.

So, why is a storyform "right" for a particular story, but not another? It has to do with what you, as author, are trying to say to your audience. What is the story you have in mind? Which storyform accurately reflects that?

A storyform is just the skeleton or framework of a story, so it is often difficult to determine which one is "proper" for a story you have in mind. What you are thinking of already has a lot of the story telling done: characters, scenarios, plot devices. All of these are a combination of the underlying structure and the manner in which it is expressed by your creative style and inspirations.

So, how can we determine when we have arrived at the best storyform to act as a pattern for our story? By feel. You need to "feel" that the words that crop up as Story Goal, or Main Character Domain express what you have in mind, both logistically and emotionally, for your audience. To do this, you must truly understand what is meant by Main Character Domain, or any of the other dramatic "appreciations" provided by the Story Engine. Also, you must develop an empathy with the words that fill those appreciations, such as Universe, or Psychology.

Getting to know the terminology in Dramatica is the hardest part! The reason it is hard is that our language tends to create lots of words to deal with common concepts, and hardly any to deal with less up front notions. For a story to be complete, ALL essential considerations need to be addressed to prevent holes. So, in the areas in which our culture does not focus, there are few (and sometimes no existing) words to do the job. This means that there will be appreciations and the words that fill them that are easily understood, and a whole range of other terms that are progressively more obscure. But, to have a feel for which storyform is "right" requires becoming familiar with all of these terms. The more you are comfortable with, the stronger your sense of which storyform is best will be. Your choices in creating a storyform will become more precise and meaningful, and the end product will better reflect what you had in mind.

It seems like even the examples you give in the documentation could go other ways just by changing the verbs used in describing them. For example, the story I'm working on is a mystery. The characters are trying to decipher the clues that will help them discover the identity of the mystery person so they can help her. What I can't decide is: are they concerned with doing (helping someone), obtaining (the answer to the clues), or learning (the identity)? And then I wonder if I'm in the wrong domain -- solving a mystery is an external activity, but maybe the mystery itself is an external situation. Is there a general blueprint for mystery stories?

The "mystery" is a genre of story. Some genres describe settings, like "westerns". Others describe character relationships, such as "buddy pictures", or "love stories". A mystery can either describe characters who are trying to figure something out, as in the old "Columbo" series, where the audience knew who the killer was from the very start, or they can be mysteries to the characters AND the audience, such as most Agatha Christie stories, or the Sherlock Holmes stories. A few mysteries have the characters knowing the score, but the audience being in the dark. The one combination that is NOT a mystery is when both characters and audience know the facts up front.

This difference in focus prevents there from being a single, typical "mystery" storyform. If the mystery part resides with the audience, then it comes from the storytelling, not the storyform. If the mystery is at least partly with the characters, then it becomes part of the storyform as well.

The "Types" you mentioned above, Learning, Understanding, Doing, and Obtaining, are all from the Physics "class" and describe activities. This does not make them any more appropriate to a mystery than any of the Types in the other three "classes". For example, in the Universe Class are the Types, Past, Present, Progress, and Future. If one were writing a mystery about finding the killer of a school boy twenty years ago before he can repeat his crime on the twentieth anniversary, these types might best describe the chase.

In fact, all sixteen Types (four from each class) will show up in EVERY storyform. The difference is: from what point of view are they explored? The Main Character Domain will be the Class that contains the Types that best describe what the Main Character is involved in or concerned with. The Objective Story Domain will be the Class that contains the Types that best describe what ALL the characters of the story are jointly involved in or concerned with. So, in creating a storyform that is "right", you will need to consider which set of Types you want your characters to explore, which are right for your Main Character, your Obstacle Character, and your Subjective Story.

Think about the kinds of things you want each of these four areas to explore, or examine. Think about the kinds of scenes that might be created that revolve around these Types of Concerns. That can go a long way to determining how to make your selections that will lead to a storyform that fits your desires as an author.

QUESTION:

What is a Grand Argument Story? From the documentation, all I can tell is that Dramatica describes Grand Argument Stories, and that a Grand Argument Story is a story that can be described by Dramatica.

ANSWER:

Simply put, a Grand Argument Story is a story that covers all the ways a problem might be identified and solved. By covering all the bases, the author (who is probably not present when the audience experiences the work) need not be present to respond to challenges an audience might have based on story "holes" or inconsistencies. We have found that many other forms of Narrative fall under the umbrella of the Grand Argument Story including fairy tales, stream-of-conscious works, etc.

QUESTION:

Can you provide a definition of the four throughlines?

ANSWER:

There are four throughlines in every story: the Main Character throughline, the Objective Story throughline, the Subjective Story throughline, and the Obstacle Character throughline. When a story is written, all four of these throughlines are represented in it from beginning to end by the particular events and characters pertaining to each throughline. As the story moves from describing the Main Character point of view., to the Objective Story, to the Obstacle Character, etc., the story's throughlines are woven together so that the audience can feel them all unfolding at the same time. For a story to be completely illustrated, each appreciation from each throughline has to appear somewhere in it.

The Main Character Throughline contains all the appreciations in a storyform which describe how the story is seen when it regards only the Main Character. It is the part of the story which is felt by the audience as being the first-person, "I" point of view of the story.

The Obstacle Character Throughline covers all the appreciations which describe the growth of the impact of the Obstacle Character. This is felt by the audience as the second person, "you" point of view in the story.

The Subjective Story Throughline covers all the appreciations which describe the growth of the RELATIONSHIP between the Main and the Obstacle Characters. This is felt by the audience as the shared, "we" perspective in the story.

The Objective Story Throughline covers all the appreciations which describe the growth of the story which involves all of the Objective Characters. It is the analytical view of the story which is felt by the audience as if they were standing outside of the story looking in at "them." It is the third person, "they" point of view OF the story.

Look in the Theory book under Storyforming and Main Character, there will be plenty of material on this.

QUESTION:

What is the point of developing an objective story line if eventually, through storytelling, all items will be present and at odds?

ANSWER:

The nature of a story is to explore a "world" out of balance, or more specifically, a "Story Mind" out of balance. There is something out of whack that is throwing EVERYTHING off. The purpose of having four throughlines is to provide a sufficient number of differing perspectives to make obvious where/what the problem is. Any single perspective can SEEM to be correct but, when shown in the alternative contexts, may be completely out of line. The purpose of having all items present in every story is to cover all the places where a problem might exist. If you leave something out, it will seem to leave a "hole" and the audience will pick up on usually.

QUESTION:

What happens when I omit one of the throughlines? The Grand Argument is missing one segment, but will the story still work with just three? What else should I consider?

ANSWER:

You ask what happens when one omits one of the throughlines. Well, imagine what happens when you lose one of your eyes. You can still see, but the added information you have with two eyes allows you to see things (like depth) that a single eye cannot. Now imagine that you have two sets of eyes. These would correspond to the throughlines: Objective and Subjective Story throughlines are one pair, Main Character and Obstacle Character throughlines are the other. If you lose any one of them entirely, part of the audiences ability to perceive depth will be removed with it. It is far better to lightly sketch a throughline, than it is to take it out completely.

QUESTION:

How can I tell if my script or novel has one story or two stories?

ANSWER:

Each complete Grand Argument Story will have four throughlines: the Objective Story, the Subjective Story, the Main Character, and the Obstacle Character. Each of these throughlines represents a different POINT OF VIEW (there's the POVs in Dramatica I think you were asking about). To non-Dramatica eyes, the Objective and Subjective story throughlines appear to be different stories in the same work -- the Rhett and Scarlett love affair set against the Civil War story in "Gone With The Wind", Jake Gittes and Evelyn Mulwray's love affair set against the mystery of early Los Angeles politicking in "Chinatown", etc. If your story has two strong points of view, those may be the Main and Obstacle character points of view. Both the MC and the OC should explore ALL of the elements in their Domain (which includes ALL 64 character elements). This is different from the Objective Characters who must divide the set of 64 elements between themselves. That MIGHT account for the difficulty you were experiencing while assigning objective character elements to you MC and OC. The objective character elements should ONLY pertain to the functions that the MC and OC have in the OBJECTIVE STORY. This is distinctly different than their own points of view and participation in the Subjective Story.

There have been a couple popular films lately that have TWO stories instead of the traditional one story. Both "Jerry Maguire" and "The English Patient" combine separate stories into one work. In "Jerry Maguire", there is the love story and the sports story. In the sports story, Jerry is the Main Character who remains steadfast and Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character is the Obstacle Character that changes. In the love story, Jerry is the Obstacle Character that changes, and his love interest (the woman with the son) is the Main Character that remains steadfast. Each has their own set of Objective Characters (some of which do double duty between the stories). In "The English Patient," there is a pre-war love affair story, and the "post" war story involving the patient, the nurse, the Sikh, etc. I believe the book fleshes out the post-war love story to a greater degree than the movie did, but I haven't read it so I can't say for sure.

The point I'm trying to make is that one story has FOUR throughlines. A work with two stories will have EIGHT throughlines, two of each. This should help you determine which best describes your story.

QUESTION:

If I can't have two main characters in one story, how do I use Dramatica to structure two stories with the same characters but different main characters when the plots depend each on happenings in the other plot?

ANSWER:

Create separate story files for each of the two stories. If you create your character list in one first, you can then use the "Save As..." or "Save A Copy..." commands to create a duplicate with which to work on the second story.

You assign the Main Character and Obstacle Character designations by bringing up the story info window for the character you want. Use the "Special Identification" popup to set the MC or OC designation.

Assign Objective Story characteristics (the items which comprise the Protagonist, Antagonist, etc.) in the Build Characters window or by using the "Type" popup in the character info window. If you use the Type popup, it will make archetypal characteristic assignments. It is unlikely that you will have full-on archetypes so you should futz with adding and removing characteristics until you are comfortable with the settings. Note: even though all of the characteristics must be used in your story, writers frequently assign only the characteristics they feel are clearly represented by a character. Elements that are not clearly represented may not be assigned to a specific character (though still need to be addressed in the body of the story).

Your description of the shorter and longer stories in the novel is a common technique in epics, series TV, and other longer form or complex works. You really should work out each story separately, even if they share the exact same character set. Once you have your two separate stories thought through, you will then need to determine how you plan to weave the separate stories together.

QUESTION:

I have written a novel that has three points of view (POV, i.e., three limited omniscient characters through whom we see the story) as most writing sources describe, i.e., as Al Zuckerman defines them in his book, "How to Write the Blockbuster Novel." Zuckerman recommends multiple points of view and it is a very popular and successful technique (Ken Follett, Clancy). Yet it seems Dramatica is set-up to only deal with one Main Character or one POV. How do I use Dramatica for a story like mine with two main characters/protagonists and one antagonist for both main characters? Each chapter is from the POV of only one of the three characters.

ANSWER:

First of all, there are actually FOUR POVs in Dramatica -- one for each of the throughlines: Main Character, Obstacle Character, Objective Story (where the protagonist and antagonist do their stuff), and the Subjective Story. The Main and Obstacle Character POVs are the most obvious source of at least TWO points of view. The protagonist and/or the antagonist (or any other character in the Objective Story throughline for that matter) can present even more points of view. The big question is, are the multiple points of view truly different from each other, or are some of them the same "paradigm" but shown through the eyes of two or more players? You can have a Main Character point of view that seems to float from one character to another -- the bodies change but their take on the world around them is the same. It's tough, but it is frequently done, particularly in novels. Another approach is to enhance the main story with substories. Each substory will have its own Main Character thereby adding to the multitude of POVs going on in the work. Stephen King uses this approach A LOT.

Getting inside a character's head doesn't necessarily make them the "Main Character." It's a storytelling device that works particularly well in novels and not quite as well in films or television. We can do this with ANY character in the work, but there should be some indication somewhere in your story as to who you want your audience to most identify with. If you don't, you have chosen not to make an argument and the interpretation of the work will be left in the hands of the audience (sometimes this is desired). However, if you ARE trying to make a point and you would like your audience to follow you to its conclusion, then, and only then, should you clearly delineate the four throughlines. Your audience need not be able to identify each throughline from the beginning of the story, but by the end they should be able to reconstitute it in its "true" form.

QUESTION:

What does one do when one has so many characters, as in James Clavell's SHOGUN?

ANSWER:

Well, in something like SHOGUN, there are MANY substories intertwined with the main story (a Portuguese pilot stranded in Japan who falls in love with an "off limits" woman and becomes embroiled in local conflicts while trying to get himself and his shipmates back home). Adding substories (which can include sub-plots, sub-characters, sub-themes, and even sub-genres) adds a richness and density to the work, but are not essential to relating the "message" (storyform) of the main story.

QUESTION:

How does Dramatica apply to different lengths of fiction, i.e. how would one apply it to short stories and also to 'epic' fiction (e.g.Lord of the Rings, Shogun, etc..)???

ANSWER:

ANSWER: Short stories are usually a subset of a Grand Argument Story. This means that they typically do not go to the depth of a full story, or the breadth (cover all of the throughlines) of a full story. "Epics" usually have one "main" story embellished with LOTS of substories -- stories that are outgrowths of the main story. These substories frequently have one of the objective characters act as the Main Character of the substory. Some "epics" have more than one main story going on. In these cases, it is necessary for the author to be clear about what storytelling belongs to which story. In addition, these stories frequently ALSO have many substories tagging along.

QUESTION:

How come when I get to domains it only offers me two choices? [Mind and Psychology] Is it "interpreting" what I said in synopsis or somewhere else to eliminate Universe and Physics? Can I add them back?

ANSWER:

Your choice of DOER/BEER limits your Main Character domain choices. Answering the STOP/START question impacts the relationship between the Main Character domain and the Objective Story domain. The easiest way to loosen up the domain choices is to unselect the Main Character Direction (Stop/Start). The other alternative is to clear the storyform choices by using the Clear Storyform command, then answer the questions out of order -- that is, answer them in the order of importance to YOU, not necessarily the order in which the answers are presented.

QUESTION:

Must all domains be present in one story according to Dramatica?

ANSWER:

In order to make a complete argument to an audience, a story should have all four throughlines. Depending on the type of work you are creating, you can choose NOT to have all four throughlines to create a statement instead of an argument. We refer to these as Tales (e.g. fairy tales, etc.)

QUESTION:

How do I override the program's choices for MC Domain and OC Domain? In my estimation, the two domains for the story I'm currently working on should be switched, but as the program decided there was only one option for each of these categories, I seem to be unable to change them.

ANSWER:

There actually is not an "override" command for changing Domains because the setting of the Domains is one of the most influential decisions you can make in creating a storyform. If you cannot change the Domains you have set for your Main and Obstacle Characters, then too many other appreciations are set in your storyform to allow them to be changed. All of the appreciations are linked together by complex relationships which limit how easily they can be changed. If you are telling a story about a Main Character who is primarily seen in terms of his physical activities, that is a completely different kind of story than one about a Main Character who is seen primarily in terms of their Psychological manipulations of others. As a result, changing a storyform from reflecting one kind of story to reflecting another involves changing many appreciations beyond just the MC Domain.

The best place to make this kind of change is in the Story Engine, which displays the most essential Objective Story appreciations and the most essential MC appreciations all in one window. In the Story Engine, beside each appreciation, is a little box that is supposed to look a little like a pad-lock. Click on these boxes next to the appreciations that you know are set the way you want them to be in your story (for example: Resolve, Outcome, Judgment, OS Domain--whatever you are sure is right). Then use the button to the right of the screen called "clear." This will clear all of the appreciations except for what is held in place by the locks you have set. At that point, you can use these pull down menus to select what you really want.

This can be more complicated than it sounds though. You may not realize the impact of all the selections which you locked. For example, Approach (do-er/be-er) and Mental Sex can have a strong impact on what MC Domains are available. Direction (start/stop) can too. These appreciations are also easily misinterpreted in stories, so you may have accidentally selected the opposite of what is most appropriate for your story. I recommend double checking the definitions of these appreciations and reading about their impact under the "Background" buttons in the DQS to make sure you set them the way you want to.

Another thing you should know is that you can't lock selections in the Story Engine which are in italics. You must first select them yourself and make them appear in regular type before you can lock them. Do this by simply clicking on them with your mouse.

It sounds like you have a good grip on how you see your Objective and Subjective story in Dramatica because you want to swap the Main and Obstacle Character Domains. Since these two characters represent the opposing sides of the story's central issue, it can be easy to be selecting appreciations for one when it turns out you are really describing the other. Remember that the Main Character presents the first person view of what it feels like to be in your story while the Obstacle Character is always felt by their impact on the Main Character (and thus, by the audience). We ARE the Main Character, while we WATCH the Obstacle Character and feel their influence.

QUESTION:

I'm beginning to use Dramatica Pro to build a story, and I have a problem; perhaps you can help me. I'm using the workbook for the StoryGuide Pro, and having a lot of trouble figuring out what the Objective Story Domain is for my purposes. I intend to write a fairly standard romance novel. The heroine feels trapped in an unrewarding relationship and eventually she's "saved" by her knight in shining armor. Can you help me see which of the four domains--Universe, Physics, Psychology, or Mind--I should choose to get the ball rolling?

ANSWER:

My recommendation is always to start with what you know best. If that's the Main Character throughline, then start there. If it's the Subjective Story throughline (which is frequently strongly emphasized as the "romance" part of a Romance Novel), start there. The same goes for the Objective story throughline or the Obstacle Character throughline. Another trick is to skip the Domain level if nothing jumps right out and grabs your attention, and proceed to the Types level. Which group of four types (there are four in each class) seems to describe your story's "plot" best? If that doesn't work, skip the Types and go for the Variations. Given the context of the domain you are choosing, which thematic issues seem to be most relevant? Each Type and Variation is unique to the Class in which it is located. (This is not true of the Elements.)

One more thing to keep in mind is that the purpose of picking (or assigning) a domain to a throughline is to identify the general area from which conflict emanates. Is it a situation (Universe), an activity (Physics), an attitude (Mind) or a manner of thinking (Psychology) that is CAUSING TROUBLE for the characters?

You say that your MC "feels trapped in an unrewarding relationship". If the focus is on her physical situation, then that would imply a Main Character domain of Universe. If, however, these feelings were more due to a disturbed (or out-of-balance) mind, then Psychology might be a better MC Domain -- particularly if she is a Be-er and would prefer to change her feelings or ideas when confronted with conflict, as opposed to doing something about it physically.

Is the conflict between the MC and the OC due to physical abuse or problematic activities (Subjective Story Domain of Physics), or is it more like the conflict grows out of manipulations or mind games (Subjective Story Domain of Psychology)?

I have no idea what your Objective Story throughline is about so it's nearly impossible to make a useful suggestions. However, here's a little trick you can use to help think of the Objective Story "objectively." Think of what ALL the characters in your story are concerned with. What holds them together -- why are they even in the story. Make sure that, when thinking of the characters, you identify them by their ROLE (heroine, villain, father, doctor, sister, etc.). Avoid using their proper names. Once you think about a character in terms of their name it's very difficult to avoid personalizing your feelings about them which makes seeing them objectively very hard indeed.