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Dramatica Tip of the Month
June 2005

Dramatica for Non-Fiction

Question: Can I use Dramatic Pro to craft a non-fiction book? I bought the software a few years ago to write an historical novel but, after much research and many false starts, I've concluded that the material lends itself better to some sort of roots-search-turned-biography. Please advise.

Answer: Dramatica can be used for non-fiction if you're writing something with an opinion, such as an essay or a piece of non-fiction told in a slightly novelized fashion.  If your intent is to create a piece of non-fiction in which the author does not make any value judgments, then Dramatica will not be of much use.   Dramatica is designed to help a writer create a compelling argument to his audience, one that has definite opinions.

Many biographies and histories are fictionalized to make them more interesting and accessible to an audience, often achieved by omitting or rearranging events.  The movie "Ray" is a recent example.  However, many biographies and histories are written as objective observations and recollections of events in a person's life or in a particular place at a particular time.  Dramatica is great for the former, not much use for the latter.