I’m looking at my motivation screen. I set up eight archetypal character to get the feel here.
It almost looks as it you could use the word ‘leads to’ for action-decision pairs here, as in:
When he considers, it leads to pursuit
When she has faith, it leads her to support
She doesn’t believe him, and that leads to her opposing him
he reconsiders his friendship and that leads to avoiding him.
Does that make sense?
oh and…hi. been awhile.
I guess it could, but it shouldn’t be limited to that. The decision characteristic can also affect other characters: the characteristic “Reconsider” may make others reconsider their choices, the objective character holding “Temptation” could tempt others, “Faith” convinces others to believe in something…
Interesting. Maybe the important thing is finding that verbalization, that connection between the action and decision. Does is it always flow left to right? Could the decision prompt the action?
Sure, the decision characteristic could totally make your character uses its action characteristic. They don’t need to be “connected” like that however, they can work independently too. What matters is that they relate to the Story Goal.
Thanks for the assist. Could you give me a little more info, how to relate them to the story goal? I get the general idea, but maybe I’m missing some nuance.
I love the theory book but it can be a bit of a bear, kinda demands a ‘total dedicated reading’ every time I dig into it. Also induces despair because I feel like I’m not quite getting it 
Well, not that much despair. But a little.
I think the “Drivers and Passengers” part of the Theory Book sums it up pretty well:
“We can easily see how these Archetypal pairs represent a broad analogy to a human mind dealing with a problem. The Protagonist represents the desire to work at resolving the problem. Its Dynamic Pair, the Antagonist represents the desire to let the problem grow. As with the Archetypal Characters, we all face an internal battle between making decisions based upon Reason or upon Emotion. […]”
Characters help to form the argument of the story with their characteristics. The Protagonist might influence others to consider solving the problem, while the Skeptic might say it’s a bad idea, and want the Protagonist to give up on the Story Goal.
Archetypes also move the story forward or hinder its progression. The Drivers will feel to be the prime movers, while the Passengers might have a big influence on the Drivers’ choices and approaches.
I guess the Decision characteristics are more about the influence the character has, while the Action characteristics are related to what the character mostly does.
A golden note. Thank you. Cutting and pasting into my notebook.
You’re welcome, glad I could help you! I’m still new to the theory, so I could be totally wrong. I think you really shouldn’t worry about the Action/Decision difference, it doesn’t really change anything.
