Any Christ-followers using Dramatica for fiction-writing?

Just wondering, amongst all you Dramatica-gicians out there, if any are Christ-followers/evangelicals/preachers kids/
missionary kids or otherwise “Christian” writers I could talk to? I’ve worked with the Dramatica Theory for about 17 years, and would like to hear your philosophical perspective on it. Thanks!

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my dad is a retired Methodist minister so i’ve grown up in Church. He is not evangelical at all and I myself am more anti-religion than anything truth be told but… For fun I am making a story form of Jesus’s story.
Everyman is the main character. Jesus is the impact character. It seems to me to be a bittersweet story. Jesus dies but Everyman gets his personal needs met. Everyman’s goal of obtaining control of his life ends in failure. When he learns he can not obtain control of his life he grows and learns to have faith.
OR… Probably more accurate is that it is an open ended story. Everyman’s story is not over yet but Everyman’s needs are there for the taking if he chooses.

Simple Main Character Report for “The Way of the Cross”

The story is about Everyman.

Everyman is a person who needs to Start something.

Everyman is impacted by Choice, and affected by Disbelief.

Everyman is a Be-er. At the climax of this story, Everyman must make a Decision. Everyman will eventually be forced to make a Decision because he/she is running out of Options.

Everyman thinks his/her problem is due to Support, and he/she believes he/she can solve this problem through Oppose.

As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Everyman is driven by issues of Disbelief.

Due to a lack of Options, Everyman is forced to make a Decision.

Ultimately, because of Everyman’s hope, Everyman Changes to center on faith.

In this story, Everyman will Fail which the audience would judge as Good for itself.

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STORY ENGINE SETTINGS: “The Way of the Cross”

CHARACTER DYNAMICS:
MC RESOLVE: Change
MC GROWTH: Start
MC APPROACH: Be-er
MC PROBLEM-SOLVING STYLE: Logical
IC RESOLVE: Steadfast

PLOT DYNAMICS:
DRIVER: Decision
LIMIT: Optionlock
OUTCOME: Failure
JUDGMENT: Good

IMPACT CHARACTER
(Jesus)
THROUGHLINE: Situation
CONCERN: The Future
ISSUE: Choice vs. Delay
PROBLEM: Feeling
SOLUTION: Logic
SYMPTOM: Conscience
RESPONSE: Temptation
UNIQUE ABILITY: Delay
CRITICAL FLAW: Dream
BENCHMARK: The Past
SIGNPOST 1: How Things are Changing
SIGNPOST 2: The Future
SIGNPOST 3: The Present
SIGNPOST 4: The Past

MAIN VS. IMPACT STORY
(The Main vs. Impact Story)
THROUGHLINE: Manipulation
CONCERN: Changing One’s Nature
ISSUE: Responsibility vs. Commitment
PROBLEM: Disbelief
SOLUTION: Faith
SYMPTOM: Pursuit
RESPONSE: Avoidance
CATALYST: Commitment
INHIBITOR: Morality
BENCHMARK: Developing a Plan
SIGNPOST 1: Changing One’s Nature
SIGNPOST 2: Playing a Role
SIGNPOST 3: Conceiving an Idea
SIGNPOST 4: Developing a Plan

OVERALL STORY
(The Overall Story)
THROUGHLINE: Activity
CONCERN: Obtaining
ISSUE: Morality vs. Self Interest
PROBLEM: Disbelief
SOLUTION: Faith
SYMPTOM: Conscience
RESPONSE: Temptation
CATALYST: Self Interest
INHIBITOR: Responsibility
BENCHMARK: Understanding
SIGNPOST 1: Doing
SIGNPOST 2: Gathering Information
SIGNPOST 3: Obtaining
SIGNPOST 4: Understanding

MAIN CHARACTER
(Everyman)
THROUGHLINE: Fixed Attitude
CONCERN: Innermost Desires
ISSUE: Dream vs. Hope
PROBLEM: Disbelief
SOLUTION: Faith
SYMPTOM: Support
RESPONSE: Oppose
UNIQUE ABILITY: Hope
CRITICAL FLAW: Choice
BENCHMARK: Memories
SIGNPOST 1: Impulsive Responses
SIGNPOST 2: Innermost Desires
SIGNPOST 3: Contemplation
SIGNPOST 4: Memories

ADDITIONAL STORY POINTS

GOAL: Obtaining
CONSEQUENCE: Changing One’s Nature
COST: The Future
DIVIDEND: Innermost Desires

REQUIREMENT: Understanding
PREREQUISITE: Developing a Plan
PRECONDITION: The Past
FOREWARNINGS: Memories

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Have you guys seen the film Calvary? At the moment, it has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and It’s the best depiction of the Christian faith I’ve seen in a film so far, as it argues it’s message without being too heavy handed about it. I attribute this to what I believe is a decently working storyform beneath it, though it may not be complete.

I actually brought this film up in another topic some time ago, but I’ve been preoccupied and never explored it further, which I’m open to now if anyone else is interested.

Thanks Sean. i haven’t seen it. i’ll look it up.

Yes, Sean, I have heard great things about Calvary; according to reports, Brendan Gleeson is as fantastic as ever in the lead role. I’d be intrigued to know what the movie’s storyform is.

Dear SPotter: I appreciate you responding. However, as you recognize, you don’t match the primary requirement of my search: “Christ-followers/evangelicals.” True, you are a preacher’s kid. But you make it clear that neither you nor your dad think of yourselves as “evangelical.”

I suspect you believe that little or no part of the Bible is even historical. Am I wrong in that assumption?

I assume this because, in your suggested storyform for The Way of the Cross, you use “Everyman” as the Main Character, rather than Jesus of Nazareth or any other historical person mentioned in the New Testament.

Devoted evangelicals would tend to build their Jesus-focused storyform around either Jesus himself as MC (a la The Passion of the Christ) or some other New Testament personage as MC, such as Peter, James, John, Mary Magdalene, Luke, etc.

Each of these mortals had his or her own distinctive inequities to address; the Bible treats none of them as some kind of mythical, allegorical, humanity-representing Everyman/woman.

I do agree that Jesus is/was a Steadfast character. But I believe he was much more the Be-er in his relationships, challenging the quick-to-act mortals around him to learn how to introspect, to self-examine, to pray, and to Be in God’s will as he himself was. Jesus, to my reading, embodies the active Be-er approach.

He doesn’t assume that he can change people’s hearts by force of will or altering external circumstances. He does change external circumstance (for example, by miraculous healings), but he doesn’t presume that people will automatically believe in him after that (many didn’t, or did so only briefly before reverting to their unbelieving ways).

Now, I’m not saying your storyform might not hold up for some of the mortals Jesus interacted with.

But I say it’s a massive misreading of the Bible to suggest that Jesus/God approaches all humanity as a single entity. While on earth he was very personal and specific with those he encountered, and always kept a balance between one-size-fits-all instructions and the case-by-case individual approaches he took to help as he moved from one hungry soul to the next.

Any thoughts in response?

This isn’t the place to discuss interpretations of religious texts. If you two want, you are more than free to write to each other offline.