Help structuring, writing, selling stories

[ArmandoSaldanamora]

So lately I’ve had a series of very nice, successful experiences helping writers structure, finish and shop their stories - so I thought it’d be a good idea to offer to help others do the same.

I can help you throughout the whole writing process. Put your ideas in shape, develop your plot, polish your dialogue and description as well as rewriting your draft. I work directly with you like a development executive does. I keep working in your project until you have a decent draft that will be read and seriously considered.

I can also help you create strategies to sell your story. Find the right agent or make a plan to self-fund a project. I can help you write effective query letters and pitch your story. I’ll tell you what to expect from the industry or how to set up your own prodco.

Here’s my contact info.

Armando@FlawlessVictory.media
http://FlawlessVictory.media

[Lakis]

Great to see you on these boards Armando. Your book has been an inspiration and an incredible help in learning Dramatica!

[Khodu]

Oh Sensei! Where have you been? It’s an honour having you on the boards. Truly your book has been -and still is - an essential part of my workflow. Thank you so much for your work Sir.

[ArmandoSaldanamora]

Thanks for the very kin words! Btw, if you have any question about the book - or the Dram methods I’m currently using to write, just post it this forum.

[jassnip]

I’m with @Lakis and @Khodu, big fan; and many thanks for Dram for Screenwriters. I would totally love an update on dram methods (or any others) you use for writing. If you’d care to share. of course.

[ArmandoSaldanamora]

Something I currently do: start with a brief 1-page synopsis of your story that tells how it starts, ends, develops and what the conflict is.

The 30-second Dramatica components (Drivers, Consequence, Goal…) should be there (Drivers should be at the start and end; Consequence/Forewarnings are in the conflict; the Limit and Requirements are part of the development).

I print my synopsis and use color highlighters to show which part of the story is each component (the Goal is green, the Forewarnings are purple…).

Then I use that information to start my storyform.

64 storyforms are usually left. It’s a quick way to get structuring with a solid notion of your story.

[Lakis]

@ArmandoSaldanamora

start with a brief 1-page synopsis of your story that tells how it starts, ends, develops and what the conflict is.

Armando - are you saying you start with these things (beginning, ending, conflict) without thinking about Dramatica and then figure out how they map to the 30-second Dramatica components?

[Khodu]

Hi @ArmandoSaldanamora I would like to ask how you plan/outline the Relationship Story throughline. From the strict definition, the RS is a subjective view between the MC and the IC, so when using the PSR to create scenes, how do you then illustrate said Relationship?
Are these scenes strictly from their (MC and IC) perspective? Or being that it is a subjective thing, it better to illustrate from the perspective of other objective characters? If so, can the variations in the RS PSR be used to create a scene that influences just the audience’s perception of the relationship between the MC and the IC? I would appreciate your deep insight on the issue of illustrating the different Throughlines,while playing on the unique strengths of each.
Thanks in advance for your help.

[ArmandoSaldanamora]

Yeah. I write a short story without using Dramatica, then go and find Driver, Consequence, Goal, Requirement, Forewarnings, Limit and Outcome in it.

Here (I thought this idea this morning) “A wealthy old lady (who probably reads too much Ayn Rand) decides to murder a moocher student neighbor. She commits the perfect crime and feels exhilarated and liberated about it. A detective suspects she did it - but can’t help but admire the guts and blatant cynicism of the old lady. In the end murderer and detective fall in love and he promises to visit her every week she spends in jail for the rest of her life.”

That simple tale (which is a symmetrical reversal of “Crime And Punishment”) has the elements to start a storyform. Can you find them?

[ArmandoSaldanamora]

This is what has worked for me: look at the “Stories” section of Dramatica’s Storyguide. See how diverse the illustrations are? You can use any elements or perspective to illustrate a scene of any throughline - as long as, in it’s core, it holds the Dramatica item that it’s supposed to represent and how it affects the characters of that throughline.

Example: “The Past” as Signpost 1 of Relationship Story between Joe and Jane “Mike is cleaning the garage, pulling out boxes into the curb. A bunch of neighborhood kids approach and look at the objects: exquisite porcelain dolls that belonged to Jane and cheap plastic novelty joke items that belonged to Joe. The kids notice how different these objects are and wonder how in the world Joe and Jane ended up together. Mike raises a brow, shakes his head and asks the kids to get off his lawn.”

[Khodu]

Wow. That’s lovely. It makes perfect sense. From your example though, I wanted to clarify in the RS illustrations, do we also have the irreversible changes, a la OS throughline? So as to keep the plot moving?
And also what is your take on PRCO and so on?
Sorry I’m asking a lot of questions but I’ve been dying to ask your opinion on so many applications of the theory.

Thank you @ArmandoSaldanamora

[Khodu]

I want to attempt this, but I’ll wait until @Lakis has a go.

[Lakis]

Hm, this is tricky! A first shot:

@ArmandoSaldanamora

“A wealthy old lady (who probably reads too much Ayn Rand) decides to murder [DRIVER OF DECISION] a moocher student neighbor. She commits the perfect crime [GOAL OF OBTAINING] and feels exhilarated and liberated about it [CONSEQUENCE OF BECOMING/DIVIDEND OF SUBCONSCIOUS]. A detective suspects she did it [FOREWARNINGS OF THE CONSCIOUS] - but can’t help but admire the guts and blatant cynicism of the old lady. In the end murderer and detective fall in love [DIVIDEND OF SUBCONSCIOUS] and he promises to visit her every week she spends in jail [OUTCOME OF FAILURE] for the rest of her life.”

@khodu what was your thought?

[Khodu]

Hi @Lakis . Welcome. Here are my thoughts:

Driver: Action. "Wealthy old lady “decides” to murder seems like back story. The murder itself is what sets things in motion.

Consequence: Conceptualizing. ( She has to envision the rest of her life as a prisoner and find her way in prison )

Goal: Understanding. (Seeking the true identity of the murderer. Understanding her motives)

Requirement: Doing ( the detective has to do the physical work to catch her )

Forewarnings: Progress (each time the detective/police makes progress, she is forced to envision a life behind bars)

Limit: Optionlock.

Outcome: Success. (She gets to appreciate what it means to be a killer. The detective truly understands the circumstances around the killing.

Admiring her is a dysfunctional way of thinking, because he knows she’s a killer but he falls for her anyway. This is a Psychology domain for RS.

[Etherbeard]

@ArmandoSaldanamora

A wealthy old lady (who probably reads too much Ayn Rand) decides to murder a moocher student neighbor. She commits the perfect crime and feels exhilarated and liberated about it. A detective suspects she did it - but can’t help but admire the guts and blatant cynicism of the old lady. In the end murderer and detective fall in love and he promises to visit her every week she spends in jail for the rest of her life.

I suspect a lot depends on who the protagonist is, and which parts you want to emphasize. If the detective is the protagonist, then the Goal is probably Obtaining–catch the killer, but it could be Understanding if the emphasis is on the investigation. Then the Consequence is Becoming, which I don’t really see represented, but that’s not super important because this story ends in Success.

If the old lady is the protagonist, then the Goal could still be Obtaining–she wants to get away with it; the detective wants to catch her, but it could also be Becoming if you emphasize the transformation the old lady feels after the murder and the transformation in the romance. Then this story has an already well-defined Consequence of Obtaining–the old lady goes to jail, the couple lose the chance to be together. This story has an Outcome of Failure (there’s an argument that the transformations could be successful, but since one of the feelings was “liberation,” it’s not an argument I’d make).

I like the latter interpretation. The synopsis has a Failure feel to me, and I think Obtaining best captures the loss associated with the Consequences for both characters. I see the detective’s suspicion as [Requirement: Conceiving], but I don’t think the Forewarnings can quite be pinned down. That requires choosing a Domain for the MC (or IC), which I’m not sure we can do. It seems like she should be in Mind, but then again she did murder a man instead of reconsidering her ideology, which seems like a Do-er sort of thing, putting her in Situation and making Forewarnings of The Present.

This is a fun exercise. I’m curious to know if it has an intended solution, or if the point is to demonstrate how you can start with a synopsis, identify these storypoints, then extrapolate a few different forms the story might take?

[ArmandoSaldanamora]

Basically that’s how I see it. The choice of MC and IC depends of what do you want to emphasize – and ultimately defines the genre. In the case of this little example, it could go as a drama (with the old lady as MC) or a crime/mystery (the detective as IC)

[RailwayAdventurer]

It’s an honor to be able to talk with you, Mr Saldaña-Mora. I’m a huge fan of your book (Dramatica for Screenwriters) and I’ve read it several times since I bought it. Thanks for being so willing to help us (and based on your first post, willing to continue helping us) in our writing endeavors.

I actually have a question about the example story in chapter 13 (“Thorough Development”) of the book, the one about Mia and Doctor Williams. At the end of the story, Katherine reveals to Mia that she was responsible for everything, but when Mia threatens to blow the whistle on her, Katherine reminds her of her ongoing personal issue of having psychosis in her family (who also believes she may be experiencing it as well) and tells her she can’t tell if she’s hallucinating the conversation or not or William’s death or anything that’s happened recently.

Following the end of the draft, you mention that the “idea of blurring the boundaries between Mia’s hallucinations and what happens in ‘reality’ and the ‘open ending’ that results from it (where the Main Character—and therefore, the audience—can’t tell exactly which is which) was implied by the Storyform. This is an example of how Dramatica can create an unconventional ending, heightening the genre and creating a very interesting piece.”

What I’m wondering about is how far you can push the idea of an “open ending” while still allowing the audience to fully appreciate the storyform. As described in chapter 22, storyweaving is used to achieve mystery, suspense, and irony, all of which obscure the storyform. However, in all the examples provided in that chapter, the truth is revealed at the end, allowing the audience to understand the events of the story. All of these appear to differ from the “open ending” in Mia’s story.

The Outcome of Success and the Judgement of Bad in Mia’s story are clearly illustrated in the draft. At the same time though, with the lines being blurred (as described above) even after the story ends, how can an audience know if those are the actual storypoints? If the audience can never know what’s real (in the story), how can they understand the meaning of it?

P.S. I’d also like to thank you again for writing such a helpful book. It has accelerated my understanding of Dramatica tremendously.

[ArmandoSaldanamora]

Hey, one of my favorite topics “open endings”! Let’s see two different sides of this:

From the Dramatica point: you can blurry it as much as you want. What “Success” or “Good” means to you (or your characters) is not necessarily what they mean to the rest of the audience. Check out the TV series “Fargo” and they do that all the time. At one point (after a veritable series of massacres that decimate a whole town) the sheriff’s family comes together for supper and they say “the important thing is that we’re together.” Was that a success or a failure? Good or bad? Still, it feels like a complete Success and Good because that’s what it means to the characters.

From the point of view of story narrative: you can blur your ending – as long as you make clear since the beginning that your story is the kind of story that allows an “open ending.” An art-house film, an experimental or somehow high-brow novel… those allow open endings. If you’re writing a run-of-the-mill cineplex movie or a paperback mystery or a children’s story,* it’s better if you refrain from an ending that’s not clearly cut.

*and yes, I’m aware that a lot of you can think of commercial films and novels with open endings, but they were successful due to particular circumstances. Most commercial producers or editors hesitate at that.