Laying out the sequences

writing
#1

I decided to lay out the plot of my storyform with the sequences stacked inside the acts – and something amazing happened. I could suddenly think of what was happening in my story holistically on the sequence level and how the sequences connected to the acts – how what was going on in the different throughlines connected so beautifully into a single plot. My ability to brainstorm was instantly boosted.

Obviously, I’m not saying all the throughlines go through the acts in perfect synchronicity. But I remember reading somewhere that often the same action in a story can encode several throughlines at the same time, and I can definitely see that with the sequences stacked. I feel like having the names of the sequences close to each other for me to read helps in seeing the plot as a one happening instead of: “OK, now what’s going on with Work, Attraction, Repulsion and Attempt?” Now, I see the question as more like: “What’s going on with Sense of Self, Destiny, Enlightenment and Falsehood? OH! I got it… They all connect!”

So, I’m wondering why isn’t this a feature in the Dramatica software? I would definitely see myself having it as my favorite tool after arriving at a single storyform.

Sci-fi - Act sequence.pdf (116.7 KB)

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#2

It’s hard to put every good idea in there…

#3

That’s a cool image, thanks for posting it.

#4

Odd thing is, when I lay my story out like that, the 1st and 2nd sequences for MC, RS, and IC are all the same (knowledge and thought).

#5

Uh, are you talking about element level or variation level? because on variation level, the knowledge thought pair should only be in one throughline. And where would you get the element level?

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#6

table (4).pdf (75.2 KB)

I’ve attached the file here. You’ll have to change the file extension from pdf to html.

#7

Ok, you got this from my table of scenes generator, and you’re talking about the Element level.
The thing is, on the tool it says “(guessed) Element-Level Progression” (emphasis mine). These do not come from the software, they are simply the elements underneath the variations coming from the plot sequence report.

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#8

You have a table of scenes generator? May I look at it? Sounds interesting!

#9

Here you go https://raskoph.lima-city.de/dramatica/sceneTable.html

#10

Nice catch. Thanks.

I started reading JHull’s article on the four modalities of scenes right after I read your article here. So, naturally, I’m asking myself “what kind of interactions do the two ideas have?”

#11

wow thank you, he said, using more than the minimum 20 characters.

#12

hmm so the idea is, you paste the PSR into bottom textbox, and then get output in the top textbox?

#13

You post the Story Points Output report in the top box and the Plot Sequence Report in the bottom box.
In neither case should you include gists or vocabulary.

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#14

@bobRaskoph how long does the table of scene generator take to work? I punched the button and am sitting here staring at it, and it’s staring at me. about two minutes have passed.

#15

Please send me more information per PM. What browser are you using? Also send the two texts you are putting into the input areas.

Also, just an FYI, writing a complaint in multiple threads is not going to make me more likely to respond. This kind of thing generally has the opposite effect.

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#16

oh. okay. sorry about that. i slack a lot at work and am used to ‘connecting in’ people in conversations. it wasn’t intended as haranguing, though I can see why you’d take it that way.

anyway, I read @mlucas (you see what I did there? :slight_smile: ) and his suggestion of eliminating vocab and illustrations worked.