Hi,
I haven’t found a discussion treating this.
In problem quads, the only given example of Problem Solution / Focus Direction is associating Problem with its Companion Element as Focus in Quad (and so Solution - Direction). Is it never the Dependent Element ?
Yes, it can be Dependent Pairs as well. It depends if it’s a Start or Stop Story.
Start - Problem and Focus are Dependant (vertical) Pairs
Stop - Problem and Focus are Companion (horizontal) Pairs
Wow. Thanks !
I can’t find this in my version of the Dramatica book.
Is that described either in a new edition, somewhere online, or only in the software ?
No problem! It’s written nowhere as far as I can tell, but it’s related to the Throughlines (MC and OS Throughlines will be horizontally aligned in Stop stories and vertically aligned in Start stories) which was written somewhere. I just recently found it while playing around with the software.
The focus is also known as the response. Diagonal to it is the symptom. So, there’s four elements; problem, solution, response, and symptom which form one larger square - a variation. The question is whether the response lies clockwise or counter-clockwise to the problem.
The Focus is the Symptom
The Direction is the Response
The relationship between the Focus and the Problem mirrors the relationship between the Overall and Main Character Throughlines.
Stop - the Focus is aligned horizontally
Start - the Focus is aligned vertically