Atypical use for Dramatica

writing
#1

Does anyone here use Dramatica as a tool for writing poetry? Or for things outside of writing, for instance inspiring content for visual art? Any other creative ways one is using this powerful content tool?

#2

Hmmm…I’m married to a natural comic, nonstop just because…something in the DNA. When I did a drama major in '98-02, I discovered what Stanyslaski meant when he said some are born with the talent. Every time I came home from class in those four years, I discovered he was already expert in what new thing I was learning, ongoing. Story is story, no matter context, target audience, length or language. Pictures can be a language, too. I hypothesize a successful joke has a storyform, somewhere. Of course, I’m a fly-on-the-wall, here. There was someone who had a very successful ad somethingorother business who used the theory to develop his ads, he told us way back when.

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#3

I find the inquiry fascinating into what other uses or expressions there are for a content creating storyforming tool like Dramatica.

So the potential list grows:

#4

It seems to be pretty effective tool to look at relationships/work/ etc.

@jhull ran a few blog posts on Dramatica for the Real World which is utterly fascinating.

It works in so many areas of life - which is why it works for narrative as well.

#5

I keep thinking about how incredibly important stories are to the human race. I mean, if you look at how we use stories in so many things, and how much money we spend on various forms of them, how important they’ve been through history, how we use them to understand …

… then it follows logically that a proper theory of story MUST have insight into more than just what we typically think of as stories. Such a theory should have insight into how the mind works, how people communicate … and all the things on your growing list.

It seems like evidence is growing that Dramatica is such a theory.

More ideas for your list:

  • Flash fiction. It’s a little more ‘typical’ than the rest of your list, but I’ve been using Dramatica quads to help with writing flash fiction (500 words stories).
  • Running. I’m a runner, and I had an insight about running in icy conditions that is totally explained (and clarified) by Dramatica!
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#6

I feel like I’ve always had this intuition – that stories are hugely important to us, not just mere escape from “reality” (what the heck is that?). Dramatica has been the unquestionable proof of this – that we need more than just roads, bridges, plumbing, roofs over our heads etc. There are so many voices urging one to get a “real job”, or pursue something “realistic”. I just wish Dramatica didn’t have so damn steep learning curve; it would beso easy to prove the inherent value in deeply meaningful human to human communication.

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#7

I think this is maybe considered a more typical use now, but I’ve been trying to apply it to real life situations. The ideas about linear and holistic thinkers and looking at others perspectives has helped in several instances. If it hasn’t helped me avoid an issue, it’s at least helped me understand it better after the fact.

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#8

Yes. And Melanie has referred to it in some of here videos. I’d love to know more of your experience using Dramatica for relationship/work issues. How about starting a new thread on that subject?

Love the divergent quality of this thread all the various creative paths its bringing up.

#9

Yes, mlucas. This year I’m becoming more and more aware that story is everything and everywhere. Take the election last year. Trump touted a story that was easier for the key voters to relate to and then mobilize. And perhaps there was another storyline or two threaded in there too.

I’ve used Dramatica quads for a few flash fiction pieces too. I feel it created a quality of completion even though the piece were very, very short.

Share your insights into running that you used Dramatica to structure. It would be a great example to see how we can apply it to real world items and issues.

#10

I hear you @VIlle. Narrative seems so much more important or rather so much more in the forefront today than ever before.

In regards to the learning curve: Persistence is the key it seems.

#11

Would love to see some real life issues threads started here I’d like to become more deft at that sort of application of Dramatica.

#12

I can see correlations between Dramatica theory and theories of proportion (Like the Golden Section and other dynamic symmetries) found in art and design. @jhull even makes mention of them in his current article: Dramatica: A Fractal Model of Story Structure (http://narrativefirst.com/articles/dramatica-a-fractal-model-of-story-structure).

In artworks like Picasso’s Guernica, the dynamic symmetries are layered in groups to form a larger structure within the piece. In this case Picasso developed this work on a Root 5 rectangle structure, which is comprised of 5 root 5 rectangles within it. Arguably it contributes to the overall “narrative” within the piece.

These fractal “russian doll” structures never cease to fascinate. They are part of a formal education in design I was lucky enough to receive in architecture school and had been taught in the great beaux art and design schools. Not sure how much it is taught anymore in schools. But it is where creativity and math meet. Much like it does in the workings underneath Dramatica Theory and in nature itself.

I’ve considered lately that in addition to using theories of dynamic symmetry in art, one could use Dramatica to suggest content for art just as with writing, whether it’s using a quad to suggest themes for a narrative within a piece or something larger that approaches a gran argument story, like how the use of the layered Root 5 rectangles within Guernica form an overall structure within a vary complex (epic even) painting.

#13

Though I haven’t worked through any of the elements and placed them into a storyform to find solutions as such, rather I have noticed elements from Dramatica theory and just knowing that has shed light on a situation.

Pretty much as @Gregolas said:

To share a few elements from my life:

  • I know someone who is very, very holistic in their problem solving, and it tended to frustrate me no end. We would both see the issues at hand, and for me it would be just deal with the issue. This colleague would then go about “dealing with the issue” by changing something that had little to do with the issue at hand - but changing that would have a knock on effect that would then force the party involved to deal with the issue. It drove me nuts! As it would take so much more time for it to work, and its success wasn’t guaranteed. But understanding that they solve problems in this way helped me deal with it.

  • A few of my friends have been dealing with problems, and being able to work out if the problem is internal or external has been of great help. If they have been “stuck in a rut” then seeing where this comes from (externally/situationally motivated) or (internally/fixed attitude) has helped us pin point the issues at hand, and ways of moving forward. Either remain steadfast, and weather the storm (with a growth of stop) or take action learn something new to push ahead. (with a growth of start).

  • On a personal/spiritual note - and take this as you will. I come back to the Steadfast nature of God and wonder if there is something in the fact that us as humans seem to need to change. I believe that seen from the outside, there is something meaningful in that. I haven’t worked that through fully - to really get to grips with it, but there is an inkling of a thought there that the story of our lives, when compared to something unchanging brings meaning to a lot of peoples lives.

That what comes to mind at the moment. Dramatica seems to be everywhere - if you are aware of it.

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#14

@MiggsEye
See Dram in Real Life Life . How’s that?

#15

It’s seeing life happening as a story unfolding.

#16

This may not be the best thread to have posted this on, but regarding this idea:[quote=“Gregolas, post:7, topic:925”]
The ideas about linear and holistic thinkers and looking at others perspectives has helped in several instances.
[/quote]
The other day I was scanning through an article about a stay at home mom that would be in a bad mood sometimes because she lives where she works and thus she had no way of separating her home from her work and she felt responsible for the state of the house, etc, while the husband could go to work and then come home and he could keep his work at work and his home at home. Many of the comments on the article were from working women who said that they felt the same way despite working outside of the home. I wonder if looking at these situations through Dramatica’s concepts of Linear and Holistic problem solvers might not be able to explain a bit of that.

Here’s how I see it. If a Linear Problem Solver comes home and is tired, he wants to attack that problem in a direct manner. Thus he scoots the clean clothes that are lying on the bed needing to be folded over to one side, lays down, and rests for a few minutes. The Holistic Problem Solver, however, cannot do this perhaps not because the house is both her home and her office and she is unable to separate them (remember, working women said they felt this way too), but because the clothes, though scooted over, are still in the space that she tends. And though scooting the clothes over gives her a place to lay down for a quick nap, they still represent a pressure point creating a deficiency of cleanliness within the house that affect her ability to relax while laying down. For the Linear thinker, the clothes, once scooted over, are no longer directly in his path and thus no longer a problem.