Be-er "Tricks" vs Passive Do-er

[didomachiatto]

I know that sometimes the story requires for the MC to be a Be-er, which in books at least hints toward a weak protagonist. What are tricks you use to make a passive Doer (linear PS/OS physics) be a bit more proactive?

My Be-er is a Do-er, but in a story where her issue is DELAY/AVOID and her CF is Denial. So she’s skirting things all the time, hiding, trying things but in secret. The MC/OS solution is from Avoid to Pursuit. So she does have to be proactive.

The question remains. How can a person who is in a delay/avoid situation be seen as a Do-er when it lends itself to “seeming” like a passive protagonist.

[Lakis]

@didomachiatto

My Be-er is a Do-er, but in a story where her issue is DELAY/AVOID and her CF is Denial.

@didomachiatto I’m confused by this. It sounds like your character is actually a Do-er – Delay/Avoid is under Universe/Future. If the OS Problem is also Avoid, then she’ll actually change from Do-er to Be-er by the end of the story.

Keep in mind that Avoid is also Prevent. So it’s very easy to imagine a character who is actively doing everything she can to avoid, prevent, or escape from a problem rather than confronting it. These actions would cause further problems until she learns to take some kind of internal action to change the situation (prompted by the actions of the IC, though not necessarily directly).

[didomachiatto]

In all these years with Dramatica, this is the first time I’ve heard that the change area for the MC is the Approach. I thought the change was in the area of the problem/solution or with regard to the crucial element. Now I hear it’s they go from Do-er to Be-er or vice versa. Interesting.

Yes, in my storyform as it stands-- as it stood as I “finished” my novel and am doing some lightweight revisions. ( )-- she is a do-er. Even as I rework some elements of the storyform, the story works because of her goals.

Of course I see her in the story go from a be-er to a do-er in spite of the storyform. Or we can say using her mind to tackle the problem to using her body.

Does this warrant a reworking of the entire storyform? Or just redefining what has been going on already? Sometimes I envy people who use Save the Cat. Sigh.

[Lakis]

@didomachiatto

In all these years with Dramatica, this is the first time I’ve heard that the change area for the MC is the Approach. I thought the change was in the area of the problem/solution or with regard to the crucial element. Now I hear it’s they go from Do-er to Be-er or vice versa.

It’s actually the whole throughline (which includes Approach, since e.g. moving from Universe to Mind is moving from Do-er to Be-er).

Here’s an old thread that might be helpful:

Does a change main character's "flipped" perspective need to match the influence character's perspective?

Enter the MC and IC crucial elements. While at the macro level the IC represents a huge paradigm shift by comparison to the MC – an internal approach v. an external approach, or vice versa – the crucial element provides the specific connective tissue at the element level. The MC Throughline and the IC throughline provide contrasts in perspective (“You and I are just alike,” “No, we’re nothing alike!”), the crucial elements provide direct, oppositional approaches within the OS. If you wish to…

[jhull]

@didomachiatto

I know that sometimes the story requires for the MC to be a Be-er, which in books at least hints toward a weak protagonist.

Red in Shawshank Redemption. Ralph in Lord of the Flies. Gordie in Stand By Me—all Main Characters in novels with an Approach of Be-er.

Format does not influence the strength or weakness of a Storypoint.

[didomachiatto]

@Lakis

since e.g. moving from Universe to Mind is moving from Do-er to Be-er).

Oh. Okay. As far as that goes, I understand. But it’s only in regards to this situation, correct? In a continuation of a series, the MC could still be a do-er, just “well informed” about the issues involved in previous books/episodes.

Somewhere I read that the change arc of superheroes was Change, Steadfast, Change–would that require they were Do-er, Be-er, Do-er if there are three episodes/trilogy?

[jhull]

@didomachiatto

Somewhere I read that the change arc of superheroes was Change, Steadfast, Change–would that require they were Do-er, Be-er, Do-er if there are three episodes/trilogy?

You mis-read or mis-heard that as there is no “change arc” for superheroes.

[didomachiatto]

Okay, @jhull, I found it. It was referred to on this…

@Jeremy

I’ve thought about Super Hero movies starting with change (origin stories), then shifting to steadfast, finally going back to change when the series ends.

So what would the answer be about new episodes? New structure/storyform altogether, regardless of previous treatment?

[jhull]

@didomachiatto

In all these years with Dramatica, this is the first time I’ve heard that the change area for the MC is the Approach. I thought the change was in the area of the problem/solution or with regard to the crucial element. Now I hear it’s they go from Do-er to Be-er or vice versa.

That’s because it is not a part of the original theory, but rather a pattern noticed over time and now assumed to be a given.

A Main Character with a Changed Resolve does not automatically move from one Domain to the opposite (e.g., Universe to Mind) anymore than a Main Character Mindset (Problem-solving Process) of Linear automatically sets an Influence Character Mindset of Holistic.

You can do these things to reinforce the Storypoint but they are not required, nor existent across all Storyforms.

[jhull]

You should do what reinforces your point-of-view of the world. There is no pattern of episodes or cycles to trilogies anymore than there is one story to our lives that we all tell in different ways.

The link you provided is an example of a writer projecting his understanding of the world across multiple Storyforms. Another writer would project an alternate sequence of meanings—one that aligns with her unique view of the world.

The purpose of a storyform is to help broadcast your message, not dictate it. You first need to figure out what it is you want to say and then find the Storyform that best communicates your intention.

[Lakis]

@jhull

A Main Character with a Changed Resolve does not automatically move from one Domain to the opposite (e.g., Universe to Mind) anymore than a Main Character Mindset (Problem-solving Process) of Linear automatically sets an Influence Character Mindset of Holistic.

You can do these things to reinforce the Storypoint but they are not required, nor existent across all Storyforms.

Oh interesting. Thanks for the clarification – sorry if I caused any confusion.

[jhull]

No worries. Always good to reinforce that the exceptions to the “rule” are the rule.