Breaking Down Story Units for Novels

[Lakis]

@didomachiatto

I notice that the event list that shows up is sometimes (!) under the same domain as the signpost, sometimes under another throughline’s signpost, sometimes under a different act’s signpost of a different throughline. I’m wondering if it’s just a random spattering of ideas generated when you come to a final storyform.

It’s not random - pretty sure it’s part of the “secret sauce” Dramatica algorithm (like Signpost order) that Melanie and Chris figured out in the 90s. It has to do with how the storyform is “twisted up” like a rubik’s cube and unwound over the course of the story. So I don’t know if it’s possible (or necessary) to figure out why its that way, but the experience of a lot of people suggest it works.

@didomachiatto

Regarding Suspense, Irony and Mystery (Armando’s book, Ch 22).
He suggests moving concrete blocks into a different order to create suspense, etc. Would it not also be the case for the signpost events?

This is storytelling rather than structure. So the order of events exists in one way in the story, but the author reveals them in a different order to create a certain dramatic effect. This is what Jim was getting at in that other thread you linked to:

@jhull

While you could tell this Scene in the exact 1234 order, you could also Storyweave them in a complete different order while maintaining the structural integrity of the 1234 order.

For instance, you could open up with the preteens descending on the town square, rebelling and vandalizing the area (Current). Perhaps a parent arrives to save their child from the Snatch Squad, revealing the older generations’ motivation for doing so (Resistance). The kid could end up being the Main Character and though he tries as hard as he can to resist, his father succeeds in securing him away just in time – and just in time to watch the rest of the children disappear off the streets forever.

On the drive home, the father could be overly attentive and the son could take advantage of it (Outcome). They turn on the radio to hear the nightly reading the of the numbers–like a weather report, 13% from now and through the weekend (Potential).