# DNA and Dramatica **URL:** https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/dna-and-dramatica/2273 **Category:** Writing **Created:** [January 16, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/dna-and-dramatica/2273 "2019-01-16T14:16:56Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 12
### Author: ![mlucas](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mlucas/32/275_2.png) [@mlucas](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/mlucas) #### Post date: [January 17, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/dna-and-dramatica/2273/12 "2019-01-17T17:51:36Z")
Here is my process. Note, often I just jump into writing the scene without doing the below, but then come back to these steps if/when I have any trouble with the scene. 1. Figure out the scene (what it’s about, setting, protagonist, goal, conflict, disaster/twist). 2. Figure out / guess at the Situation, Attitude, Activity, and Manner of Thinking (KTAD). Often these are imperfect guesses, with a lot of question marks. Things clarify as the scene gets written. 3. If I really think I need to, or am just procrastinating, try to assign PRCO to the above. 4. Sometimes I feel like knowing the Element quad\* might help. I can’t always figure one out, and usually don’t try. But, sometimes it can be really fun to guess at. I’ve learned that if I try to guess at it before I start writing, I’m almost always wrong. So, I generally do this step after I’m partway into a scene. When I get this to work it’s because one element really sticks out in the scene, and its dynamic pair seems to be in there too. So then I look at all the 4 quads with that element, and see if the other dynamic pair is present or fits. Sometimes one quad fits REALLY well, other times I kind of pencil in a couple guessed quads and leave it. (This step can be really fun after you’re scene’s already written – and may work best for revision anyway!) \* I think a scene is usually based on an Element quad but once in a while it might be another level, like a Variation quad. * * * Maybe if I get a chance later I could post my notes from a recent scene. Pretty stream-of-consciousness stuff but it might help to have an example. --- _[View the full topic](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/dna-and-dramatica/2273)._