Feature Request: Customize and order scenes from PSR

technology
#1

Feature Request.

The order of events in the PSR should be able to be shuffled, even going as far to to be able to create a master list of all PSR scenes from all through lines ordered legally, but to the author’s needs.

#2

I think some folks on here have created Excel spreadsheets to do this.

@Gernot maybe?

A lot of people use the software just for storyforming, and then do all their illustrations in some other tool.

#4

You can create scenes based on the PSR report – and shuffle them manually – in Dramatica Story Expert for Mac by doing the following:

  1. In Dramatica Story Expert, get down to a single storyform using any of the many tools to do so. For my test I picked a random storyform using the Project > Pick Random Storyform menu command.

  2. Go to the StoryGuide window.

  3. Select the Instant Dramatica button.

  4. Select the Using the Plot Sequence Report button.

  5. Either go through Armando’s process naming and illustrating the scenes, OR skip ahead to the Creating 64 Scenes topic.

  6. Click on the Create Sixty-Four Scenes based on the Plot Sequence Report button. This creates the 64 PSR scenes and moves you to the Scene List topic.

  7. Click and drag the scenes into any order you want.

#5

To test, I followed your instructions. I then dragged and dropped an MC Signpost 4 scene to a point above an RS Signpost 3 scene. To the best of my understanding, this should be illegal. All Signpost 3 scenes should occur before any Signpost 4 scene. And there’s no warning that an illegal action has occurred.
Just something to keep in mind as the opportunity comes up to fix it.

very respectfully

#6

I’m going to venture to say, that it’s not an illegal action to move a Signpost 4 scene into Signpost 3 territory. It might be recommended by the general conventions described in many of the videos (by Melanie Ann, for instance) to finish all Signposts 1 before moving onto Signpost 2, then 3, then 4—being more or less, good or typical story-weaving practice. But I also recall her saying one could weave a story, ala Rashomon, where one could complete each throughline from Signpost 1-4 before moving on to the next throughline. For instance, one could complete the entire or majority of the main character’s throughline, then move on to the influence character’s, then the relationship story throughline, and then finish with the overall story throughline, thus describing 4 complete points of views in succession, rather than knitted together like a typical narrative. I wonder whether “Pulp Fiction” has signpost elements out of recommended order as well.

So while moving a Signpost 4 scene into Signpost 3 territory may not be a typical or recommended story-weaving move, it might not actually be “illegal” in the software—they’ve left that story-weaving decision up to the author rather than the software to decide. I like that freedom myself.

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#7

The most productive way for me today is once I have a complete story form I copy the “Story Engine Settings” Report into a Word document. The documents becomes later my binder for all my illustrations and research material for the current project. I usually have one word document full of stuff (filled-out storyform, notes for theme and character, misc) when I start my first draft.

When I copy the contents of the report first time into the word doc, I make a table with two colums. Whats before the double dots (MC RESOLVE: Change) in the report comes in the first column, whats behind in the second one.

If I change the story form later, usually that happens many times, I override in the word doc the second column manually with the new selections - but can keep my illustrations.

I have tried to work directly in dramatica but this is to cumbersome epically when it comes to copy and paste notes from one section to another one.

I also tried Excel, but Excel doesn’t really work for me as it is to “technical” and hinders my muse to work.

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#8

Yeah I have the same reaction to Excel.

I have tried a few different approaches. Most recently I pasted the PSR into an outlining program called Outlinely, which I can then export to Ulysses (where I do all my drafting at the moment). It’s not a perfect workflow though.

#9

Storyweaving allows you to move around the pieces of the story as you want. Doing so does NOT change the internal order (i.e. plot). For example:

SCENE 1: The family goes to the restaurant
SCENE 2: The family squabbles as they sit down at the table
SCENE 3: The restaurant explodes in an enormous fireball
SCENE 4: The night before an unknown person places a bomb in the restaurant

Even though the order of events are presented sequentially, the internal logic dictates that Scene 4 occurred before Scene 1 chronologically / plot-wise.

This means YOU need to keep in mind what the plot order is when you mix it up through storyweaving.

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#10

Just want to point this out so that it’s absolutely clear to those new to Dramatica: Signposts are set based on the order of events in the chronology of the story. Even if Signpost 4 is shown to the audience first, it’s still Signpost 4 (i.e, stuff that happened after Signpost 3).

(It took me a while to understand this.)

#11

I was about to ask about that when I saw your post. Thanks.