How to Handle Story Evolution/Development in Dramatica?

[iGregor]

Several months ago, while stalled on a lengthy and rather complicated/convoluted project, I returned in desperation to Dramatica for help. I had dabbled with Dramatica Pro on and off for years, but was never able to make much practical use of it. Now, with my recent discovery and upgrade to DSExpert, something seemed to click. With a great deal of effort and re-reading of instruction manuals/examples/discussion postings and the like I’ve been able to break some of the code and take my project step by step past Illustration into StoryWeaving of the Level 3 StoryGuide.

I’m now at the rubber-meets-the-road step of Scene Creation, though, and need some help/guidance. As I create and develop scenes I notice that many of the story points in the table on the Scene Creation page are, not surprisingly, not consistent with the way my story is now in my head. Clearly since I made the entry in the StoryGuide I have changed my mind about some things, and now am puzzled how to reconcile what is in my head with what I’ve previously entered into DSE. This creates two problems. First, how to ensure that all of the changes in my mind haven’t violated some critical element in the DSE theory. And second, how to make the text of the story points that were entered during previous steps in the StoryGuide consistent with what is now in my head.

My concern on the first point is that while I’m not so wed to Dramatica theory that I would expect to proceed with my story as if in some straight-jacket, I’d like, at least, to get some signal when I’ve crossed some theoretical line. Can DSE do this? How?

My second point can be illustrated with a trivial example. Suppose I have previously entered into the StoryGuide that Dick (main character) is somewhat of a control freak and an SOB, and I have decided to illustrate that by having Dick meet Jane (influence character) at a restaurant where he insists on ordering for her. But now as I create the scene I decide that I want them to meet at an airport where Dick, without consulting Jane, changes their reservations for some destination with which he knows she will not agree. How is this to be treated in DSE? I’ve tried editing the text illustrated in the table on the Scene Creation page, but although it allows me to change the text I cannot get it to stick. Is it necessary to track back to where I first entered the text? If so, how to find the place where the text was entered easily so as not to get distracted and loose the spirit of my muse in the moment?

Thanks.

[jhull]

I would say it’s time to stop writing in Dramatica.

I explore all my throughlines and write all my screenplays in the same basic TXT file. It’s small, can easily be transported and worked on on any device, and it will always be with me until the end of time.

I do not actually type anything into the Dramatica app because–as you are now finding out–it’s a pain to get anything out of it and a pain to move things around. Outliner 4D is far superior for that kind of thing (if you run a PC).

Personally I have found that I don’t need to keep track of all that stuff. Once you know the story well enough to finish the Level 3 Guide, you know the story. You don’t need Dramatica anymore and you shouldn’t have to worry about leaving anything out. You don’t get points for making sure you get all the appreciations in for each Act and no one will care whether or not the Overall Story Symptom of Self-Aware was accurately portrayed during the 3rd Overall Signpost of Impulsive Responses. All that matters is that you write a great and engaging story.

The great thing is – you already know the structure of the thing is rock solid. Now you can simply start writing (again I use just a plain text file) and allow your instincts to guide you along the way. If you want to change the scene, just change the scene like you would if you were writing without Dramatica.

I have found the Fountain format to be a great companion to working with Dramatica. All my exploration of the throughlines takes place in this same text file and I use double brackets [[]] to enclose Storytelling information for different appreciations. Fountain will disregard these during the final export (much like Notes in Screenwriter). This way I can easily copy and paste them into other scenes if I wish. I can also write the actual screenplay within the same text file. This way – if I ever have an idea for a scene, or a bit of dialogue – I can just pull out my phone and make the changes quickly and easily.

I have used this approach on several projects this year with great results. Dramatica is a great learning tool, but not great when it comes to actually writing something. I haven’t touched the StoryGuides in years, but did quite frequently when I was first learning the theory. Once you have everything to a point where you don’t need to actually explore what your story is about and what it means, then I think it’s best to put it aside and open up whatever word processor you love and start writing.

[Chadwick]

Thanks for asking that. I haven’t made it to that stage in developing any story yet, though I have been through the examples of Novel, Short Story, and Screenplay in Dramatica Pro.

First Response: It sounds like you are talking about what the scenes represent from the dramatica appreciations (like MC Concern, etc) listed underneath the scene. I haven’t used Story Expert since I have a PC, but if it is still based on the same principle, then you can change both the text in the scene window AND what that text represents from the dramatica appreciations. It’s just a tool to help remind you what is there and developing multi-appreciation moments. (That is how I have been thinking about scene creation - I hope it offers some (if limited) help)

Second Response: Again, something I am also thinking about without a lot of experience, so what it is worth: Have you looked at the Structure with Treatment report?? That is what it is called in D Pro.

If they are at the restaurant, is she responding to his insistence to order for her?
If they are at the airport, is she responding to his having already ordered for her (in effect)?
Some response??? Different order of events?? Different meaning? If I am up to date, the only order that is set in stone is the ACT order, so the rest of it is basically by intuition. This is a fuzzy area for me. So, don’t let me distract you.

Again, for what it is worth.
Good luck - others will have a more experienced response.

EDIT: Jim beat me to it, so there is already a more experienced response. Should I delete this one so as not to confuse the issues?

[iGregor]

Thanks, Chadwick & jHull. You’ve helped me appreciate that I might have reached the limits of what is useful to wring out of DSE – which has served quite well to help me through the chaos and confusion that had me stalled in a cul de sac. And now, since I’m allergic to PCs (so Outliner 4D won’t help) and writing a novel (so Fountain’s not the right fit), I’ll happily return to Scrivener with a sound structure in mind to continue developing/weaving the story.

[Chadwick]

Sounds good. I’m glad my poor response was not ill-received.

I was actually thinking of Scrivener when I read JHull’s right after I commented. I use Scrivener and use Dramatica Pro as reference to try things out with the engine and use the DQS for getting an overview of all the areas I have left to cover.

Scrivener is my best friend though.

Good luck and happy writing.