MC Solution Vs Response

writing
#1

Hi All,

I’m hoping you can help me figure out how to develop the MC Solution and Response. And I may even be trying to figure out if I landed on the correct storyform. I think I have, as when I fill in most of the storypoints things line up pretty well. Except for this, or at least this is where I’m not, apparently, thinking about it right.

Anyway, so my MCs main problem is free will (uncontrolled) her people don’t have any. With the solution of Being Caged (controlled) which is what happens to her at the end of this story Success (she gets the thing that everyone was after) but loses even more of her freedom/freewill than she had at the start of the story (bad).

But here’s where I get confused. Dramatica says:

“…if she is solving the problem, the Main Character’s Solution is the one thing she must avoid at all costs.”
and:
“…However, in the Success/Bad and Failure/Good stories, the author’s message is that the Main Character was actually the cause of everyone’s problems and therefore, what drove her was really the source of the inequity.”

She does need to avoid being caged, but that’s what happens (hence bad) But she is definitely not the source the inequity–not even close, that is a societal/social ill.

How am I supposed to reconcile these two things? Do I just have the wrong storyform?

All and any help appreciated.

~Jass

#2

I assume the MC knows they don’t have free will, which would make it the Symptom, not the actual problem …

#3

Well… hmmm. I don’t know that I’d say that. She is one of the “free ones” but knows that her compatriots are not free. Even at the end of the story, she is choosing the cage, in hoping to make a difference on the other side. But she still will have to have a moment of choice between choosing death for her and another, vs captivity. At the end she won’t have freedom and will know what she’s lost.

#4

Diane, I don’t know if this will help, but have you looked at the Dramatica Examples storyform for Braveheart? Your notes about your story reminded me of some elements in that story, so I thought I’d recommend you look at that storyform (the MC ends Steadfast, and it’s Success/Good even though he dies for it).

But first, I’m assuming your MC resolves Steadfast in her commitment to opposing the authorities. Is that correct?

If so, then perhaps the Overall Story Problem is Control (the authorities crave it, your MC and her “people” resist it), and even though the MC ends up caged, the IC is finally converted to Change and take up leadership of the rebels. Which satisfies your MC that the Freedom Movement will continue and she has passed on the baton to its new leader.

(Of course I may not be envisioning your story at all well. But if any of my speculations are close, then see how they align with Braveheart…)

To relate the above to your query: If your MC ends Steadfast, then her “problem” is actually more her “drive.” And this drive goes up against the characters in the Overall Story who oppose her drive, who reject her way of thinking. So their “problem” is NOT the same as hers; to some degree, she is their problem, but they just see her as a pest .

E.g., in the Braveheart storyform, the Relationship Story is where Control is the Problem and Uncontrol is the Solution. But the Overall Story Problem is Conscience (the authorities oppose any citizens who have one), and their Solution is to use use Temptation to lure William Wallace into a trap.

However, Wallace’s Problem/Drive is Consider, because he keeps trying to get the English (and Scottish) nobles to Consider that the Scottish people should be free. And, as a Steadfast character, he continues in that Drive to the very end, screaming out “Freedom!” even as horses pull his body into four quarters.

And Braveheart is still a Success/Good story, because Wallace dies true to his principles, and the IC, Scottish lord Robert the Bruce, hefts up his sword to become the committed new leader of the Scottish rebellion.

#5

Yes, Key! That’s it exactly. She’s made a convert on the other side. I will dicker with the storyform with your suggestions.

Ugh. I wish Dramatica moved things when you changed the storyform instead of clearing them.

#6

Diane, I recommend using Dramatica’s “FIle–>Save a Copy…” option (and just add a revision number after retyping in the name of your story).

That way you can keep all your various iterations of a story’s storyforms, along with whatever illustrations you have already typed in, then keep multiple versions of the storyform open in layers so you can compare and cut and paste between them.