Okay, that’s it. I’m sold. I bought a second tier subscription to Subtxt/Dramatica, and today I discovered it’s worth every dollar.
Over the past few days, I’ve been playing with building a novel from nothing but throwaway idea. I finished the Storyform, which in the beginning I thought I’d toss because I was just playing around, kicking tires, but it’s turned out to be a viable plot.
I’ve used the Dramatica Pro software for decades, but Subtext/Dramatica has added so much more… well… MORE. I’ve also played with ChatGPT (the unpaid online version) for months to do obscure-but-detailed medieval research related to other projects. The results were okay, but nothing I was ready to pay to access. (Always double-check the details. Always. AI gets finicky dates and stuff wrong.)
I moved into the Characters section of Storyforming today, and this is where things got interesting. My vague idea has grown to the point that my Muse was throwing out more twisty-plot scene ideas as I was working on Characters. (Annoying because I’m NOT going back to Storyform to add the new scenes; I’ll do it manually, I guess? I’ve always wished Dramatica Pro let me start with characters rather than plot.)
My Muse demanded an answer to the following question, and Right Now (I’ve learned not to ignore her, or she runs off to sit in the dark and sulk and refuse to give me any more ideas for at least 24 hours): “Who would have arrested a woman who was using little demons to purchase items in York, England’s marketplace in the late 15th century? And where would she have been imprisoned?”
Instead of opening ChatGPT, I opened a separate Storyguide, named it “Ongoing Misc Medieval Research” and asked it that question. And got the answer. With sources – reliable ones. Yeah, ChatGPT could have given me the same answer. (I checked, the results align, even if they aren’t identical.)
But Subtxt/Dramatica didn’t sell me on the additional feature of, “Hey, you can do medieval research right inside the program and kiss ChatGPT goodbye.” AND IT SHOULD HAVE. Because I’m constantly doing a ton of research in all sorts of weird subjects, and my job just got 100% easier. So yeah. Subtxt/Dramatica is totally worth it.
“I’ll help you write stories AND help you research. All under just one effective site and subscription.” Never saw that coming.
