# Steadfast by another name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Dramatica Theory\ **Created:** [September 18, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606 "2019-09-18T17:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakis](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/lakis/32/1816_2.png) [@Lakis](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Lakis)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/1 "2019-09-18T17:07:39Z")
Anyone else here interested in weighing in on this YouTube video? Jim left a comment. I feel like we should take the opportunity to point out that such at a thing as a Steadfast character exists… [![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/uploads/dramatica/original/2X/f/f3865d479bfb4577f41be7be67e6f504c69d5a25.jpeg "Writing Characters Without Character Arcs") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot02hMJ6Hkk) ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/2 "2019-09-18T23:43:47Z")
Do I predict echos of the _flat arc_ in this video? ---
**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:** [September 19, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/3 "2019-09-19T00:31:20Z")
Come on, what could have more dramatic potential than a flat arc? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/4 "2019-09-19T03:57:27Z")
Having now opened the video, “flat arc” is mentioned in the third comment. … and there it is, at 1:21… I forgot KM Weiland coined it, or popularized it at any rate. It is a little tough for me to hear • “Weiland calls it the Impact Character” • “These movies are really about the Impact Character” • “The supporting characters all have arcs…” Alas. ---
**Author:** ![MWollaeger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/mwollaeger/32/82_2.png) [@MWollaeger](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/MWollaeger)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 4:14am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/5 "2019-09-19T04:14:52Z")
Ugh, and I just watched some video about character arcs that showed up in the Autoplay column and it was such drivel. And the comments were full of honeyed thanks and gratuity. I used to think that I was missing something because I couldn’t see what was being taught (“Character Arc comes from learning new skills you need to reach your goal.”)—sometimes I still wish I were still naive enough to understand what that even means—but in reality I feel so grateful to have stumbled on Dramatica and recognized that it was the cohesive theory I needed to organize my thoughts on writing. ---
**Author:** ![Lakis](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/lakis/32/1816_2.png) [@Lakis](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Lakis)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 11:00am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/6 "2019-09-19T11:00:32Z")
> [@MWollaeger](#): > > I feel so grateful to have stumbled on Dramatica and recognized that it was the cohesive theory I needed to organize my thoughts on writing I’m still surprised that Dramatica is not more well known. I remember when I stumbled on it – I think it was actually this very idea. Not even sure what I googled, but it was about steadfast characters which led me to Narrative First. I do understand that the theory is complex (like many here, I’m still struggling with the practical application of it). But that video could have just credited Dramatica and then said “for more information about the theory, check out…” ---
**Author:** ![Greg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@Greg](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Greg)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/7 "2019-09-19T11:16:26Z")
Wish I could have found Jim’s comment, or that YouTube would let me leave comments instead of giving me an ‘oops, something went wrong’ screen. I wonder how often people who make money off of story ideas about flat arcs and heroes journeys and saving cats find Dramatica and think to themselves ‘that’s so true and so much better than what I was trying to say’ but can’t say so because then they’d have to give up their own attempts to explain story. I’m not faulting those people, mind you, just wondering about how often it happens. ---
**Author:** ![Lakis](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/lakis/32/1816_2.png) [@Lakis](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/Lakis)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 11:43am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/8 "2019-09-19T11:43:05Z")
> [@Greg](#): > > Wish I could have found Jim’s comment, You have to click on “sort” by most recent – it’s either at the top or near it. > [@Greg](#): > > I wonder how often people who make money off of story ideas about flat arcs and heroes journeys and saving cats find Dramatica and think to themselves ‘that’s so true and so much better than what I was trying to say’ but can’t say so because then they’d have to give up their own attempts to explain story. I don’t think it even has to be a money-making thing. I maintain that many of these other approaches can work very well in a certain context. If you’ve used the hero’s journey or save the cat or whatever to finish your stories, why would you give that up? The problem is when you realize for whatever reason that the approach you’ve been using isn’t working or is artificially limiting you somehow. Dramatica comes along, and it’s great and all – maybe it even has a few answers to your creative questions – but it’s super-complicated and difficult and has whole discussion boards that delve into arcane ideas of the “storymind” and you have to have software to make it work. Wouldn’t it make more sense to kind of tweak what you’re already using instead? Maybe you could just circle back to Dramatica later… ---
**Author:** ![didomachiatto](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/didomachiatto/32/1937_2.png) [@didomachiatto](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/didomachiatto)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/steadfast-by-another-name/2606/9 "2019-09-25T18:17:25Z")
> [@Lakis](#): > > but it’s super-complicated and difficult and has whole discussion boards that delve into arcane ideas of the “storymind” shhhh. That’s not supposed to be verbalized!