Story Assembly -- Putting it all to work

writing
#148

Sorry to hear that @FancyRW…take care and come back when you can…

@jamjam1794 It still feels like he is aware of this Chaos, which would make it sound more like a Symptom than an actual Problem.

In other words, imagine Sebastian a couple years ago. Something happened that made him choose this approach of always stirring up trouble for someone. It works for him–at least he thought it did–then he built all these justifications on top of it. Now we’re in present day and he has this problem of being stranded all the time. He doesn’t know that its because his life is chaotic–note that this is a GREAT example why the original terminology gets in the way of storytelling. Participants keep bringing up the word “chaos” and “chaotic”, but the gist makes no mention of that.

Maybe he witnessed labor demonstrators and saw how they got the job done so now he feels like the only way to get anything done is to stir things up–rock the boat. You want something he can work backwards to (as a Change character)

It’s because of this decision he made a long time ago to start stirring up trouble that he keeps getting stranded—so why did he choose that way? Don’t worry so much about how it will affect Mary, the fact that it is a “Problem” in the Dramatica storyform will take care of that all on its own.

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#149

Ah, okay! That makes more sense.

“IC PROBLEM: Stirring Up Trouble for Someone
Sebastian forces other people to do whatever it is he needs, even if they’re busy. He is not afraid to cause problems or rock the boat because he knows he will get whatever he is looking for.”

I hope I’m on the right track.

#150

Perfecto! Though it would be great if you had a way of coming with why he decided to start taking that approach years ago…either way, it’s good enough for now. @SPotter you’re up!

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#151

Adolfo Jaden (by default) is Reason
Adolfo is a German boy name meaning Noble Wolf.
In Hebrew the meaning of the name Jaden is: Jehovah has heard.
Adolfo is an Artist/Cartoonist at the studio. He has a heavy Yiddish accent.

He’s the one with glasses on the left next to “Marybeth”. I’m pretty sure the portlier fellow in the white shirt is Max Fleischer.
Just for fun, here is a picture of the Story Department guys at Fleischer Studios

#152

Okey dokey. @keypayton your turn…

#154

Sorry, JHull, but could you remind me (and perhaps all of us) what my/our current overall assignment is? And maybe reply here with a fresh link to the storyform we’re working from? Thanks/sorry…

#155

We’re doing Story Embroidery. Scroll to the top for a link to the story and what has been worked out so far (p.s. I answered this same question for you earlier :wink:).

#156

I know I’m redundant in asking, but I often feel like we need the repetition to keep us clear on some of the Overall stuff:

For example, that we all agreed to put this story in the “romantic comedy” genre. So I’m thinking that sometime soon we probably need to agree on who the story’s romantic “leads” are.

I had assumed Marybeth and Sebastian would fill these roles – after all, they are our MC and IC, and most “romance” storyforms tend to build the Relationship Story throughline around the MC’s and IC’s romance.

But maybe OUR “romantic comedy” is an exception to that… I mean, our current descriptions have Marybeth seeming more like a self-sacrificing mother to Sebastian, rather than the potential love of his life. And Sebastian’s skepticism and chaos-causing codependency certainly don’t make him the guy we’ll tend to want Marybeth to end up with.

So can I offer a different “take” on Sebastian’s DOMAIN of Being Stranded, his ISSUE of Being Doomed vs. Fate, and is PROBLEM of Stirring Up Trouble for Someone? A take that might eventually make him better “romance” material for Marybeth, even if he doesn’t appear so at the beginning?

Or is it too outside the box to propose Barclay Lynton (Contagonist) as maybe the ultimate guy for Marybeth?

Or do we just leave the “who are the romantic leads” question up in the air till the very end, and I should look at some other StoryPoint to illustrate? Let me know…

#157

Well, when I did the doom vs fate I never had in mind: … keeps him from ever being
self-sufficient… preventing him from helping himself.

I just had in mind that the MC did on the go intervention, redirecting his downers of doom to realizing he could change fate, moment by moment. I was thinking of her using a quip on the go type thing.

But this is just a learning session. I am sure we can emphasize some points in the storyforming and drop others, when we are done, to make him what we want as a “pairing” to our gal.

#158

(My 2¢) I think that is an interesting question, who is the love interest?, but just like the Depression being seen in a myopic way I wonder if we are not being open to the possibilities for Sebastian. He is the Change character. Maybe he is adorable in his manipulative trouble he stirs. Or maybe he is despicable but when he groups something he is redeemed. Or what if Marybeth decides a relationship is not for her. Her career is more important. I guess my view is to let us be challenged by what we have at the end and tell our story with these givens. But that is a good question. Do we need to know the relationships at this point?

#159

I don’t think it would be that hard to take what we have and make it a Romantic Comedy. That’s all extra flavor added on at the end anyways. I wouldn’t try and change stuff that has already been done or stray too far towards interpreting the storyform. Maybe pick another appreciation and give it more of a romantic-comedy “fun” spin? Might spur others into moving more in that direction.

I also think it would be best to leave MaryBeth and Sebastian as the romantic leads. Just to keep it simple and easier to follow.

#160

It’s that kind of counter-intuitive statement that makes Dramatica so hard for people to wrap their heads around. Most people would say this is where the juice is, so how could you put it off?

This should be a new thread at some point: “now that we’ve got it, what do we do with it?”

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#161

I guess I should say that “that is all extra flavor that could be added on at the end”. We can add it now or add it later, it all depends on the Author. Since there are essentially 8 or 9 authors in this exercise it really is up to the individual–when their time arrives–to illustrate the story point in such a way that conveys the kind of the story they want to tell.

As far as what to do with it once we have it, we will basically end up with a beat-outline (or sequence-outline) that we can write from, dropping the story points in as we see fit. That’s a good idea to start that thread after we finish this (and we can link back to this one), so writers can see how to take the story points and put them into a story.

#162

I’m so glad we’ll be doing that. happy lil squee

#163

Okay, here’s my first pass at the Relationship Story domain of “Controlling a Particular Group’s Thoughts”:

Both Marybeth and Sebastian want to control a particular group’s thoughts, but quite disagree on which “particular group” they should try to control, and how. Marybeth wants to influence the chauvinists at Fleischer Studios to hire her as an animator, while Sebastian wants the two of them to use her art to “motivate the other out-of-work people to bring down the ruling class that got us into this Depression!”

#164

The “sequence outline” sounds like GREAT fun, JHull, but can’t we start that n–. “No. Patient you must be,” I keep hearing Yoda Jim say. “Patient you must be.”

#165

I, always, see it as creating a skeleton.

#166

I was sincere when I said this is counterintuitive. I should have said that it’s mind-blowingly counterintuitive.

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#167

Did someone post this already? Here is a Popular Science news reel on Animation circa 1939.
Animation process working on Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp starring Popeye the Sailor

perhaps a couple of years after the success of our story. :wink:

#168

Wow, that’s great! Adding it…@Writegeist your turn!