Because, you know, trying to compare narrative with the mind’s problem-solving process is like using first grade math to solve Fermi’s problem. (eye roll)
I think I’ve found a way to handle my weekly frustration with the Scriptnotes Podcast (because the hosts are professional screenwriters so you have to listen), and that’s to realize that they know nothing about Dramatica. That’s the only way to come to terms with the constant degradation of script “gurus” and consultants and their consistent belittling of anyone who finds a form to narrative exciting and compelling.
Dramatica isn’t simple. Its not remedial math or even high school math. Anyone who has worked with it knows how difficult it is and how it actually makes the process of writing more complex. They’re obviously talking about “How to Write a Movie in 21 Days” or the “Mini-Movie Method” or “Save the Cat!”, but Dramatica of course gets lumped in with all of those.
In their latest podcast Making Things Better by Making Things Worse they spend an awful lot of time trying to say that structure is a combination of who, what, where, why and when. Basically they make a strong case for what storyTELLING is, not storyFORMING (what we think of when we think of structure).
Its funny too to hear talk about “two-handers” when Dramatica considers all narrative at its core a “two-hander” (Main and Influence Character). Going to have to wait for the transcript on this one before coming up with a decent rebuttal.