My Dramatica characteristics panel shows the Crucial Elements as Pursuit/Avoidance (Problem/Solution). But when I upload to the TOS Generator 2.8, it labels the Crucial Element as Controlled/Uncontrolled (Response/Symptom).
Am I missing something or is this Generator funky?
And piggy-backing on the Crucial Element question, the Truism, discussed in the Generating Conflict article, is this related to any specific storypoint, or to the premise, or not?
According to Greg, if I understand correctly,
Itâs a conflict between Domains. Would that be domain/issues?
In the Writing with Subtext video, it mentions âSource of Driveâ which I believe is the Focus.
Itâs the difference between any two elements at any level. Domain, Issue, Concern, whatever. âPeople need to Pursue unless they need to Avoidâ works just as well as âPeople need to Physics unless they need to Psychologyâ.
Thatâs just how the model works. Thereâs not any one element creating conflict. Conflict comes from the relationship between elements.
If you want two magnets to stick together and they wonât because they are sitting six feet apart, the problem is not that one magnet is six feet to the left and itâs not that the other magnet is six feet to the right. The problem is that there are six feet between the magnets. The conflict (magnets wonât stick together) is a result of the the relationship (six feet of physical space) between the magnets.
But since this is an analogy for the mind, weâre not talking about magnets, and weâre not talking about physical space.
The best way to check is to ask, is your MC Changed or Steadfast in this story? (The former will set Problem/Solution as the Crucial Elements; which is MC and which is IC Crucial will depend on Outcome. The latter will set Symptom/Response as Crucial, with Growth determining which is which.)
While @Greg is totally right about the inequity between dynamic pairs in the Dramatica model, that exercise is typically used to show writers how to manifest inequity within the Element itself. (just Pursuit, or just Avoid).
SoâŚpeople need to pursue a fulfilling career in order to feel fulfilled UNLESS happiness lies in living a different experience every day.
That illustrates an inequity of PURSUIT.
Youâre not necessarily âavoidingâ something with the other context, youâre showing a DIFFERENT context where PURSUIT becomes the source of the inequity.
You can see this more readily with something like Past, where the dynamic pair of Present rarely comes into play within the narrative storyform. The people need ⌠in order to ⌠unless would focus solely on Past.
Ah, okay, I see what i did there. So I used the âpeople need to _ blank unless _â wording when what I was really explaining was just the comment I had been quoted on in the original post.
So conflict happens because of the space between elements. This is what allows the problem to be whatever you see it as. The problem is the space between the magnets, but you can assign that conflict to one magnet being too far left or the other being too far right.
But Jimâs thingâI think âis more like saying âpeople need to leave that magnet on the left where it is, unless they need it to stick to the magnet on the right.â By focusing on the magnet on the left, we are analogously focusing on just Pursuit or just Physics or whatever.
Quick drop in, since I noticed no one mentioned this: If I remember correctly, âSource of Driveâ is Jimâs way of writing âProblem for the Steadfast Characterâ.
P.S. The problem isnât that the magnets are six feet apart. Itâs that theyâre 125.48 million feet apart.
In the Writing with Subtext video @jhull did on this truism concept, Jim looked at MC Problem âFeelingâ vs IC perspective (compilation of all points);
In the video you said, âThe MC point of view is driven by ____ somehowâ and âA truism that is just as valid but cannot exist at the same time as this one.â
does this mean tying it with the IC elements isnât really as important in this conflict? What matters is the Feeling (Problem), its truism, and then some conflicting other idea, maybe somehow related to IC throughline?
Past: âPeople need to destroy the past in order to move on unless not repeating mistakes is more importantâ
Learning: âPeople need to share all their information in order to catch criminals unless privacy is more importantâ
I wanted to have a follow-up on this. Working with @bobRaskoph weâve fixed the quirk and now the crucial element lines up. Thanks and hat-tip to Bob for the Table of Scenes Generator.
