(the writing process) Aaaggghh! I lost most of my notes and

writing
#1

…now I’m able to actually sit down and write this stinkin story, it seems. When going back and forth between an empty screen and my pages upon pages of Dramatica notes and trying to figure out how I’m going to cram in domains and concerns and issues and counter issues and problems and symptoms and benchmarks and worrying if I’m working on the right parts of the thematic conflict in this sign post and how I should work in the PSR etc, etc, etc, I don’t get much done. Without many of the notes I’ve spent the last month or so on to look at, though, I’m forced to take what I know about my story and start writing. And it feels great. Losing those notes is the best thing that could have happened to this story.

I know many of you probably already know when to look at Dramatica and when to put it down (pretty sure I’ve seen it brought up several times on here), but stepping away has not been part of my process to date. It’s awesome that I already know pretty much everything that needs to happen and can go about creatively expressing that rather than allowing myself to get caught up in the cold logistics of making sure every Dramatica point is properly and thoroughly addressed.

I knocked out the first (very short) chapter tonight without looking at Dramatica once and can already see how much better it was because I wasn’t chained to my notes while working on it. And now that I’ve got something that was mostly created in the moment while driven by a deep understanding of what needed to be said, I can already see how I can go back in the second draft and use my storyform to really punch it up and make sure everything is on point. I might need to add a bit more here and there to emphasize a couple things, but that’s it. So a second draft (at least on the fist chapter) should be a breeze!

Sorry for the long post to anyone who made it this far. It’s just that I had a new and different experience and was really excited about it. Just wanted to share in case it might help any others who are chained to their notes as I tend to be.

2 Likes
#2

Greg, just want to say I love your post. I think this is an area that could use a lot more exploration – how to actually use Dramatica in your writing process:

  • When to try to figure out the storyform? At the beginnings of your idea, after you’ve got some notes, during outlining (if you do one), sometime while writing the first draft, vs. after finishing the draft.
    • Note that even if you leave the storyforming until later, your understanding of Dramatica may still inform your story a lot. For example, you may know who is the Influence Character, or where the Act turns are, or what makes up the OS, or what the MC Resolve is. This stuff can help a lot even without a storyform, and is quite reliable, since it’s the stuff that’s obvious to you about your story.
  • How ‘solid’ to consider your storyform once you’ve determined it
  • How much to keep the storyform in mind while writing
  • When and how to use the structure / storyform to help when you run into problems or need new ideas
  • (advanced) whether and when to use Dramatica concepts to help with individual scenes (TKAD and PRCO)
  • etc.

I think the answers will be different for every writer, and may be different for the same writer on different projects or at different stages of their career.

My experience is that when doing the actual writing, it’s best to immerse yourself in the characters and story and have the storyform as kind of a far-off thing in the horizon of your mind. Sounds like that works best for you too, Greg.

Anyway, I’d love to see more people posting about their actual writing process and how they use Dramatica with it, what works and what doesn’t.

1 Like
#3

Same here, Mike. I would love to see others talking about their process and sharing tips about how they were able to use Dramatica in their own way. Theory is wonderful and I’ll always be able to go a bit deeper into it, but seeing how to put everything into practice I think is what would get me to the next step at the moment.