Understanding Be-er + Holistic

questions
#1

Hey guys I stumbled upon Dramatica about a month ago and was blown away by it. Tried the demo and have now purchased the mac version. I’m now trying to input a story I’ve been working on for a long time into it.

I have a female main character and selected ‘Be-er’ as her approach. I’m having trouble however wrapping my head around the concept of a ‘Be-er’ however. A ‘Do-er’ seems relatively straight forward but ‘Be-er’ seems a little harder to grasp. Same goes for the ‘Holistic’ problem solving method. Perhaps it’s because I’m a male and it’s opposite to my normal way of thinking.

What’s an example of an approach a ‘Be-er’ + ‘Holistic’ solving character might have if they were oppressed/enslaved by another group and were against it?

I guess a ‘Do-er’ + ‘Linear’ solver might attack them or vandalise their property? How would a ‘Be-er’ deal with the situation?

Any ideas would be great!

#2

One thing that needs to go on your to-do list is watching some of the User Group videos

http://dramatica.com/video/users-group

Of course you should try to watch the film first. :smile: The more recent ones are of better technical (video) quality and so you can more easily see the software in use. Chis (or Jim) will often give explanations of exactly the type of question you here. Also check the last of minutes of videos as Chris will sometimes be induced to give longer explanations.

Here is a good one (clear video) currently missing from the User Group Video list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU-oVv8ykAA - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Jan 2014)

Now as a novice I will try to answer your actual question.

To me (a non American) the archetypal ‘Be-er’ is the back woods man who sits on the porch of his mountain cabin being one with the view. Whereas his neighbour the ‘do-er’ just wants to be out there in the woods hunting, shooting n fishing.

How might a holistic be-er, defend against intrusion by BIG-logging into his world. Holistic is often characterised by the creation of a web of relationships. So one answer could be to start an eco-campaign to attack BIG logging at a political level.

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#3

ambivalence is a possibility – go through the story examples in the storyforming part of the software, also

#4

The concept of be-ing is probably easier than you are giving it credit for: it is changing yourself in order to solve the problem. A do-er changes the external world; a be-er the internal world.

In general, you will see be-ers get affected by the external world more than do-ers, as well. They get more emotional and have internal reactions (fainting, throwing up, etc.)

The mistake many people make off the bat though is confusing “passivity” with being. They tend to be related, but they are not the same thing. Imagine someone starts a protest – it’s active, it’s do-ing. That’s true whether or not they are picketing and yelling, or just sitting in the street calmly and blocking traffic.

Then on the flip-side you have Hamlet and Amelie. Lots of things in the external world happen because of these two, but they are be-ers.

On to your other question: how would a holistic be-er deal with being enslaved? First, you should remember than the “be-ing” only pertains to their personal throughline. If being enslaved in part of the OS, then be-ing may not come into play. Holistically, they could solve their problems by adjusting the field of play, so to speak. Making the horror of their position clear to the spouse of the slave owner, so that they must be freed in order to keep the marriage in place, or something.

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#5

be-er + holistic + slavery = calculating and opportunistic

#6

I like Wollaeger’s reply. There is a Dramatica Comic Book which is pretty good. Have you seen it? On page 11 and 12 it discusses Main Character Approach and Problem Solving Style.

#7

Wow thanks for the great responses I think I have a better idea of how to use be-er and holistic now. Thanks Roger for the User Group Video I’ll have to watch some of those and also the story weaving one. I bought Armando’s book yesterday and that’s been helping me also.

Thanks MWollaeger that’s a very clear description. It seems like a fine line between a character being passive and a be-er.

Prish, I find many of the story examples in the software I’m not familiar with, particularly the novels. Especially when it starts to narrow down storyforms and only the more obscure titles remain.

I have downloaded the comic book but have not had a chance to read it yet. Very cool to have the theory in that format as I am a comic book artist myself :smile:

#8

Why not just look at be-er by itself, first? There are a lot of fascinating movies, that way. I, always, look at the story examples by starting a new project, just looking at one thing by itself, not combined with any other choices. Then, look at all the story examples for holistic problem solving, by itself. That way, you should get a feel for some very excellent characters, with just a little tweaking could be what you are going after.

I found there were six famous films/stories that had both. The software is not precision sharp with story examples, btw. They are just something for us to think about, not major accurate calculations as with the main analytical program, itself, imho.

A Doll’s House
The Client
The Glass Menagerie
Rosemary’s Baby
Washington Square
Witness

#9

A link to all the Holistic Be-ers we have ever encountered during a Dramatica analysis.

#10

The Client is not there! It is in the software, and it is a fantastic example of be-er/holistic (if that old analysis was correct, of course, bummer if not). You might want to add it.

#11

Wow that’s a great resource. Was not aware of that search tool.

#12

Yes, its a bit hidden I’m afraid. But glad you found it and will be able to make good use of it!