Which approach works best to develop a new storyform

I like to take the approach that the more aspects of the storyform/message I arrive at subconsciously, the more the story will resonate with me. So, when I get an idea for a story, I purposely hold off thinking about Dramatica too much, though I do consider the four throughlines and their Domains (how can you not?).

I also avoid thinking about any kind of theme or message – part of the motivation to write the story is to discover what that is.

Around the time I’ve started the first draft, and outlined the important scenes in the story, some of the Elements start to stand out and I can no longer resist pulling up Dramatica and finding the storyform. It’s usually pretty easy to figure it out, except for certain aspects of the ending that I like to leave somewhat open (Outcome, Judgment, and maybe Resolve). So I end up with a few storyform variations, until about a third of the way into the draft, a single starts to become clear, due to signposts.

There’s one technique I kind of stumbled on that was really powerful. Even after I was 95% sure of my storyform and followed it for most of the draft, as I reached the ending I had a bit of doubt about the Judgment of Good, wondering if it might be Bad instead. I did everything I did to encourage that doubt as I wrote the ending, even looking at the Bad version of my storyform with an open mind. Although I was aiming for the Good ending, I wasn’t sure if I would get there, and that made it a lot more powerful emotionally for me as I wrote. I’m hopeful that it will keep the tension alive for the reader, too (esp. since the OS is already concluded by this point – the Judgement gets solidified in 2nd last scene of denouement).

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