How active a role do the Main Character and Impact Character have to have in the Overall Story?
I’m working on a story now where I was considering a Main Character that was almost in a different world from the majority of the Objective characters. The Impact Character was even further away. So I wondered if this was possible? (Again, in the context of the Grand Argument Story as defined by Dramatica).
It turns out that they do have to be connected at various points throughout the model. This is one of the reasons why the Crucial Element exists - to tie the Main and Impact character into the Overall Story. This is the minimum they have to interact with the Overall Story at the Element Level. There are still 3 more levels to consider.
At the Variation Level, you’ve got your Main and Impact Character’s Unique Abilities and Critical Flaws. These appreciations, by definition, have to do with the Overall Story. At the Concern level, you’ve got the Benchmarks and the additional Plot Appreciation points. Again, these all have to do with the Overall Story.
And then finally you have the Domains which describe the relationships between the Main Character and Impact Character Throughlines and the Overall Story Throughline. The Main Character’s Growth is tied specifically to a relation between that Throughline and the Overall Story Throughline.
So as long as you keep these things in mind (and consistent!), I think it really doesn’t matter what “world” your Main or Impact Character are in. It might be more difficult to find a way to do this keeping in mind the Crucial Element. But if you do, then I think the sky’s the limit when it comes to storytelling.
The Main Character’s Growth is based on where the Overall Story Domain is.
Share This
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment