Keeping Your Story Limit Consistent

November 1, 2005

One of the interesting things about the Dramatica theory of story is how certain aspects of it can show up in daily life.

For instance, have you ever played the game Boggle? It’s a word game where, in a set amount of time, you’re supposed to connect the letters to form as many words as you can. The hourglass flips over and you start writing as fast as you can. This game is based on a Timelock.

Time runs out - the game is over.

Well, I was playing it this weekend against my 6-year old son who, out of nowhere, decided to add another limit! He drew a series of 9 circles and said that for every word I got wrong, he would cross off one of the circles. After nine mistakes, the game would end and I would lose.

But what about the hourglass?! Where did this Optionlock come from?

Should I worry about the time running out? Well, if I did that then I might get one of the words wrong. And if I get one of the words wrong I’ll only have eight more chances. But it’s the time that really matters, right? Shoot! I got one of the words wrong. Now I only have eight chances left! But wait, there’s only a little bit of sand left in the hourglass. Precious moments left before time runs out. Which one is more important?! Time? Options? Options? Time?!

AAAACCCCKKKKK!!!!!!

I think this is the same thing that happens to audiences when the limit is ignored or disregarded in a story. Like Speed or Wedding Crashers. In Speed there is plenty of confusion over whether or not it’s a timelock or an optionlock (re: Dramatica Storyforming “Speed Violation” page 3 PDF). They setup one limit, then ignore it and sort of switch to another. In this Dramatica Online Class Log, Melanie adds:

Then we don’t know WHEN the movie is going to end for sure. We assume maybe when the bad guy gets it. But that wasn’t where our tension was headed…its something of a cheat and bit of a disappointment.

Fun movie, but still that little hiccup at the end. Wedding Crashers is a bit different. From my best recollection, they’ve got the weekend on the island to “get the girl.” Time runs out and he doesn’t get the girl. But there is still another 45 minutes left to go! As a consequence of the original Limit being ignored, we’re left shifting uncomfortably in our seats for the rest of the film just waiting for it to end. (I remember the same feeling from You’ve Got Mail - only there you’ve got the limit coming to an end what seems like an hour before the Subjective Story comes to an end!).

Events like my game of Boggle and how they relate to Dramatica have always been of interest to me. The theory is based on the mind’s problem solving process so obviously it’s going to show up in real life as well. When searching for meaning, the mind needs the consistent context of a limit. Change the context and you change the meaning.

Now if only the movies we watch could have this same consistency.