There are elegant ways to introduce the Subjective Story in your screenplay…and not so elegant ways. Examples of both can be found in two films from last year: Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and Notes on a Scandal. Care to guess which one handles this important introduction in a beautiful and artful way?

[Read more →]

Daily Dramatica has exploded over the past couple of months, nearly doubling the amount of subscribers since the first of the year. Most of this is due, I’m sure, to the fact that posts appear practically every day of the week. In addition, a sincere attempt has been made to provide really valuable information when it comes to structuring a screenplay (or any story for that matter). There were, however, some helpful posts that appeared years ago when the interest was not as great…

[Read more →]

In a story, the major plot points are either driven by decisions or actions. While a story may naturally ebb and flow between both, when all is said and done, one of these will be seen as the primary driving plot force in a story. This is because meaningful stories are really just an argument and effective arguments have a pattern they must adhere to.

[Read more →]

The ultimate most important element of any story. This one part of your story is so important that it was sanctified with the word crucial. Without it your hollow storytelling would crumble like dried leaves…Or would it?

[Read more →]

In Dramatica, the major drivers of plot are said to be either decisions or actions. Although you will have both in a story, one will be seen as the catalyst that causes the other to happen. If you’re having trouble deciding which one is the driver of your story, you might want to start at the end.

[Read more →]

Believe it or not, one of the more difficult things to do when analyzing a story is deciding who the Main Character is. Because the Dramatica theory of story separates the concept of Main Character from the Protagonist, determining that essential character calls for a more precise analysis. This became a problem when analyzing the last film for the Dramatica Users Group - Laura.

[Read more →]

At the point of crisis, your main character has a decision to make. Should he make that final choice based on his feelings, or based on his intellect? As an author, how can you tell which one is the right answer for your story?

[Read more →]

Some time ago I was introduced to the storytelling concept of the Impact Character. While the theory book did a decent job of explaining it, it wasn’t until I saw the following video montage that the concept became painfully obvious to me.

[Read more →]

There is a cheat that a lot of writers use when their Impact Character confronts the Main Character. The dialogue usually goes something like this: “You and I are both alike” or “You and I are not so different.” Ever wonder why those lines, as cliched as they are, work so well?

[Read more →]

The Dramatica theory of story can have some pretty scary terminology. Prerequisities. Preconditions. Costs. Dividends. They sound more like advanced accounting terms than dramatic devices. Wouldn’t it be great if there was some easy chart to help you visualize how these terms relate to story?

[Read more →]