11. Resolve
In regards to their personal issue, a Main Character will either Change or Remain Steadfast at the end of a story - this is called the Main Character’s Resolve. Pressure from the Impact Character forces this to happen. Whichever way the Main Character goes, the Impact character will do the opposite (i.e, Main Character Changes, Impact Character will Remain Steadfast; Main Character Remains Steadfast, Impact Character will Change).
12. Response
This is the response a character will take in regards to what they think their problem is. Although there may be something deeper within them that is really causing all their problems, they are often blind to it. Instead, all they see are the Symptoms. The Response is a reaction to those Symptoms.
13. SS
Short for Subjective Story - the “heart” of a story. When people complain that a story “had no heart,” it’s because there was no Subjective Story. This throughline is only concerned with the relationship between the Main Character and the Impact Character. You could have a man dealing with unemployment and a woman dealing with memory loss, yet it is their marriage to each other that would be the topic of their Subjective Story. Is their marriage growing stronger, or are they drifting apart? It represents the passionate “We” perspective on the story’s central problem.
14. Story Driver
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.
15. Storyform
The storyform is the structure of your story - the skeleton of which everything else hangs from. Each complete story has its own unique storyform. Currently, the Dramatica software sees over 32,000 different kinds of stories. Contrast this with Joseph Cambell’s Myth Structure which sees 1 kind of story. The notion that Dramatica produces “formulaic” stories seems ridiculous in comparison.
16. Subjective Story
This is the “heart” of a story. When people complain that a story “had no heart,” it’s because there was no Subjective Story. This throughline is only concerned with the relationship between the Main Character and the Impact Character. You could have a man dealing with unemployment and a woman dealing with memory loss, yet it is their marriage to each other that would be the topic of their Subjective Story. Is their marriage growing stronger, or are they drifting apart? It represents the passionate “We” perspective on the story’s central problem.
17. Universe
The simplest way to think of Universe is a “Situation.” In fact, this is the Easy Term that the latest version of Dramatica goes with. Unfortunately, Situation does not encompass everything this part of the dramatic chart is about. It could describe a problematic physicality or a problem with status - anything that is basically fixed and external fits into the category of Universe.
