Screenwriting

Probably the best place I’ve found for mountains of information on screenwriting is JohnAugust.com. 

John is an actual real-life screenwriter and is behind many of Tim Burton’s recent films (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Big Fish, and Corpse Bride, among others). If you want info from a true professional, you’ve got to go there.

The Dramatica Theory of Story

Unfortunately there are very few resources on the ‘net when it comes to learning more about Dramatica - the main reason why I started this blog in the first place.

The first, and most important site, is the Main Dramatica Site.

Administrated by the theory-maestro himself, Chris Huntley, the main site is chock full of useful information. It basically is the main archival source of all things Dramatica.

It’s also the place where you’ll find the most important piece to understanding all of this, The Complete Dramatica Theory Book.

Almost 500 pages of amazing insights and observations into this unique theory. Although it can be a bit bland at times, it should be required reading, from cover to cover, to at least hear it from the theory creators themselves.

Included in that book, but provided here for quick access is the Dramatica Dictionary.

There are a lot of words invented for this theory. Preconscious. Prerequisities. Preconditions. I mean, you may have word these words used before, but not in the context of story. That’s where the dictionary can help.

And last, but not least, the wildest place you could ever go to learn about Dramatica is Melanie’s Storymind Site.

Be warned - Melanie loves to write…a LOT. And while her writing might not have a lot to do with Dramatica, you can gleam some amazing insights into the human condition from her site. It can also help to give you a better context to understand what is really going on behind Dramatica’s doors.

But again, be careful and shut the door. You’ll want to focus on where she takes you when she writes - an intellectual ride that can leave you quite mentally exhausted.

I’m not really sure if it has a lot to do with story, but some concepts, particularly the math behind Dramatica (the theory of mental relativity) can be quite illuminating.

Good luck!