In my previous analysis of the film I Am Legend, I examined the meaningful differences between the theatrical and the alternate version released on DVD. In this “deeper” look into the film, I’ll go into more detail why I made the choices I made using the Dramatica theory of story as my key reference point.

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Can there be anything more dramatic than a story of revenge?! That initial stinging feeling of being unjustly wronged, the wicked and intensely private scheming that goes on as one plans what is dutifully owed the offender, and finally the execution of said sweet reward. Nothing is more universal than the satisfaction of one getting what one so rightly deserves.

But how does one go about constructing a story like this?

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Snippets of a great screenwriting course are now available online.

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While some parts of the Dramatica model seem to make sense, there are still portions of it that can make you wonder, “Why the heck was it set up this way?” It almost seems counter-productive towards the process of writing great fiction. In this article, Melanie Anne Phillips, one of the co-creators of the theory, goes on to explain why certain choices were made to bring this revolutionary story theory to light.

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Every author that seeks out Dramatica to help them write better stories eventually comes to a point where they resent it. “Why is this program forcing me to write my story this way?” they ask. “I never wanted my Main Character to have an issue with expediency…I don’t even know what that means!” Often this resentment leads to the long and winding rabbit hole that is the attempt to perfectly understand the theory.

There can be no greater waste of an author’s energy.

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One of the first things people ask when they delve into this theory is whether or not the big guys use Dramatica. Having personally worked with several of these big guys I can tell you that most, if not all of them would vehemently deny it. This doesn’t mean, however, that they’re not really using it…

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To many, the Dramatica concepts seem arbitrary and forced. At times the learning curve may seem detrimental towards the act of writing a unique story - a story from the heart. But if you think about it, our hearts can get in the way of our best intentions.

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For those who’ve seen this 1994 action classic, the biggest complaint always centers around that ludicrous fight on the subway. The story was supposed to be about a bus that can’t drop below 50 M.P.H., right? Then how the heck did we end up on a subway? Wasn’t the story supposed to be over by now? It was…

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The New York Times recently ran an article about writers and the software they use. The most shocking aspect of the piece? One writer admitted to using Dramatica. GASP!!

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Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t crack the code of a story. Whether it’s a film you are analyzing or a spec screenplay that you’ve been working on for weeks, the storyform can remain frustratingly elusive. There is a technique I’ve found that works, and although it’s not revolutionary, it might help you get over that Dramatica-imposed writer’s block.

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