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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There are several different ways one can figure out the unique Dramatica storyform for a story. The straight ahead linear approach presented in the software’s StoryGuide, while helpful and ultimately necessary when first learning the theory, can actually be quite cumbersome to work with later on in your understanding. Your best bet is to use a combination of the Theory Browser, the Story Engine Settings Panel, and yes, even the Plot Progression Panel.

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It’s not an easy thing adapting a short story into a workable screenplay. Some writers find themselves at a loss trying to transmogrify 20-30 pages into a two hour movie; others have no problem finding the material necessary to fill in the blanks and come out with a wonderfully meaningful story. Unfortunately it seems that Frank Darabont was more the former when it came to adapting Stephen King’s short story The Mist for the big screen. With bold confidence he managed to take a delightfully scary story and turn it into a disturbing piece of propaganda.

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Of all the four levels in a story - Genre, Plot, Theme and Character - the one that is hardest to distinguish is Theme. This is because Theme rests on a sliding scale whereas the others are seen as more static. Theme ebbs and flows within a story. Unfortunately, because it is so elusive, theme can end up muddied or worse, forgotten altogether. It was nice, therefore, to see it so obviously illustrated in the trailer for First Snow.

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If Characters are the Motivations of a story, and Plot the Methodologies of a story, and Theme the Means of Evaluating a story, then how is Genre the Purpose of a story?
I asked this question of Chris Huntley, one of the co-creators of the theory of Dramatica, yesterday. How can Action/Adventure or Romantic Comedy be [...]

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