5 QUESTIONS ASKED BY AMATEURS;
ANSWERED BY PROFESSIONALS

Many of you own or have heard about the world-famous Dramatica Pro character and story development software program. Earlier this month, we were able to sit down and ask the creators, CHRIS HUNTLEY and MELANIE PHILLIPS, a few questions regarding the concept of Dramatica Pro.

QUESTION (1): How did you come up with the concept of Dramatica?

Melanie: Chris and I were at USC studying cinema. We had made one pretty awful low-budget feature based on our original screenplay and were about to write another script. It ocurred to us that we really didn't know why the first script was bad, so we'd probably repeat the same mistakes. So, before writing, we thought we'd investigate what other successful stories did to see if we could learn from that. We couldn't! There were no absolutes, just a lot of specifics. On and off for the next 15 years, we'd toy with ideas about how stories worked. Eventually, we decided to make a serious study of it.

We began with characters. The more we worked with the underlying structure, the more we found ourselves dealing with the psychology of characters. One day we were struck by the serrinipitous notion that perhaps the structure of the whole story had a psychology of its own, as if it were a personality in its own right, a Super Character. That became the Rosetta Stone that unravelled the deep structure of stories and allowed us to determine the interrelationship of dramatics which were ultimately programmed into the Dramatica software.

Chris: We started out with a few concepts that we roughed out very early on (1980-81) which included the eight archetypal characters. Then we left it alone for about ten years and started working on it again in 1990-1991. We kept asking ourselves "Why?" and ""How?" about different aspects of character and story until we couldn't seem to go any further. We weren't expecting to end up where we did. About that time there was a big "Aha!" and the beginnings of Dramatica seemed to fall into place. It took over three years to build it back up into a usable model of story.

QUESTION (2): Please briefly explain how Dramatica works --how exactly does it help a writer build characters and story?

Melanie: Both authors and audiences are drawn to stories because of the passions- the author hoping to express his or hers and the audience hoping to ignite its own. No one comes to a story to experience a great structure. But structure is the logistic carrier wave that allows the author's passion to be transmitted across a medium to an audience. If it is flawed, the signal can get scrambled or even lost altogether.

Still, the more attention an author pays to structure, the more it drags him or her out of the emotional, inspirational mode - the more it drains passion out of the creative process. Dramatica asks an author to follow the muse as far as it can go. Then, it provides the logistic tools to analyze the underlying carrier wave, fill in holes, and make repairs to ensure that passion arrives at the audience with the strongest reception.

Chris: Dramatica allows a writer to answer questions he knows about his story. Based on his priorities, Dramatica then suggests other components of his story that should be in place to support the author's intent. In other words, it tells the writer more about the story than the writer told Dramatica. This includes all areas of story such as characters, plot, theme, and genre.

QUESTION (3): How is Dramatica similar to other concepts of story? Robert McKee? Syd Field? Typical three act structure?

Melanie: Most other approaches to story mix the passion with the logistics. This is the view an audience expects, not the best tool for an author. Most authors get writers block not because they lack inspiration, but because they can't figure out how to make their passion make sense! Dramatica differs from virtually all other tools by separating the logic of structure from the passion of raw creative inspiration.

To be sure, Mr. McKee can fire up a writer and ignite the spark that will drive them to express their passions. And Mr. Field provides tried and true frameworks for sound structural templates that sell in Hollywood. My personal opinion? When you can't seem to get off your duff and start writing, see McKee. When you want to create something that sells, see Field. When you want to ensure your story's structure is sound, see Dramatica.

Chris: Dramatica has many similarities with other concepts of story. It just happens to be more specific than most other story models. For instance, Syd Field's 30-60-90 page rule is completely in line with Dramatica's description of the act development progression as seen from the author's perspective. Each of Mr. Field's page counts describes the transition points between a four act structure. (You can also think of it as the 30-60-90-120 page rule if you want to look at the duration of the acts [signposts, in Dramatica-speak] as opposed to the act transitions). This differs from the traditional three act structure which focuses on the experience of the story from an audience's perspective. Dramatica incorporates the three act structure as well as the four act structure. In Dramatica, the three act structure comes from focusing on the transitions [journeys, in Dramatica lingo] between the four story segments instead of the segments themselves. In other words, Dramatica accommodates BOTH viewpoints and provides the proper context within which a writer can use each.

Question (4) It is stated on the Dramatica.com web site: "More specifically, stories are arguments that provide us solutions to problems we may encounter in life -- they provide a way to examine inequities with an eye toward resolving them." Please elaborate on this.

Melanie: There are four basic kinds of communication between author and audience. The first is like some kinds of Modern Art - a series of images that have no designed meaning, but ignite passion. The second is created by the author as an emotional experience with no message, conclusions, or purpose other than that the audience should feel what the author wanted it to. The third is a Tale, which is essentially a statement that a particular chain of events and experiences is a good path to take or a bad one, depending on how things turned out and the price that was paid along the way. The fourth kind of communication is the Story, which makes an argument to the audience that of all the paths that might have been taken, the one being examined is the best (or worst) of the lot. A story, therefore, is a much more logistically complex form of communication because it must "prove" to an audience that one approach to life is better than any reasonable alternatives.

Each of the four forms of communication has its own strengths and weaknesses. None is "better" than any of the others, but each is different in its effect on an audience. Stories told today in books, movies, and on the stage employ all of these. The most popular commercial products are almost always tales or stories. The most critically acclaimed commercial products are full-blown stories. Dramatica is designed to help an author make a complete argument regarding the message issue so that it stands the best chance to be a critically acclaimed commercial product.

Chris: There are different points of view available to us as authors and audiences to examine a conflict created by the inequity at the center of a story. And, by looking at the conflict in the context of the perspective, gain insight into the nature of the inequity -- hence meaning. Making a statement from any single point of view only holds up from that point of view. Making an argument that includes all the different points of view provides the argument with a context within which it will always be true. An argument explores both the appropriate and inappropriate pathways toward resolving problems.

Question (5) If a writer would like to learn about Dramatica, what initial step do you recommend?

Melanie: Here we need to differentiate between the Dramatica theory and the Dramatica software. The best way to learn about the software is to try it out with the free demo available from Screenplay Systems (www.dramatica.com) . The demo is fully functional except for save and print and has an extensive online help system, including the complete 450 page Dramatica Theory Book. So even if you never buy the retail version, the demo is an education in itself - a whole new way to look at story. For those who want to get the most out of the software, I created a CD ROM called "The Dramatica Software Companion." It contains over 4 1/2 hours of narrated video showing where each feature is, what it does, and how to use it creatively. It is available at my own Dramatica web site at www.storymind.com/dramatica/ .

As for the Dramatica theory, there is an email list discussion group with hundreds of Dramatica users who thrash around all aspects of the theory. You can sign up for free through Screenplay Systems Dramatica web site. On my web site I've posted literally hundreds of pages on the theory and offer a free Dramatica Writing Tip of the Week that is emailed to hundreds of people. In addition, I've created a number of audio CDs and CD ROMs on the theory, including the "20 Hour Dramatica Course" on a single CD ROM. This product provides 20 hours of video (in Real Player format) covering the complete Dramatica course I taught through U.C.L.A. Right now it is the most detailed explanation available of the theory and how to put it to work in a practical way. These informational products can be ordered through my web site, and are also "serialized" for free in weekly installments in Real Player format.

Chris: Visit the Dramatica website at www.dramatica.com. There is a ton of free information available to anyone interested. There is also information of the Dramatica Mail Listserv and other groups and events -- most of which are also available for free.