DRAMATICA

A New Theory of Story

Melanie Anne Phillips & Chris Huntley

Complex Motivation Characteristics

Rules for Building Characters?
A Character Cannot Serve Two Masters
Characters should never represent more that one characteristic in a Dynamic Pair. Players should never represent more than one character at a time

The Meaning of Overall Story Character Elements

Two Character in the same body: DOCTOR JEKYLL AND MISTER HYDE The Overall Story nature of characters describes their inherent disposition, in which no changes can be made. The Subjective nature of characters describes their learned behavior, which is what can change over the course of a story.

 Only 16 Motivations to spread among players

 Same characteristic twice -> It clutters a story  Neglecting to employ one -> There will be a hole in a storys argument

 Much flexibility to create unique and memorable characters

Complex Characters in
GONE WITH THE WIND
Scarlett and Rhett
Characters should never represent more that one characteristic in a Dynamic Pair. Players should never represent more than one character at a time

Melanie and Ashley

Frank Kennedy, Suellen O Hara, Gerald O Hara, and Prissy

Complex Characters in
REAR WINDOW
Principal Characters in REAR WINDOW
Characters should never represent more that one characteristic in a Dynamic Pair. Players should never represent more than one character at a time

The Top Five

Two Character in the same body: DOCTOR JEKYLL AND MISTER HYDE The Overall Story nature of characters describes their inherent disposition, in which no changes can be made. The Subjective nature of characters describes their learned behavior, which is what can change over the course of a story.

Elements of the Top Five

Other Character Dimensions

What s the Purpose?
Becoming president -> Purpose, not motivation Motivation -> a lack of control over her life as a child Knowing what her purpose is does not tell us anything about what Jane is driven by but only what she is driven toward. Motivations do not specifically dictate purpose, nor are purposes indicative of any particular motivations.

Step into the Fourth Dimension

(Beginning) MOTIVATION gives a character the force to move. (Middle) METHODOLOGY describes the kinds of approaches a character might use in its efforts to achieve its
purpose.

(End) PURPOSE gives a character a direction in which to move. EVALUATIONS are the standards by which characters measure their progress.

All right, Buddy

Where s the conflict?!

Difficulties can arise between characters in any one of the four dimensions, even though they might agree in one or more of the other dimensions. Characters are never fully developed unless they are represented in all four dimensions, and they may come into conflict over any combination of Motivations, Methodologies, Means of Evaluation, or Purpose.

Other Character Dimensions

The Sixty-Four-Element Question
A good way to get a feel for the content of and relationships between character dimensions is

through the Archetypal Characters.

Other Character Dimensions

Mapping the Archetypal Pattern
The archetypal pattern formed in the Motivation Set clearly illustrates the consistency and balance of the character Elements. In each quad of four Elements, the items that are diagonal from one another hold the greatest potential for conflict because they are exact opposites.

Motivation

Other Character Dimensions

Archetypal Methodologies
the Methodology Elements are also arranged in Dynamic Pairs. the Archetypal patter from the Motivation Set Archetypal Characters will cover the Methods they represent in stories as well.

Complex Dimensional Patterns

 Most stories emphasize one dimension over the others.  Being aware of all four character dimensions adds versatility in creating complex characters as well.

What s In a Pair?
describes Elements with the greatest opposition to each other. Two opposing forces come together -> either a positive or negative relationship, depending on other story dynamics

contain the Elements that are most compatible. Positive Companion Pair: What one does not need they will offer to the other. (positive impact) Negative Companion Pair: One character may use up what the other needs. (negative impact)
They are not against each other, but still manage to interfere with each other s effort

In a positive sense, each character provides strengths to compensate for the other s weaknesses. (cooperation) In a negative sense, the relationship has each character needing the other to survive (codependency)

describe the nature of the Elements in relationship to the overall quad. The individual characters in a quad can be a group that works together. (interdependency) This is contrasted by identifying the disparate nature of each character in the quad. (independency)

Complex Dimensional Patterns

What s In a Pair?
describes Elements with the greatest opposition to each other. Two opposing forces come together -> either a positive or negative relationship, depending on other story dynamics

contain the Elements that are most compatible. Positive Companion Pair: What one does not need they will offer to the other. (positive impact) Negative Companion Pair: One character may use up what the other needs. (negative impact)
They are not against each other, but still manage to interfere with each other s effort

In a positive sense, each character provides strengths to compensate for the other s weaknesses. (cooperation) In a negative sense, the relationship has each character needing the other to survive (codependency)

describe the nature of the Elements in relationship to the overall quad. The individual characters in a quad can be a group that works together. (interdependency) This is contrasted by identifying the disparate nature of each character in the quad. (independency)

 Dramatica can represent both the structural Elements of Story Mindd s problem solving techniques and the dynamic interchange between those techniques.

Subjective Characters
Four throughlines in a story
Overall Story ( They )
The relative value of the approaches of the Overall Story Characters

Main Character ( I )
The point of view and growth of the Main Character

Impact Character ( You )

The alternative point of view and growing impact of the Impact Character

Subjective Story ( We )
The growing relationship between the Main and Impact Characters

The Main Character: One of a Kind

 There is only one Main Character in a story

What Is the Story Mind?

The structure and dynamics of a story are not random, but represent an analogy to a single human mind dealing with a problem. There will be only one Main Character in a completed story. (may have no Main Character at all, or it may have many) A Grand Argument Story does not allow the audience to stand in the shoes of every character, every Element, and see what the story looks like from there.

Subjective Characters
The Main Character: One of a Kind
 There is only one Main Character in a story

An Alternative Point of View

Impact Character- an obstacle to the direction the Main Character would go if left on his own

A History of Success
Suddenly, a situation arises where that standard approach doesn t work. (the beginning of the story s argument) Main Character tries everything to find a way to make it work anyway. He holds out in the hope the problem will eventually go away, or work itself out, or is resolved by the tried-and-true method. Impact Character makes his case. Slowly, an alternative paradigm builds up that becomes rather convincing. By the climax, the long-term success of the old view is perfectly balanced by the larger, but untried, new view. There is no clear winner, and that is why it is a leap of faith for the Main Character to choose one over the other.

Subjective Characters
The Main Character: One of a Kind
 There is only one Main Character in a story

A Leap or a Creep?
Slow change / Non-leap of faith story Main character gradually shifts his perspective until, by the end of the story, he has already adopted the alternative paradigm with little or no fanfare. A particular dramatic scenario occurs near the beginning of the story and repeats (in some similar manner) near the end. The audience are able to evaluate the worth of the journey the Main Character has been through by seeing whether the Main Character has been changed and whether that is for better or worse.

Subjective Characters
The Main Character Resolve:
Does the Main Character eventually Change or Remain Steadfast?
Main Character Resolve Certain dynamics to find out about a Main Character as part of experiencing conflicts from his point of view. At beginning of the story the Main Character is driven by a particular motivation. When the story ends, he will either still be driven by the same motivation (Steadfast) or have a new motivation (Change). Main Character Resolve describes the relationship between the Main Character and the Impact Character.

Subjective Characters
Subjective Characters and the Overall Story
Most common mistakes made by authors  Main Character has nothing to do with the story at large.  To tie the Main Character s personal problem into the larger story with a major rewrite.  Removing either the story s issues or the Main Character s issues still leaves a sound tale behind.  Dramatica distinguishes between a tale and story .  Story: an argument; exploring an issue from all sides to discover what is better or worse overall  Tale: a statement; exploring an issue down a single path and showing how it turns out.  1) Putting an Overall Story-tale and a Main Character tale into the same work, 2) both hinging on the same issue, -> forming a Grand Argument Story  Story-end in success / Main Character-miserable  Ended in failure / Satisfaction and solace