Today’s Most Popular Articles
- The False Narrative
- Protagonist & Antagonist - Who ARE These Guys?
- Writing Stories About Hopes and Dreams
- How do you create a main character who is an antagonist?
- The Main Character and Duality
- Use a Log Line to Clarify Your Story Before You Write
- Narrative Science and Dramatica
- Psychology, Personality, Persona & Perception - The 4 P's Revisited
- The Dramatic Triangle
- Identifying Your Main Character
Topics
Category Archives: Writing Tip of the Day
The Story Mind (Part 5) – The Grand Argument Story
Excerpted from the Book “Dramatica Unplugged“ By Melanie Anne Phillips, Co-creator of Dramatica Over the years a number of my students have asked how the Dramatica chart can possibly describe the fullness of the human experience, especially since we, as a species, … Continue reading
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Introducing the Story Mind
Watch the entire 113 part series free on our web site… Transcript of the soundtrack from this video: Dramatica Unplugged Class One: Introduction 1.1 Introducing the Story Mind Let’s look at the central concept in Dramatica: the Story Mind. It’s … Continue reading
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The Story Mind (Part 4) – The Dramatica Chart
Excerpted from the Book “Dramatica Unplugged“ By Melanie Anne Phillips, Co-creator of Dramatica A part of the Dramatica Theory book, we developed the Dramatica Chart of Story Elements (which is not unlike the Periodic Table of Elements in chemistry). Download a free … Continue reading
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The Story Mind (Part 3) – A Story Is An Argument
Excerpted from the Book “Dramatica Unplugged“ By Melanie Anne Phillips, Co-creator of Dramatica So a tale is a simple linear path that the author promotes as being either a good or bad one to take, depending on the outcome. There’s a certain … Continue reading
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The Reason of Age
The Reason of Age How old your characters are couches them in a lot of preconceptions about how they’ll act, what their experience base is, and how formidable or capable they may be at the tasks that are thrust upon … Continue reading
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Use Nicknames to Enrich Your Characters
Nicknames are wonderful dramatic devices because they can work with the character’s apparent physical nature or personality, work against it for humiliating or comedic effect, play into the plot by telegraphing the activities in which the character will engage, create … Continue reading
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Avoid the Genre Trap
Too many beginning writers see genres as checklists of elements and progressions they must touch, like checkpoints in a race. But a genre is not a box in which to write. It is a grab bag from which to pull … Continue reading
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Be your own critic without being critical
Be your own critic without being critical Here’s how: Write something. Do it now. Now look at it not as an author, but as a reader or audience and ask questions about it. For example, I write, “It was dawn … Continue reading
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Let your Muse run wild
Let your Muse run wild The easiest way to give yourself writer’s block is to bridle your Muse by trying to come up with ideas. Your Muse is always coming up with ideas – just not the ones you want. … Continue reading
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Be a Story Weaver – NOT a Story Mechanic!
Writing Tip of the Day: Be a Story Weaver – NOT a Story Mechanic! Structure is important but not at the expense of passion. No one reads a book or goes to a movie to experience a great structure. Authors … Continue reading
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