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StoryWeaver
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The most
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Throughline
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Chapter 3
Introduction to Characters
Hero Is a Four Letter Word
It is easy to think of the principal character in a story as "the hero." Many
beginning writers tend to base their stories on the adventures or experiences of a hero.
As writers become more mature in their craft, they may come to think of their central
character as a "protagonist," or perhaps a "main character." And yet,
through all of this, no consistent definitions of any of these terms have ever been agreed
upon. Before we proceed then, it seems prudent to establish what Dramatica means by each
of these concepts.
- A Main Character is the player through whom the audience experiences the story first
hand.
- A Protagonist is the prime mover of the plot.
- A Hero is a combination of both Main Character and Protagonist.
In other words, a hero is a blended character who does two jobs: move the plot forward
and serve as a surrogate for the audience. When we consider all the characters other than
a Protagonist who might serve as the audience's position in a story, suddenly the concept
of a hero becomes severely limited. It is not wrong, just limited. The value of separating
the Main Character and Protagonist into two different characters can be seen in the motion
picture, To Kill a Mockingbird. Here, the character, Atticus, (played by
Gregory Peck) is clearly the Protagonist, yet the story is told through the experiences of
Scout, his young daughter.
Later on, we will explore many other ways in which the Main Character can be
employed in much less archetypal terms than as a hero. For now, the key point is that
Dramatica identifies two different kinds of characters: those who represent an audience
point of view, and those who fulfill a dramatic function.
Objective and Subjective Characters
The reason there are two kinds of characters goes back to the concept of the Story
Mind. We have two principal views of that mind: the Objective view from the outside
looking in, and the Subjective view from the inside looking out. In terms of the Story
Mind, the Objective view is like looking at another person, watching his thought processes
at work. For an audience experiencing a story, the Objective view is like watching a
football game from the stands. All the characters are most easily identified by their
functions on the field.
The Subjective view is as if the Story Mind were our own. From this perspective, only two
characters are visible: Main and Obstacle. The Main and Obstacle Characters represent the
inner conflict of the Story Mind. In fact, we might say a story is of two minds. In
real life, we often play our own devil's advocate, entertaining an alternative view as a
means of arriving at the best decision. Similarly, the Story Mind's alternative views are
made tangible through the Main and Obstacle Characters. To the audience of a story, the
Main Character experience is as if the audience were actually one of the players on the
field. The Obstacle Character is the player who blocks the way.
To summarize then, characters come in two varieties: Objective and Subjective. Objective
Characters represent dramatic functions; Subjective Characters represent points of view.
When the Main Character point of view is attached to the Protagonist function, the
resulting character is commonly thought of as a hero.
Looking Forward
In the next chapter we will begin an in-depth exploration of Objective Characters. Here
we will meet the Protagonist, Antagonist, and several other archetypes. Next we will
dissect each archetype to see what essential dramatic elements it contains. Finally, we
will examine how those same elements can be combined in different, non-archetypal patterns
to create more realistic and versatile complex characters.
Then we will turn our attention to the Subjective Characters: Main and Obstacle. We will
examine how the audience point of view is shifted through the Main Character's growth. We
will also explore the forces that drive these two characters and forge the belief systems
they possess.
How to Order your copy of
Dramatica: A New Theory of Story
Back to the Table of Contents
Back to Home Page
Copyright©1996, Screenplay Systems Inc.
The Dramatica theory was developed by Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley
Chief Architect of the Dramatica software is Stephen
Greenfield
Dramatica is a registered trademark of Screenplay Systems Incorporated
Visit
the Dramatica Theory Home Page
Try Dramatica & StoryWeaver Risk
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$179.95
$29.95
*Try either or both for 90 days. Not working for you?
Return for a full refund of your purchase price!
About Dramatica and
StoryWeaver
Hi, I'm Melanie Anne Phillips,
creator of StoryWeaver,
co-creator of Dramatica
and owner of Storymind.com. If you have a moment, I'd like to tell you
about these two story development tools - what each is designed to do, how
each works alone on a different part of story development and how they can be
used together to cover the entire process from concept to completion of your
novel or screenplay.
What They Do
Dramatica is a tool to help you
build a perfect story structure. StoryWeaver is a tool to help you build
your story's world. Dramatica focuses on the underlying logic of your
story, making sure there are no holes or inconsistencies. StoryWeaver
focuses on the creative process, boosting your inspiration and guiding it to add
depth, detail and passion to your story.
How They Do It
Dramatica has the world's only
patented interactive Story Engine™ which cross-references your answers to
questions about your dramatic intent, then finds any weaknesses in your
structure and even suggests the best ways to strengthen them.
StoryWeaver uses a revolutionary new
creative format as you follow more than 200 Story Cards™ step by step through
the story development process. You'll design the people who'll inhabit
your story's world, what happens to them, and what it all means.
How They Work
Together
By itself Dramatic appeals to
structural writers who like to work out all the details of their stories
logically before they write a word. By itself, StoryWeaver appeals to
intuitive writers who like to follow their Muse and develop their stories as
they go.
But, the finished work of a
structural writer can often lack passion, which is where StoryWeaver can help.
And the finished work of an intuitive writer can often lack direction, which is
where Dramatica can help.
So, while each kind of writer will
find one program or the other the most initially appealing, both kinds of
writers can benefit from both programs.
Try Both Programs
Risk Free!
We have a 90
Day Return Policy here at Storymind. Try either or both of these
products and if you aren't completely satisfied we'll cheerfully refund your
purchase price.
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Throughline
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Interactive
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Movie
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The most
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"preferred file format" by the Writer's Guild. An
industry standard, MMS is used by professionals and studios around the
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StoryWeaving
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StoryWeaving
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14 hours of
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How
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Structure
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Writing
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