Dramatica: A New Theory Of Story
By Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley

Chapter 23

Storytelling the Structural Appreciations



Storyforming Structural Appreciations

By answering the eight essential questions we greatly refine our understanding of the way our story will feel to our audience. The next task is to clarify what it is we intend to talk about. In the Theme section of The Elements of Structure we were introduced to the various Appreciations an audience will look for in the course of experiencing and evaluating a story. Now we turn our attention to examining the issues we, as authors, must consider in selecting our story's Appreciation's. We begin with the Appreciations that most affect Genre, then work our way down through Plot and Theme to arrive at a discussion of what goes into selecting a Main Character's Problem.

Selecting the Domains in your story


One of the easiest ways to identify the four Domains in your story (Objective Story, Subjective Story, Main Character, and Obstacle Character) is by looking at the characters that appear in each Domain. Who are they? What are they doing? What are their relationships to one another? Clearly identifying the characters in each throughline will make selecting the thematic Domains, Concerns, Ranges, and Problems for the throughlines much easier.

For the Objective Story Throughline:

When looking at the characters in the Objective Story Throughline, identify them by the roles they play instead of their names. This keeps them at a distance, making them a lot easier to evaluate objectively. For instance, some of the characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet might be the king, the queen, the ghost, the prince, the chancellor, and the chancellor's daughter, while the characters in The Fugitive might be the fugitive doctor, the federal marshal, the dead wife, the one-armed man, and so on. By avoiding the characters' proper names you also avoid identifying with them and confusing their personal concerns with their concerns as Objective Characters.

Aren't the Main Character and the Obstacle Character also part of the Objective Story?

The Main Character and the Obstacle Character will each have a role in the Objective Story in addition to their explorations of their own throughlines. From the Objective Story point of view we see all the story's Objective Characters and identify them by the functions they fulfill in the quest to reach the Objective Story Concern. The Objective Story throughline is what brings all of the characters in the story together and describes what they do in relation to one another in order to achieve this Concern.

It is extremely important to be able to separate the Main Character throughline from the Objective Story throughline in order to see your story's structure accurately. It is equally important to make the distinction between the Obstacle Character and the Objective Story. Exploring these two characters' throughlines in a story requires a complete shift in the audience's perspective, away from the overall story that involves all the characters and into the subjective experiences that only these two characters have within the story. Thus, each of these throughlines should be considered individually.

The Main Character and the Obstacle Character will, however, each have at least one function to perform in the Objective Story as well. When we see them here, though, they both appear as Objective Characters. In the Objective Story all we see are the characteristics they represent in relation to the other Objective Characters.

So if your Main Character happens to be the Protagonist as well, then it is purely as the Protagonist that we will see him in the Objective Story. If your Obstacle Character is also an Archetypal Guardian, then his helping and conscience are all you should consider about that character in the Objective Story.

In every story, these two will at least be called upon in the Objective Story to represent the story's Crucial Element and its dynamic opposite. It is possible that the Main and Obstacle Characters could have no other relationship with the Objective Story than these single characteristics. The point is that their importance to the Objective Story should be thought of completely in terms of these and any other Objective characteristics which are assigned.


For the Subjective Story Throughline:

When looking at the characters in the Subjective Story Throughline, it is best to look at the Main and Obstacle Characters by their relationship with each other in lieu of their names. The Subjective Story Throughline is the "We" perspective, (i.e. first-person plural) so think entirely in terms of the relationship between the Main and Obstacle Characters, not the characters themselves. Thus, "the relationship between Dr. Richard Kimble and Sam Gerard" is the focus of the Subjective Story Throughline in The Fugitive, whereas The Verdict focuses on "the relationship between Frank Galvin and Laura Fischer."

For the Main Character Throughline:

When looking at the Main Character's Throughline, all other characters are unimportant and should not be considered. Only the Main Character's personal identity or essential nature is meaningful from this point of view. What qualities of the Main Character are so much a part of him that they would not change even if he were plopped down in another story? For example, Hamlet's brooding nature and his tendency to over-think things would remain consistent and recognizable if he were to show up in a different story. Laura Wingfield, in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, would carry with her a world of rationalizations and a crippling propensity to dream if we were to see her appear again. These are the kinds of things to pay attention to in looking at the Main Character Throughline.

For the Obstacle Character Throughline:

When considering the Obstacle Character's Throughline, look at their identity in terms of their impact on others, particularly the Main Character. Think of the Obstacle Character in terms of his name, but it's the name of someone else, someone who can really get under your skin. In viewing the Obstacle Character this way, it is easier to identify the kind of impact that he has on others. Obi Wan Kenobi's fanaticism (regarding using the force) in Star Wars and Deputy Marshal Sam Gerard's tenacity (in out-thinking his prey) in The Fugitive are aspects of these Obstacle Characters that are inherent to their nature and would continue to be so in any story they might be found in.

Picking the proper Classes for the
Domains in your Story

Which is the right Class for the Main Character Domain in your story? For the Objective Story Domain? For the Subjective Story Domain? For the Obstacle Character Domain? Assigning the appropriate Dramatica Classes to the Domains of your story is a tricky but important process.

There are four Domains or throughlines in a story: the Main Character, the Obstacle Character, the Subjective Story, and the Objective Story. These throughlines provide an audience with various points of view from which to explore the story. The four audience points of view can be seen as I, YOU, WE, and THEY as the audience's point of view shifts from empathizing with the Main Character, to feeling the impact of the Obstacle Character, to experiencing the relationship between the Main and Obstacle Character, and then finally stepping back to see the big picture that has everyone in it (all of THEM). Each point of view describes an aspect of the story experience to which an audience is privy.

There are four Classes containing all the possible kinds of problems that can be felt in those throughlines (one Class to each throughline): Universe, Mind, Physics, and Psychology. These Classes suggest different areas to explore in the story. The areas can be seen as SITUATIONS, FIXED ATTITUDES or FIXATIONS, ACTIVITIES, and MANNERS OF THINKING or MANIPULATION.

In Dramatica, a story will contain all four areas to explore (Classes) and all four points of view (throughlines). Each Class will be explored from one of the throughlines. The combination of Class and throughline into a Domain is the broadest way to describe the meaning in a story. For example, exploring a Main Character in terms of his situation is quite different than exploring a Main Character in terms of his attitude, the activities he is involved in, or how he is being manipulated. Which is right for your story?

Pairing the appropriate Class with the proper throughline for your story can be difficult. An approach you may find useful is to pick a throughline, adopt the audience perspective that throughline provides, and from that point of view examine each of the four Classes to see which feels the best.

Each of the following sections present the four Classes from one specific audience perspective. For best effect, adopt the perspective described in the section and ask the questions as they appear in terms of your own story. One set of questions should seem more important or relevant from that perspective. NOTE: Selecting a throughline/Class relationship (or Domain) indicates much about the emphasis you wish to place in the context of your story. No pairing is better or worse than another. One pairing will be, however, most appropriate to what you have in mind for your story than the other three alternatives.

Dynamic Pairs of Domains

Each of the throughlines in a story can be seen as standing alone or as standing in relation to the other throughlines. When selecting which Classes to assign the throughlines of your story, it is extremely important to remember two relationships in particular among the throughlines:

The Objective Story and Subjective Story throughlines
will always be a dynamic pair

And...

The Main Character and Obstacle Character throughlines
will always be a dynamic pair

These relationships reflect the kind of impact these throughlines have on each other in every story. The Main and Obstacle Characters face off throughout the story until one of them Changes (indicated by the Main Character Resolve). Their relationship in the Subjective Story will help precipitate either Success or Failure in the Objective Story (indicated by the Story Outcome).

What these relationships mean to the process of building the Domains in your story is that whenever you set up one Domain, you also set up its dynamic pair.

For example, matching the Main Character throughline with the Universe class not only creates a Main Character Domain of Universe in your story, it also creates an Obstacle Character Domain of Mind. Since Mind is the dynamic pair to Universe in the Dramatica structure, matching one throughline to one of the Classes automatically puts the other throughline on the opposite Class to support the two throughlines' dynamic pair relationship.

Likewise, matching the Objective Story throughline with Psychology to create an Objective Story Domain of Psychology will automatically create a Subjective Story Domain of Physics at the same time. The reasoning is the same here as it was for the Main and Obstacle Character throughlines. No matter which Class you match with one of the throughlines on the Dramatica structure, the dynamic pair of that class will be matched to the dynamic pair of that throughline.


Who am I and what am I doing?

When looking from the Main Character's perspective, use the first person singular (I) voice to evaluate the Classes.

bulletIf the Main Character's Domain is Universe (e.g. Luke in Star Wars or George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), questions like the following would arise: What is it like to be in my situation? What is my status? What condition am I in? Where am I going to be in the future? What's so special about my past?
bulletIf the Main Character's Domain is Physics (e.g. Frank Galvin in The Verdict The Verdict or Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive), questions like the following would be more appropriate: What am I involved in? How do I get what I want? What must I learn to do the things I want to do? What does it mean to me to have (or lose) something?
bulletIf the Main Character's Domain is Mind (e.g. Scrooge in A Christmas Carol), you would consider questions such as the following: What am I afraid of? What is my opinion? How do I react to something? How do I feel about this or that? What is it that I remember about that night?
bulletIf the Main Character's Domain is Psychology (e.g. Laura in The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie or Frank in In The Line of Fire), the concerns would be more like: Who am I really? How should I act? How can I become a different person? Why am I so angry, or reserved, or whatever? How am I manipulating or being manipulated?

Who are YOU and what are YOU doing?

When considering the Obstacle Character's perspective, it is best to use the second person singular ("You") voice to evaluate the Classes. This is best imagined as if one is addressing the Obstacle Character directly, where "You" is referring to the Obstacle Character.

bulletIf the Obstacle Character's Domain is Universe (e.g. Marley's Ghost in A Christmas Carol), you might ask them: What is it like to be in your situation? What is your status? What condition are you in? Where are you going to be in the future? What's so special about your past?
bulletIf the Obstacle Character's Domain is Physics (e.g. Jim in The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie or Booth in In The Line of Fire): What are you involved in? How do you get what you want? What must you learn to do the things you want to do? What does it mean to you to have (or lose) something?
bulletIf the Obstacle Character's Domain is Mind (e.g. Obi Wan in Star Wars Star Wars or Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?): What are you afraid of? What is your opinion? How do you react to that? How do you feel about this or that? What is it that you remember about that night?
bulletIf the Obstacle Character's Domain is Psychology (e.g. Laura Fisher in The Verdict The Verdict or Sam Gerard in The Fugitive): Who are you really? How should you act? How can you become a different person? Why are you so angry, or reserved, or whatever? How are you manipulating or being manipulated?

Who are WE and what are WE doing?

When considering the Subjective Story perspective, it is best to use the first person plural ("We") voice to evaluate the Classes. We refers to the Main and Obstacle Characters collectively.

bulletIf the Subjective Story's Domain is Universe (e.g. The Ghost & Hamlet's pact in Hamlet or Reggie & Marcus' alliance in The Client), consider asking: What is it like to be in our situation? What is our status? What condition are we in? Where are we going to be in the future? What's so special about our past?
bulletIf the Subjective Story's Domain is Physics (e.g. George & Martha's game in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?): What are we involved in? How do we get what we want? What must we learn to do the things we want to do? What does it mean to us to have (or lose) something?
bulletIf the Subjective Story's Domain is Mind (e.g. Frank & Laura's affair in The Verdict or Dr. Kimble & Sam Gerard's relationship in The Fugitive): What are we afraid of? What is our opinion? How do we react to that? How do we feel about this or that? What is it that we remember about that night?
bulletIf the Subjective Story's Domain is Psychology (e.g. Obi Wan & Luke's relationship in Star Wars): Who are we really? How should we act? How can we become different people? Why are we so angry, or reserved, or whatever? How are we manipulating or being manipulated?

Who are THEY and what are THEY doing?

When considering the Objective Story perspective, it is best to use the third person plural ("They") voice to evaluate the Classes. They refers to the entire set of Objective Characters (protagonist, antagonist, sidekick, etc.) collectively.

bulletIf the Objective Story's Domain is Universe (e.g. The Verdict, The Poseidon Adventure, or The Fugitive), consider asking: What is it like to be in their situation? What is their status? What condition are they in? Where are they going to be in the future? What's so special about their past?
bulletIf the Objective Story's Domain is Physics (e.g. Star Wars): What are they involved in? How do they get what they want? What must they learn to do the things they want to do? What does it mean to them to have (or lose) something?
bulletIf the Objective Story's Domain is Mind (e.g. Hamlet or To Kill A Mockingbird): What are they afraid of? What is their opinion? How do they react to that? How do they feel about this or that? What is it that they remember about that night?
bulletIf the Objective Story's Domain is Psychology (e.g. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? or Four Weddings and a Funeral): Who are they really? How should they act? How can they become different people? Why are they so angry, or reserved, or whatever? How are they manipulating or being manipulated?


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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

Index of Dramatica Theory Materials

Storymind.com is pleased to present this collection of materials about the Dramatica Theory of Story. We hope you find it both useful and through-provoking.

This information is divided into three sections:

The Dramatica Theory
A complete exploration of the theory in every detail

Historic Documents
The development of Dramatica from the beginning

Speculations
Dramatica applied to psychology, physics, religion and more

The Dramatica Theory

Dramatica Theory Book Online
Free online edition of the 400+ page book, Dramatica: A New theory of Story, in which Melanie Anne Phillips & Chris Huntley originally documented their work.

Dramatica Dictionary
Official definitions of all terms in the Dramatica theory and software.

Dramatica Writing Tips
Useful and informative articles on how to approach and employ both the Dramatica Theory and Software.

Constructive Criticisms
Practical illustrations of how applying the Dramatica theory could have made some well-known successful story's even better!

Dramatica Q & A
Answers to questions from users of the Dramatica Theory and Software.

Instant Dramatica
Even more directly practical essays on using Dramatica for real-world writing situations and problems provided by noted screenwriter Armando Saldaņa Mora.

Historic Documents

Dramatica - The Lost Theory Book
Early attempts to document the theory, including many unfinished conjectures and false starts.

Dramatica Development Archives
Early documents created during the development of the foundations of Dramatica.  Often later discarded, they show the roots of the thinking that ultimately evolved into the theory as it stands today.

Speculations

Deep Theory
Transcript of a class on the outer fringes of Dramatica Theory I taught as part of a now-defunct Dramatica Certification course.

Dramatica Math
A mathematician takes a stab at describing the Dramatica model in terms of dimensional distortions.

Mental Relativity
An exploration of the theory of psychology modeling which grew out of the development of Dramatica.

Dramatica I Ching
Several of our users have noticed a similarity between the character grid in Dramatica and the elements of the traditional I Ching.  Though unintentional, perhaps all models that look deeply into the mind will resemble each other.

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