A Writer Asks

What is the worst part of writing for you personally?

Melanie Replies

The time I hate most as a writer is when I get a good idea that just can't wait. It is like I get tied to Moby Dick and must let the damned thing pull me all over "creation" until I finally cut my way free by getting it all out of my system and onto paper. It's a lot easier when I just sit down to write something because I want to. But this creative frenzy stuff if for the birds!

Writer's block is never a problem for me. If I can't make any progress, I just write something else. There's always going to be something that is ready to flow. Of course, the problem then becomes the backlog of 50,000 partially finished stories and nothing complete. Completion is the hard part for me. I get interested in a new project or just run out of interest in an old one and have a devil of a time forcing myself to ride it out to the end.

Fortunately, I've had some hard taskmasters in the past, and they have instilled in me the ability to put my personal feelings aside and get the job done. I hate that. So, I use it sparingly, and only when I begin to feel guilty that I've gotten so close to finishing something that I'm depriving the world of a wonderful reading experience. (You have to play to your ego, or you'll never get it finished!) Then, I begrudgingly acquiesce to the demands of my public - that one reader in Iowa who actually cares if I ever write anything again or not - and suffer through the anguish of actually bringing the piece to a close.

Which I think I just did.

Melanie

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.

Our Most Popular Products

StoryWeaver Story Development Software

By far, our most popular product, outselling all of our other products combined!  StoryWeaver takes you step by step through the entire process--from initial inspiration to completed novel or screenplay.  At just $29.95, StoryWeaver is affordable for any writer.  (Details)


Movie Magic Screenwriter

is one of two industry standard word processing screenplay formatters, the other being Final Draft.  Each of these programs offers a complete suite of screenwriting tools to make your next script a breeze to write.  (Details


Dramatica Pro

Unlike any other story development product, Dramatica Pro uses a patented Story Engine to interactively help you build a structure, find and fix dramatica holes and inconsistencies.  (Details)


20 Hour Writing Course on CD ROM

This intense program features 20 hours of video documenting the entire college-level course in creative writing given by Melanie Anne Phillips, creator of StoryWeaver and co-creator of Dramatica.  Just $19.95  (Details)

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