Dramatica Software Tips
Introduction to the Dramatica Structure Chart
by Melanie Anne Phillips
Dramatica theory is not just a bunch of words about writing. It is also a very specific
model of the elements that make up all stories and the manner in which they can be
arranged to create each unique story.
Now, most writers are not theorists, and don't want to be. Still, an understanding of
the way stories work can help support a writer's instincts to make sure a flawed structure
won't get in the way of the creativity.
If you own the Dramatica software, you've probably noticed it comes with chart that
looks something like a Rubik's Cube on steroids, or a super-complex 3-D chess board. If
you don't have the software, you can see a representation of it at
http://storymind.com/mental_relativity/model.htm
That chart is a map of the elements that make up stories. If you were to twist it and
turn it like a Rubik's Cube, you would be "winding up" the dramatic tension of
your story.
The Story Engine at the heart of the Dramatica software tracks all of those elements to
make sure no dramatic "rules" are broken. What's a Dramatic Rule? As an analogy,
you can twist and turn a Rubik's Cube, but you can't pluck one of the little cubes out of
it and swap it's position with another little cube. In other words, you can create all
kinds of patterns, but you can't break structure. Similarly in stories, you can create all
kinds of dramatic patterns, but you can't just drop story elements wherever you want -
they have to MOVE into place.
When you answer questions in Dramatica, you are expressing your dramatic intent - the
dramatic pattern you want to create for your audience. That says something about the final
arrangement you want with some of the "colors" in the Rubik's Cube of your
story.
Every time you make a choice, you are saying, "I want my story to look like this,
as opposed to that." You are choosing just as much what you DON'T want in your story
as what you do.
The choices are cumulative - they pile up. The more you make, the more Dramatica's
Story Engine winds up. Your future choices start to become limited, not by arbitrary and
rigid rules, but because you can't do everything at one time in one place. Some choices or
combination of choices simply prevent other options from being possible in that particular
story.
Imagine - what would happen if you put anything you wanted into a story? Then anything
goes. That means there is no good structure or bad structure, in fact there would be no
structure at all.
What is structure? Structure is nothing more than making a point, either logistically
or emotionally or both. Many stories don't need structure because they are not about
making a larger point or having a message, but are designed to be experiences without
specific overall meaning.
That, in fact, is the difference between a Tale and Story. A Tale relates a series of
experiences, a Story brings those experiences together to create an overall meaning. In
other words, each experience is part of an overall pattern that becomes clear by the time
the story is over.
There is nothing better or worse about a Tale compared to a Story, but authors of
Stories take upon themselves a more demanding rigor. When your purpose is to have the sum
of the parts amount to a greater meaning, the Structural Chart and the Story Engine can
ensure that meaning is consistent and does not contradict itself.
