A story begins when the Main Character is stuck up in the highest level of justification. Nobody gets there because they are stupid or mean. They get there because their unique life experience has brought them repeated exposures to what appear to be real connections between things like, “One bad apple spoils the bunch” or […]
A story begins when the Main Character is stuck up in the highest level of justification. Nobody gets there because they are stupid or mean. They get there because their unique life experience has brought them repeated exposures to what appear to be real connections between things like, “One bad apple spoils the bunch” or […]
Perhaps the most fundamental error made by authors, whether novice or experienced, is that their characters, both male and female, tend to reflect the gender of the author. This is hardly surprising, since recent research indicates that men and women use their brains in different ways. So how can an author overcome this gap to […]
Perhaps the most fundamental error made by authors, whether novice or experienced, is that all their characters, male and female, tend to reflect the gender of the author. This is hardly surprising, since recent research indicates that men and women use their brains in different ways. So how can an author overcome this gap to write […]
True of people; true of characters: When hit with great personal grief, how many of us stop to think about how all those around us are coping – especially those whose approach to life is to keep it all inside? By nature, we all stand at the apex of our perception, with all roads leading […]
The minds of characters work very much like our own. People think both in terms of time and of space. Our time sense gives us the ability to predict what is likely to happen next. Our space sense gives us the ability to determine what else (unseen) may be connected to what we do see. […]
Here is an early article about a new aspect of narrative science I was developing. It is based on a previous concept from our Dramatica theory of narrative structure called the Storymind. The Story Mind asserts that every story has a mind of its own, as if it were some sort of mega character with […]
Here’s an article about real world narrative I published shortly after al Awlaki, an American recruiter for terrorism, was killed in a raid: Recently, al Awlaki (the infamous “American” Al Qaeda) was killed by American forces. He was viewed as a great threat because of his ability to speak to the domestic population of the […]
By Melanie Anne Phillips This article is excerpted from text I wrote in Dramatica Story Structure Software. It describes one of key story structure choices you need to make if your Main Character is to ring true at a fundamental level. Here’s the excerpt: Every Main Character should have a Problem-Solving Style. Whether your Main Character is […]
By Melanie Anne Phillips A story begins when the Main Character has become stuck in the highest level of justification. Nobody gets there because they are stupid or mean. They get there because their unique life experience has brought them repeated exposures to what appear to be real connections between things like, “One bad apple spoils […]
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