Dramatica is not a formula. It's a writer's assistant.
Call it whatever you want. It's a foundation to test your story against. It's a framework to color in, just like those books you colored in as a child.
There's the main problem with Dramatica and any other narrative science idea.
A writer writes a screenplay using their unconscious collective of memories, understandings and tastes. In a coloring book analogy...they create the lines in which the production team will color in.
By using Dramatica or any other story form modeling system to write OR check to see if your story is "working" is ridiculous. You don't want to put yourself between a story form analyzer and the production team unless you want to be the MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE.
You can tell, and readers can tell when it's not working. Just put your heart into it and you'll know and blow them away. You're a fucking human being.
The ironic argument for Dramatica is that story forms like Save The Cat and the hero's journey are too simple and that using Dramatica will allow you to realize how complex your story can be. Well!
Forget those other story forms and you don't even need Dramatica to "remind" you that stories can be more complex.
Truth be told: An open mind and an open heart are all you need to write an engaging screenplay. It's that fucking simple.
TA.... DA....,
G. Cottontail
No comments:
Post a Comment