Dramatica - Ok - Fine - Use It.

In the past, I've been emotionally disturbed by story writing programs such as Dramatica.

I've cooled down a bit.  So sure, go ahead and use Dramatica to create a story.  But with one caveat.

At some point you're going to have to read your story and develop it's humanity.  You're going to need to open yourself up and be sincere.

The fact is that characters are not pieces of construction material that you piece together to build a structure.  True, stories are about structure - behavioral and social structure - human desires and human relationships.  Using the word structure can be misleading - you may start to think of stories as Lego sets.  People draw diagrams of how the structure of a story can look.

Sure, it's fine to use the diagrams to outline a story but at some point you have to get rid of the cookie cutter and make sure you're being sincere.  Make sure your characters are being sincere.  Make sure you are simplifying and clarifying each scene to express a clear idea.

Dramatica and the other BS story form-u-lies

Dear Wandering Screenwriter,

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

Dramatica - It MAY NOT work for you because it sucks

"I see, okay, so this must be how human psychology works!" - Robot using Dramatica to understand stories.

I joke!

But seriously, do you really need to breakdown how your own mind works in order to do what it does naturally?

You're not a robot are you?


No.  You're a human.  And humans are composed of intellect(logic) and emotion(feelings and desires)

Dramatica works the intellect(logic) and ignores the emotion(feelings and desires, the pain of the second Act, pain of making choices)

IN fact any screenwriting book, software, guru who wants to help you make the writing process easier will be working your intellect.

They help you suppress your emotions and as a result water down your story.

Emotions!  Reactions! Like the ones you feel when you get home from a long day of work and you're reminded that you planned on exercising every other day but you're just too tired and just don't feel like it.  Those fucking emotions baby.

OH IRONY - of these self help books, software programs, and gurus lies in the fact that they try to show you ways to make the screenwriting process easy....BUT if writing a story is EASY the story will be BORING.

WHY?!

Because in order to add emotion to a story, you must hit Writer's block walls and infuse your characters with those feelings of being stuck, unhappy, feeling like the goal is unattainable, feeling that loss of romance for your idea.

Wait?  Toss out the books, the software, the stupid ARCHETYPES, and wave goodbye to your goddamn guru because you're going to start writing and infusing your screenwriting with emotion, with reactions, with a character who wants to prove something!!!

YES!  I have a NEW HOPE just for YOU!

Embrace the painful feelings and let them come out through your characters actions and dialog.  Hit the writers blocks and the feelings of being stuck in the second act with no where to go.  Forge the fires within the heart of your main character and allow them to overcome their hard internal battles.

STRIKE OUT FRIENDS!  BE BOLD!  Write well.  BE HUMAN.


Let me leave you with this:
When it comes to the hard choices you encounter - you can make the choice and become unique, become a voice...or you can allow a program to make them for you and create mumbling averageness.  Be someone or be no one, friends.