There are 12 Essential Questions every author should be able to answer regarding his or
her story. This is part one of an exploration into the meaning of and best way to answer
these questions. The questions are divided into three areas - Character, Plot, and Theme.
Character Questions:
1. Main Character Resolve - Change or Steadfast
2. Main Character Growth - Start or Stop
3. Main Character Approach - Do-er or Be-er
4. Main Character Mental Sex - Male of Female
Plot Questions:
5. Story Driver - Action or Decision
6. Story Limit - Timelock or Optionlock
7. Story Outcome - Success or Failure
8. Story Judgment - Good or Bad
Theme Questions:
9. Domain - four options: Universe, Physics, Mind, or Psychology
10. Concern - a choice of four depending upon Domain
11. Range (Issue) - a choice of four depending upon Concern
12. Problem - a choice of four depending upon Range (Issue)
Why 12 questions? Imagine the structure of a story as the network of girders that form
the structure of a skyscraper. Every place two or more girders connect to form an
intersection is a key stress point in the structure. In stories, every place two or more
dramatic forces converge is a key story point.
If you want to know something about the shape of the overall building, the four most
important points are the four corners. Once those are determined, everything else falls
within that perimeter.
Character, Plot, and Theme are like three different buildings in a story - three
different kinds of structures. The best way to get a handle on the overall shape of each
is to lock down the four corners.
By answering the 12 Essential Questions, you determine the basic shape of each of the
three areas within which all other story point must fall, to which all other story points
must conform. It is like determining the background or playing field against which all
story elements must be played.
What about Genre? Genre is like a fourth building in the story. It provides the fourth
corner in the complete structure. In fact, it determines how the other three buildings
(Character, Plot, and Theme) will relate to one another.
Why aren't there four more questions for Genre, making it 16 Essential Questions?
Because Genre is not an actual structure like the other three areas, but is a description
of how the other three relate to one another. It is more like a city in the sky.
Genre is determined by how you TELL the story, the other three describe the story that
is to be told. As a result, Genre is dependent on the talent, inspiration, and mystical
artistry of the author. That is why no computer will ever write a story as meaningful as a
person can. In contrast, to think that stories are ALL art and nothing definitive and
mechanical exists is to jump to the opposite extreme.
Until Dramatica, the art of storytelling was generally thought of as being inseparably
intertwined with the substance of story structure. As a result, authors often created
beautiful expressions of faulty structures.
By answering the 12 Essential Questions in Dramatica, authors can gain a sound
understanding of the structural imperatives they have determined for their stories. Then,
using that Storyform structure as a canvas and palette, they can draw their respective
muses to express the intangible essence of the human heart in a meaningful and
understandable form.
Try Dramatica & StoryWeaver Risk
Free*
$179.95
$29.95
*Try either or both for 90 days. Not working for you?
Return for a full refund of your purchase price!
About Dramatica and
StoryWeaver
Hi, I'm Melanie Anne Phillips,
creator of StoryWeaver,
co-creator of Dramatica
and owner of Storymind.com. If you have a moment, I'd like to tell you
about these two story development tools - what each is designed to do, how
each works alone on a different part of story development and how they can be
used together to cover the entire process from concept to completion of your
novel or screenplay.
What They Do
Dramatica is a tool to help you
build a perfect story structure. StoryWeaver is a tool to help you build
your story's world. Dramatica focuses on the underlying logic of your
story, making sure there are no holes or inconsistencies. StoryWeaver
focuses on the creative process, boosting your inspiration and guiding it to add
depth, detail and passion to your story.
How They Do It
Dramatica has the world's only
patented interactive Story Engine™ which cross-references your answers to
questions about your dramatic intent, then finds any weaknesses in your
structure and even suggests the best ways to strengthen them.
StoryWeaver uses a revolutionary new
creative format as you follow more than 200 Story Cards™ step by step through
the story development process. You'll design the people who'll inhabit
your story's world, what happens to them, and what it all means.
How They Work
Together
By itself Dramatic appeals to
structural writers who like to work out all the details of their stories
logically before they write a word. By itself, StoryWeaver appeals to
intuitive writers who like to follow their Muse and develop their stories as
they go.
But, the finished work of a
structural writer can often lack passion, which is where StoryWeaver can help.
And the finished work of an intuitive writer can often lack direction, which is
where Dramatica can help.
So, while each kind of writer will
find one program or the other the most initially appealing, both kinds of
writers can benefit from both programs.
Try Both Programs
Risk Free!
We have a 90
Day Return Policy here at Storymind. Try either or both of these
products and if you aren't completely satisfied we'll cheerfully refund your
purchase price.
Format:
Windows / Mac CD-ROM
