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Showing posts from March, 2016

Does Dramatica Support Multiple Protagonists?

A writer recently asked, do the Dramatica software and theory support multiple protagonists (several people trying to achieve the goal for themselves)? First, the short answer is yes, Dramatica supports that. But there’s more. Here’s the long answer (bear with me here as the following should really open up some new ways of looking at story structure for you). Why does structure exist in fiction and where did it come from? In real life, when people are drawn toward a point of common interest - be it by forming a club or organization or just by competing for the same thing, they quickly adopt roles - they self-organize unconsciously. What are these roles and where do they come from? We each have mental tools with which to assess the current situation, determine a potential improved situation, and to devise a plan to change what is to what we’d like better. That’s narrative’s core. It is what the individual does. We each have, for example, our abili

The 8 Archetypal Characters

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Join me at The Writers Store on March 12, 2016

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Join Melanie Anne Phillips, co-creator of Dramatica, for a full-day character creation seminar/workshop at The Writer’s Store in Burbank on March 12, 2016. Click for details