Customer Reviews

Dramatica: A New Theory of Story

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a hobbyist writer since 2000; but, having recently retired I decided to become serious about writing. A friend suggested I read this book, because as an engineer by training and vocation I am a person who needs to understand a subject before really "doing" it. To that end Dramatica is excellent. But, the theory section, some 163 pages, is quite tough slogging. I had to make many notes and turn what I read into my own words to gain full understanding. Was it worth the effort? Yes, absolutely, but if you are not a persistent type person you will never complete the task. The authors themselves on page 78 say, "This discussion can get theoretical at times, and we present it more for those interested in details, rather than as essential reading." They are absolutley right.

Now, the second half of the book is on the subject of "The Art of Storytelling." However, from what I garnered, the art they present is a proprietary one aimed primarily as an adjunct to their writing software "Dramatica." I consider the writing process as put forth by the authors as too structured, too complex and too demanding of details. Since a writer's subconscious really does most of his writing and if he lets it loose (he really should) then all his carefully laid plans run the risk of being abandoned. To write an "honest" story, one that will grab readers, the writer must be truthful to himself otherwise his readers just stop reading. Will all this structured work as promulgated by the authors hinder or help truthful storytelling? That's for you to decide. Remember Shakespeare, Dickens and Hemmingway didn't take courses on writing, didn't read texts on writing and certainly didn't use writing related computer programs. What they did do was read a lot and write a lot. My conclusion on the Dramatica book is that it's worth the read, but it's not really necessary.

This is a good resourse, but if you are thinking about buying this book, do realize that you can download the lecture free as a podcast on iTunes.

Dramatica: A New Theory of Story is not a book you can skim through, it is a tough, no-nonsense, disciplined approach to creative writing; one that not only requires intense study, but also demands that you lay aside everything else you have ever read about story technique. The payoff is, Dramatica will force you to be the best you can be. Talent isn't enough in today's marketplace. No matter how great the writing, publishers want stories with no plot holes (if they find 'em, you gotta fix 'em and they don't tell you where to look). They want brief yet succint answers to questions like "who's the audience, what's the premise, the theme, the genre, the plot, etc." Dramatica will give you that information. Sometimes you'll hear, "it doesn't quite come together" which means the structure of your story is weak. That's where Dramatica shines like a lighthouse beacon in a storm. If you use Dramatica properly, underdeveloped structure will never be a problem. Once you have a firm grasp of all the story points you must cover in order to produce a complete and satisfying story, unchain the talent and watch it produce. Does Dramatica stifle creative imagination? Absolutely not! If anything, it throws you into overdrive as you work through the story encoding and story weaving sections. Try it. You'll love it! If you are serious about, and committed to, the stories you want to tell, Dramatica needs to be at your elbow. A word of advice though-once you get the book and/or software, study the Dramatica dictionary of word meanings before you get into the theory; make them automatic thought processes and you'll do just fine. Happy reading. Happy writing.

This book, along with the software if you so choose (i have both just so you know), has a LOT of information. My personal feelings are that you should buy it only if you are interested in reading about the craft of writing in your down time. There is so much information, a lot of which is unnecessary in my opinion, that this 'theory' would have you do that it would take you years before you'd actually have the outline of your novel finished, let alone a first draft.
Look, every so often someone comes along trying to anaylize and explain the process of something, in this case writing. It sucks inexperienced writers into buying their product simply because they have a way of explaining it in such a tantalizing way but there is NOTHING NEW in what they have to say, only the way that they say it.
Yes this book can be helpful but buy it for reading enjoyment only, and then if you're bored and have taken a break from your daily scheduled writing session (something far more valuable that you should be doing which is NOT in this book yet is essential if you wish to be a writer) then maybe on your down time you can figure on trying to integrate some of the info in this book into your writing.
Let me put it to you this way: this book teaches you how to assemble a car piece by tiny piece when all you really might be looking for is an instruction book on how to drive. There is NO magical formula for writing and what erks me the most about this book is that is how it is presented. The thing is, one only learns that AFTER they read the book.
Borrow it, rent it at the library, buy unless you really want to take years (yes, years. that's how detailed this book is) to actually write your novel then do yourself a favor and do what the great writers have done for centuries; read as much as you can and then take those books that really triggered your imagination and heart and after you finish them just take out a notebook and write down exactly what it is that moved you about the characters, the story and so on. Compare the lists you make from other books and you will eventually see things that stick out. Then use them.
Yes, it really is that simple.

Sorry for any mistake I could do here, English is not my first language. Dramatica Theory is the most challenging writing book I never read. It is very interesting but difficult. The authors create new definitions for words, and I often had to pause and go back in the book, to be sure to understand.

But I am happy I did this effort. Dramatica Theory offers deep insights about what should be in a story. I think it is useful when you have a story, and you want to explore how to take it at a deeper, more complete level. I think most of writers and screenwriters can really get benefit of this book.

I have used Dramatica for years, with my beta-version of this book - copied from the generous website - and I couldn't imagine writing without it. My first published short story has the elegant bare-bones version of the theory tucked into it, and everyone has mentioned how 'complete' it was.

The first novel (unpublished) I wrote was BD (before Dramatica) - and readers noted that it took a good third of the book before they really got into it - and then they couldn't put it down. I'm aiming for far better than that with the current novel - grabbing the reader's attention by the first line, and then making sure that new stuff is developed at an attention-holding pace. Dramatica has made me think of so much to write that the story never flags. I can't wait to get it all in a nice clean book form.

I have both the book and the software. The terminology in this theory is sometimes difficult, because it redefines certain words we use commonly to serve its own purposes. For example, Dramatica refers to "dynamic pairs" of story elements. Some of them are easy enough to grasp: Order/Chaos, Help/Hinder, etc. But many of the dymanic pairs are more difficult to get, e.g. Possibility/Certainty (one might have expected Possibility/Impossibility) or Obligation/Rationalization (when you understand how the theory defines these terms it makes perfect sense, but at first blush it looks a little odd). But if you put the time into this, the payoff is enormous.

(Please also see my review here of Dramatica Pro 4, where I go into considerable detail about the "contextual" nature of this theory.)

I think the most useful part of the software is the HUGE number of questions it poses to you about your characters, situations, relationships. As I went through the questions regarding my main characters, I realized many times "Hm, I never thought about that..." So neither the theory nor the software are providing answers, just lots and lots of questions that you, as the author, are responsible for being able to answer. Even if those answers don't make it directly into your final draft, having those answers will definitely color your take on the way your characters interact with each other and their environment.

The software itself is an obsessive-compulsive's dream, I have to say, and especially your first time using it you may find yourself playing with it endlessly (like me). But the characters in my story have nonetheless blossomed into "real people" for me in a way I have never experienced before.

There is a free PDF version of the book available at the dramatica.com website, but it is an older edition. But if you want to get a sense of how the theory works before buying the book, that might be a good place to start.

The Dramatica website itself is a treasure chest of additional information and in depth discussions of certain parts of the theory. There is also an excellent users' forum for both the theory and the software, where you can post your questions. Chris Huntley (one of the authors) is usually very quick to respond and offers excellent input.

I strongly recommend that you don't try to use the software without reading the book first. It will make no sense to you otherwise.

I've read this book before.

It's the same old theory you can find in hundreds of other books on the topic of writing craft, except it's been bedazzled with Words That Appear All In Capitals For No Reason, words with alternate (and incorrect) meanings like how it combines "Archetype" and "Stereotype" into the same word even though those are two very different things, and this book also makes up its own words for things which already have meanings in the English language (too many of THOSE to count!).

If you strip away all of the nonsense, all the trying to market itself as something new and fresh, it's the same book you've read before over and over on writing, and therefore it's not TECHNICALLY a bad read in that respect. But those additions, the terrible misuse of the English language, the teaching of words which will only make you confused should you ever read another text on writing and wonder why all the words are different, make this a terrible primer for new writers and confusing as Hell for experienced writers.

Don't buy it. Spend those dollars on something more useful, like, any other writing book which uses standard language (but still the same theory!)

THE UP: It's comprehensive. It actually encouraged me to look at a story as a framework, a skeleton, and see how the different parts hinge on one another. For storycrafting, the Dramatica theory can literally help one see holes in plot or characterization, allowing a writer to make more sound creative decisions, if not induce more headaches, towards the creation of a full, robust story. The book even touches on how the theory applies to different genre.

THE DOWN. It's comprehensive. The theory puts a label on practically everything--and there are a lot of labels. Though the theory is cleanly presented as a chart, it is still a deep chart. If you don't have the software, appreciating the Dramatica theory can be tedious, if not frustrating. I wonder when the Idiot's Guide will come out?

THE GOOD IN-BETWEEN. If you want to look at storycrafting from a different perspective and don't mind a little rattling in your brain, this is a good book. It can enrich what you already know about constructing a full story. However, trying to go through the entire book AND putting it into practice can potentially threaten your writing time. It's not really a practical guide. The Dramatica website has a downloadable PDF version, so you might want to give this a go then decide if you want the hard copy.

I would like to see this book have a "What This Means In The Real World" section after every chapter, wherein a summary of the key points are presented along with practical tips. Again, the Dramatica theory is eye-opening, but I guess it's meant to be absorbed by a chosen few.

I like this book, in combination with the software it does give a solid foundation to build a book from. It is not a replacement for talent or flair, but it will help you orgainze ideas, keep timelines and PoVs in order