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Hi all - I am new to Dramatica and tasked with the job of writing a review of the software for a local writers' publication.

So far, I've just started playing around with Level One, adding in characters, etc.... but I had some questions....

1. If I have an existing novel draft in Microsoft Word, can I import it into Dramatica and "add" the outlining overlay to it? And then export it back to Word?

2. I'm trying to get a better understanding between Dramatica and Word processor - does one write in Dramatica, or in your word processor, but your .dsf file is always associated with your Word processing file?

Thanks in advance - expect more questions to come!

Hi. It's a bit self-serving for me to answer your questions, and I'd love for Dramatica user's to give their $.02 worth. Until then, here are some quick answers to your questions:

1. Yes and no. Yes, you may copy and paste parts of your novel from Word into Dramatica. No, I recommend against it. The "why" is answered in...

2. Dramatica Pro is a story development tool, not a place to write the finished work, such as Word. Part of the value of Dramatica is the process of developing your story's ideas. Another part are the reports that organize your information. And yet another part is the "language" Dramatica gives to abstract concepts that allow writers to communicate to one another in a precise manner.

Cheers!

ahhhh, ok, that helps a lot.

so far, i'm finding Dramatica to be an intoxicating program. Unfortunately, i've had some problems installing it on a Vista system. I've gone through the issues of installing the HELP, etc... but once I'm done the technical issues.... I'll be ready to rock and roll.

There is plenty of help at support.screenplay.com. Here is a link to the Vista-related installation questions for Dramatica:

http://support.screenplay.com/answercenter/search.php?q=vista