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Hi There,

I'm a published romance writer and am using Dramatica for the first time and am in the process of reading the notes and entering my characters. Here are my questions.

1. On the Create Character what is the 'typecast' button and when would someone use it?
2. In 'Build Character' how can I reverse the choices I've made or do I have to start over?
3. In a romance novel, both female and male characters are your primary characters. So I figure I'd use the Protagonist/Impact for the male because he has a large impact on the heroines life and Main character for the female. If one of the characteristics is that my hero pursues my female and she avoids him, I've just slotted her into the characteristic of the Antagonist. Is that okay?

I'd really like to get over this learning curve and starting plugging in my story as I've already have it plotted out. Is there a video I should watch as I read the notes?

Thanks for your help, Teresa

Hi Teresa.

There is an unavoidable learning-curve that one needs to experience before being able to use Dramatica to its fullest extent and with ease, but even then it seems even experienced users experience new questions along the way.

Teresa wrote:Hi There,
1. On the Create Character what is the 'typecast' button and when would someone use it?

The Typecast button allows the user to assign an Archetypal role to the character, or choose Complex. The Archetype selection will tell the program how to code the relationship of that character with others within the Build Characters grid (Purpose/Evaluation/Motivation/Methodology).

Teresa wrote:Hi There,
2. In 'Build Character' how can I reverse the choices I've made or do I have to start over?

Click on a character in the grid, and drag it to the Overall Characters column. That will remove it from the grid and allow you to assign that function to a different character.

Teresa wrote:Hi There,
3. In a romance novel, both female and male characters are your primary characters. So I figure I'd use the Protagonist/Impact for the male because he has a large impact on the heroines life and Main character for the female. If one of the characteristics is that my hero pursues my female and she avoids him, I've just slotted her into the characteristic of the Antagonist. Is that okay?

Dramatica has expanded, and thus better defined, archetypal roles of characters. In many stories there is a protagonist and an antagonist, but within Dramatica there is a character called the Contagonist. The audience may or may not really know whose side the Contagonist is on because he/she doesn't stop the Protagonist from driving the story forward, but simply gets in the way.

Dramatica also defines an archetype called an Impact Character, sometimes called an Obstacle Character. The Impact Character performs actions that cause the Protagonist to make the decisions that drives the story forward. Usually in Romance novels, the Impact Character is the love-interest of the Protagonist.

Teresa wrote:Hi There,
I'd really like to get over this learning curve and starting plugging in my story as I've already have it plotted out. Is there a video I should watch as I read the notes?

Yes, there are lots:

The Dramatica Theory book is available online here:
http://dramatica.com/theory/theory_book/dtb.html

Melanie has a series of instructional videos called Dramatica Unplugged which, in my opinion, should be viewed by all new users of Dramatica.

• Samples on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnsoKOZq9ow
• Dramatica Unplugged: https://storymind.3dcartstores.com/Dramatica-Unplugged-12-hour-Writing-Course--Downloadable-version_p_115.html

Thank you - now back to learning.

Okay, here's another question.
Went to Youtube to see some demos and for story examples I clicked on open book, a window pops up asking me which file on my computer I wish to open but no examples to pick from. Could my download have come without the examples?

Teresa wrote:Okay, here's another question.
Could my download have come without the examples?

I think it's more likely that it's not automatically opening to the default location of the templates and examples.

There are two ways that I can open files in Dramatica.

I can go to File > Open or click on the Open Story icon in the main Dramatica window. Either way, it allows files to open.

Once that window is opened, navigate to the folder where Dramatica was automatically installed in your system. I'm using a PC (Windows 7), so on my system Dramatica was installed into C:\Program Files (x86)\Screenplay Systems\Dramatica Pro.

Once inside that folder, folders for Dramatica Examples and Structure Templates will appear.

The Dramatica Examples folder will provide over 60 Dramatica files that profile a great selection of movies.

The Structure Templates folder includes a template for Novels, Screenplays, and Short Stories. I consider those templates valuable as they come pre-built with Archetypes mapped in the Build Characters window, and suggested Scene List that is mapped to storyencodings and characters.

I hope this helps you find your files.

Tried everything and found nothing. Ended up going to 'help' and examples and this popped up. But nothing downloaded.

Build Story Examples

This command updates the Dramatica Story Examples file to include all stories located in the Examples folder.
If you add story files to the Examples folder and run this command, those stories will become available as story examples in the DQS HelpView window.
Once launched, this command takes about two minutes to complete and should not be interrupted.

©1999 Screenplay Systems Inc. Created by Kevin Hindley.

I figure when my computer was cleaned of unnecessary software, certain programs must have been deleted that shouldn't have.

Oh wow - and that's why nothing pops up also for typecast. Maybe it's time I traded up in laptops

I'm wondering could it also be the actual dramatica program?? If we downloaded another one and the same thing happens we know it's my computer, if not it could be the program.

Hi Teresa,

the example and type-cast files are all way down in the Dramatica folder in your program files (if you're on Windows). I'm not sure where they would be on the Mac but presumably also wherever your Dramatica folder is.

Jeff

Teresa, What might be very useful to you if you don't already have it is the free software

Dramatica Pro Story Wizard 2.0
Found at (http://support.screenplay.com/downloads/DramaticaPro/dpro40.php)

When you use it to open Dramatica Pro you are given a choice to open up Examples, an Existing Story, or Templates.
I love it. I think this will solve your problem. I found this link at http://www.dramatica.com/.

My "Dramatica Examples" folder is in my Documents folder after I downloaded this wizard.

Found it!!! Not only did my computer kick Dramatica off but the wonderful gentleman in technical support very patiently walked me through and showed me where everything was. You guys are absolutely amazing!!! Thank you.