MC Benchmark type is "Progress"

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Democritus

MC Benchmark type is "Progress"

Postby Democritus » May 01, 2011 4:51 pm

According to Dramatica, the standard by which my Main Character's degree of growth is indicated as it concerns the way things are going. If I understand correctly, my MC measures her progress by looking at her progress.

What?

To me, this seems redundant and doesn't make any sense. Can someone recommend how I could handle this?

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Re: MC Benchmark type is "Progress"

Postby Chris Huntley » May 01, 2011 9:31 pm

The Benchmark is something the audience sees, not necessarily the MC or the throughline it is in.

So, "Progress" is the benchmark by which progress in the MC throughline develops. For example, let's say the MC's personal space is chaotic and we can see how he is growing by how much progress he is making on cleaning up his room.
Chris Huntley
Write Brothers Inc.
http://dramatica.com/
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Democritus

Re: MC Benchmark type is "Progress"

Postby Democritus » May 02, 2011 4:57 am

Oh, I see! Put Benchmarks into the perspective of the audience. That does make more sense. Thanks!

Perhaps I was thinking strictly in terms of Main Character "attributes." I am only an amateur writer and my main experience with creating story structure has been with tabletop role-playing games. Distributing the 64 Elements between the cast of characters strongly reminds me of how role-playing game (RPG) player-characters are created.

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Re: MC Benchmark type is "Progress"

Postby Chris Huntley » May 03, 2011 7:33 am

Glad it clicked for you.

This is not a newbie question. The concept of "benchmarks" is a Dramatica one, so it is new to most everyone when they first learn of it. It is also different in that Dramatica offers an objective look at story, which is different from traditional story paradigms.

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Chris Huntley
Write Brothers Inc.
http://dramatica.com/
http://screenplay.com/


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