Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Discuss the practical use of Dramatica. Have questions about how throughlines should be used, how to create Complex Characters or even the various combinations of the 12 Essential Questions and how they will affect your story go here.
motormind
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Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Postby motormind » Jul 15, 2011 5:10 am

Is there a way in which I can weave all the throughlines while maintaining a single point of view? I'd hate to switch to the Impact Character's point of view just to weave in his scenes, for example. I also don't like to drop the point of view just to insert some Objective Story.

Any advice is welcome.

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Re: Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Postby Chris Huntley » Jul 15, 2011 1:27 pm

Assuming you are talking about novels and not screenplays, in which case the answer is about what I called "author's voice." By author's voice, I'm talking about first person, second person, and third person. You can TELL your story using any one or more of these "voices" while storytelling the four throughlines. Here is a bit of discussion about this issue:

http://forums.screenplay.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3719&p=6604&hilit=author%27s+voice#p6604

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motormind
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Re: Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Postby motormind » Jul 16, 2011 12:47 am

Yes, but just how do you wave the throughlines when you stick to first person, or intimate third person? Do I have to tell the Impact Character's story through the eyes of the POV? How do I do this when the Impact Character and POV character are not the same person and don't appear in the same scene?

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Clint541963
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Re: Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Postby Clint541963 » Jul 16, 2011 1:06 pm

Why couldn't POV say, "Impact did this." or , "Impact did that which had an affect on me this or that way. When you tell the overall story treatment write it from POV's saying the Protagonist did this and the Sidekick did that. The Contagonist tried to tempt the protagonist(me) and the skeptic laughed because we were falling for it and Skeptic said she knew we get off track.

Impact Throughline: The impact did this and made me feel like I could do anything. Impact taught me how to protect myself and how to fight. I was really mad when Impact started saying "we must focus on what will happen or be because of Openness." I told her, "No, We must not be driven because of our Closure." In the movie Julie and Julia Julie never met Julia but she impacted her. You could take out all the scenes with Julia Childs and we would still see her impact on Julie. 500 Days of Summer is another example from a story told completely from the main character's POV...wait, as I recall they did put some interviews in there where other characters could add their thoughts, but look at that movie and see if it works even if you take out that stuff.

I guess I'm asking why can't you tell all 4 throughlines from the perspective of the POV. "I" "YOU" "THEY" "US" (or am I not understanding the question-which is very likely.)

eg.
_________________________

THE IMPACT CHARACTER THROUGHLINE

The Impact Character Storyline deals with the areas most affected by the impact character, act by act. In "your story," act one deals primarily with The Present, act two with The Past, act three with How Things are Changing and act four concentrates on The Future. Each of these acts is made richer by the thematic topics that are explored within it. In act one, "the current situation and circumstances" (The Present) is explored in terms of how the Impact character made POV see his State of Being, Situation, Circumstances, and Sense of Self. Act two concentrates on "what has already happened" (The Past) and is explored in terms of how the Impact character made POV understand his Rationalization, Commitment, Responsibility, and Obligation. Act three focuses on "the way things are going" (How Things are Changing) and is explored in terms of how the Impact character made POV consider his Knowledge, Ability, Desire, and Thought. And act four illustrates "what will happen or what will be" (The Future) and is explored in terms of how the Impact character made POV conceive his Permission, Need, Expediency, and Deficiency.

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motormind
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Re: Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Postby motormind » Jul 17, 2011 1:25 am

Doesn't this mean that you basically have to blend scenes from various throughlines into one? If there's a scene in which the MC and IC go through their throughline together, and in which also something about the OS is being exposed, this would mean that there will be one scene for three throughlines. In that case, it's easy to have one POV.

Still, I am confused, since basically Dramatica encourages to split everything into separate scenes, but that doesn't make much sense when the IC and MC interact. It's even more rigorous in works like "Dramatica for Screenwriters", where it is encouraged to work in sequences of scenes.

And yes, I work on a novel. I get the feeling that I should just forget about fixed order of scenes per throughline and just try to go at it by intuition. Am I correct?

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Re: Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Postby Clint541963 » Jul 17, 2011 8:25 am

You are much farther along in writing than I. I have written one screenplay still in the draft stages. I am mostly a student of the theory of Dramatica. I see Dramatica as a tool to tell a story as if the story were a "single mind trying to solve an inequity". So use Dramatica to lay out your story with 4 story lines, right? So, write out 4 story treatments. The overall story tell in terms of ("They") Protagonist, Antagonist, Sidekick, Skeptic, Guardian, Contagonist, Reason, Emotion. You may not have all these characters or combinations but tell it this way. For the Subjective story ("we") write a treatment or outline that tells the story of the Main Characters relationships that impact him (sometimes this is one person and sometimes it is several or perhaps even a rock like in 127 hours.) Then you write a treatment or outline for the main character ("I") and a fourth treatment or outline for the Impact Character storyline ('YOU")

So you have your outline each has a 4 signposts and 3 journeys or 4 acts or 3 acts (however you structure it using the 4 signposts) and then, Yes, I would say you can weave the story however you intuit.

Still, I am confused, since basically Dramatica encourages to split everything into separate scenes, but that doesn't make much sense when the IC and MC interact. It's even more rigorous in works like "Dramatica for Screenwriters", where it is encouraged to work in sequences of scenes.


I see Dramatica as an excellent tool to make a story rich and layered. There is no right or wrong only effective or ineffective and that is up to us as the creative part of the formula. Yes, Dramatica does encourage scenes and sequences but if you study the part of Story Weaving I think you will find that Dramatica encourages you to blend however works best for you and your style. When you look at your 4 throughline treatments you will see how they overlap and at the same time Main Character is having a moment in his throughline, he is also having a moment in his relationship throughlie and the overall story throughline. In my story the whole first act is just 2 people so I am trying to see how the main character as the protagonist is having what moments when if not at the same time. Storytelling. I am still learning
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Re: Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Postby Chris Huntley » Jul 18, 2011 7:24 am

You do not HAVE to blend throughlines together. There are some stories where the story is told from multiple perspective -- one after the other -- such as the film, Roshomon. One throughline is told from beginning to end, then we go back in time and tell the story by exploring a different throughline.

OR, you can have scenes solely dedicated to one throughline, or one story point. This is often done when exploring a thematic argument. For example, the "To be or not to be..." soliloquy from Hamlet is an exploration of the MC thematic argument: State of Being vs. Sense of Self, counterpointed by Situation and Circumstances.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to storyweaving. That is why there are several ways to construct scenes in the software.
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Clint541963
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Re: Weaving throughlines without changing POV

Postby Clint541963 » Jul 20, 2011 8:40 pm

That could be fun. Tell the story from the objective POV like a News Reporter. and then tell the same story from the Subjective POV in terms of the Main Character's relationship(s) with the Impact Character(s). And again from the Main Character's POV and his personal issues and finally and not necessarily in this order, the Impact Characters story in terms of how he/she/it impacted the main character. There are many ways of doing this, many different combinations. I wonder if it has been done before quite like this.
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