Dramatica: A Theory of Story
The entire 350 page book available online. Free.
Introduction
1. Dramatica and the Creative Writer
A Place to Start Mastering the craft of writing requires a skill in communication and a flair for style. Through communication, an audience receives meaning. Through style, an author achieves impact.... Read Chapter
The Elements of Structure
2. Foundations
Foundations: Central Concepts In Dramatica, there are some central concepts that prove immediately useful. Presenting these up front reveals the practical side of the theory and provides a firm... Read Chapter
3. Characters
Hero Is a Four Letter Word It is easy to think of the principal character in a story as “the hero.” Many beginning writers tend to base their stories on the adventures or experiences of... Read Chapter
4. Theme
What Exactly Is Theme?It seems every author is aware of theme, but try to find one who can define it! Most will tell you theme has something to do with the mood or feel of a story. But how does that... Read Chapter
5. Plot
Plot vs. Storyweaving A common mistake made when considering plot is to assume that plot refers to the sequence of events in a finished story. A more accurate view considers the difference between... Read Chapter
6. Genre
Building Genres Previously, we have seen that the characteristics, which build the Overall Story Characters, reside at the Element level of the Thematic Structure. Theme itself emanates most... Read Chapter
The Art of Storytelling
7. The Art of Storytelling
Foundations Introduction to Storytelling All complete stories show evidence of two principal facets: An underlying dramatic structure contains the story’s inherent meaning, and a secondary... Read Chapter
8. Storyforming
Introduction to Storyforming Inspiration When an author begins work on a story, he seldom has the whole thing figured out in advance. In fact, he might start with nothing more than a bit of action,... Read Chapter
9. Storyencoding
Introduction To Storyencoding Storyencoding is simply the process of turning the raw story points of a storyform structure into the flesh and blood people, places, and events of a story that can be... Read Chapter
10. Storyweaving
Introduction To Storyweaving Of the Four Stages of Communication, Storyweaving is most like what authors usually think of as the writing process. It is here that we gather everything we know about... Read Chapter
11. Story Reception
Story Reception About the Audience What do you have in mind? Few authors write stories without at least considering what it will be like to read the story or see it onstage or screen. As soon as... Read Chapter
