Storyform
The conflict, the Perspectives, and the choices that give the story its meaning. A connected structure that develops over time.
A shared crisis. A personal conviction.
A challenge to it. A bond under pressure.
The meaning
beneath your story.
A way to understand how character, plot, and theme
become one complete argument.
One story.
Four ways to see it.
A complete story explores an inequity from four distinct Perspectives.
Choose one to see what it brings into focus.
Objective Story
What is everyone caught up in?
Look at the conflict from the outside: the roles people play and the problem they face together. This is the big picture, whether the conflict involves activity, a situation, attitudes, or ways of thinking.
Imagine a story
The crew must decide how to bring a stranded expedition home.
Four views of the conflict. Each contributes something the others cannot.
The structure holds.
The possibilities open.
A Storyform describes how the sources of conflict relate. Storytelling gives those relationships a world, a cast, and a voice.
Storytelling
The people, places, dialogue, and events your audience experiences. Your particular expression of that underlying structure.
A stranded expedition. A captain.
A doubtful navigator. A fragile partnership.
The same structural relationships can support very different stories.
Your imagination gives them their particular life.
Change isn’t
the only way forward.
Some Main Characters abandon their central approach.
Others hold to it as the pressure grows. Both can carry a complete story.
Resolve describes the Main Character’s approach.
It is distinct from whether the Objective Story Goal succeeds or fails.
A few minutes.
A new Perspective.
Start with these short, official introductions.
01Introduction to DramaticaHow plot, character, and theme work together.5 minWatch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)02The Four ThroughlinesFour Perspectives. One complete argument.4 minWatch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)03Change vs. SteadfastTwo ways to meet the pressure of a story.7 minWatch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Browse all recordings Room to explore.
Read the theory in full, compare approaches to story, or see the ideas applied to a familiar film.
The Dramatica Theory BookThe foundations, in full. Read online.Story QuestionsAnswers to common questions about Dramatica Theory and story development.Seven ways to look at storyA comparison of seven story paradigms.Building a Better DinosaurMelanie Anne Phillips explores Jurassic Park.Explore the theory archives
Make it your story.
Explore the workspaces that bring Dramatica Theory
into your writing process.