Armando Saldaña Mora - Dramatica for Screenwriters

How to get the most out of Dramatica Pro while writing or rewriting a Screenplay

by
Armando Saldaa Mora

Based on a theory developed by
Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley

Write Brothers Press

Copyright Notices

Dramatica for ScreenwritersCopyright 2005, 2009 Write Brothers, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Excerpts from Dramatica Pro software are copyrighted by Write Brothers, Inc.

Trademark Notices

Dramatica and Write Brothers are registered trademarks of Write Brothers, Inc. Dramatica for Screenwriters is a trademark of Write Brothers, Inc. All other trademarks are held by their respective owners.

Contact Notices

Write Brothers, Inc. 348 East Olive Avenue Suite H Burbank, CA 91502 818-843-6557 fax 818-843-8364 E-mail service@write-bros.com

write-bros.com dramatica.com screenplay.com

If you have a question for Armando regarding Dramatica for Screenwriters, please send an email to:

bookquestions@write-bros.com

Please put Armando Book Question in the Subject line. All correspondence to this email address becomes the property of Write Brothers, Inc.

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ISBN 0-918973-03-1

To my wife, Citlalli, and my daughter, Nict, two very smart and courageous women, who not only gave me their support throughout my career as a writer, but also the determination to learnand the assistance to understandthis New Theory of Story called Dramatica.

To Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley, another pair of extremely bright and brave people. They discovered and developed this amazing system that allowed me to write dozens and dozens of stories.

And, of course, to all Dramatica users around the world who ultimately made me comprehend and understand how to write and create with Dramatica. To those who doubted it and discussed it; to those who made me think and rethink its theory and applications; to those who gave me challenged my perspective until I understood it well enough to write whats in these pages.

To all those cited above, this book is dedicated.

Armando Saldaa Mora

When I decided it was time to have someone right a practical, how to book on Dramatica I immediately thought of Armando. I wanted someone familiar with Dramatica who also had real world experience writing scripts. I needed someone with a track record as an effective teacher. I also thought it should be written by someone other than the authors of the book, Dramatica: A New Theory of Story. Armando was a rare combination of all these qualities.

I originally wanted a general, how to use Dramatica book for all writers: novelists, playwrights, creative writers, and screenwriters. It quickly became clear that was too much to cover in a single book. For that reason we decided to narrow the scope to screenwriting. Armando took Dramatica concepts and pushed them to their limits. The result is a book I never would have imagined. Dramatica for Screenwriters successfully complements the Dramatica theory book and software by showing how to get the best out of both. Working with him on this book has been a great pleasure.

I would like to thank all those who helped make this book possible. Thanks to the members of the Dramatica Listserv, particularly list manager and host, Bill Schindler, without whom Armando would not have had a venue for the original Instant Dramatica. Special thanks to Julia Mozingo, Prish Fraker, Carl Weaver, Joy A. Higgins, Sandy Stone, Barbara Schiffman, and Key Payton for their editorial and proofing suggestions. And thanks to all you Dramatica users whose continued interest provided the motivation for the creation of this book.

Chris Huntley

Editor

Are you afraid this may be a Dramatica For Dimwits manual?

Dont worryits not.

Mostly because youre not a dimwit (look, you bought the book!).

But also because Dramatica (the theory) and Dramatica Pro (the software) are deep and expansive tools for creative writing. So this book is for creative types (or for those who want help to be), and it takes a very creative approach. It merges software reference, inspirational exercises, and literary theory. It is part Dramatica Query System Quick Guide, part What Would Happen If? and part Aristotles Poetics.

So dont expect the instructions to be as concrete as Press the ENTER key or Type C:/Setup Rather, expect them to be as imaginative as: Picture your characters as people you know or Think of several possibilities for the scene that illustrates

This book asks you to be inventive, productive, inspired, original, and much more. It coaches you through one screenwriters way of understanding Dramaticas features and, if you stick with it all the way through, it equips you to use Dramatica to write numerous well-developed and entertaining stories for the screen.

Isnt that what you really want?

Dramatica for Screenwriters is a companion piece to the Dramatica Pro software. Specifically, the book works best with version Dramatica Pro 4. Though there are many references to specific features and reports unique to version 4, most examples, tips, and exercises apply to all versions of Dramatica, and often, to screenwriting in general. A passing familiarity with Dramaticas basic terminology is recommended.

Dramatica for Screenwriters focuses on the practical application of Dramatica Pro for the development, writing, and rewriting of motion picture screenplays. This book is for everyone involved in developing a script. This includes writers, script doctors, story editors, development executives, producers, directors, and anyone else interested enough in the script to take part in improving its character depth, entertainment value, meaningfulness, and satisfying completeness.

Though this book is chock-full of general purpose advice on writing, it is not your basic How to Write a Screenplay reference book. Dramatica for Screenwriters does not describe proper script format, nor does it tell you how to sell your script or get an agent. Dozens of fine books on those subjects are already available online or in bookstores. This book focuses strictly on how to use the profound writing tool called Dramatica to develop great stories for the screen.

If you dont have Dramatica Pro software, but you do write screenplays or other forms of fiction, you may find Dramatica for Screenwriters loaded with useful information and ideas. Like the Dramatica Theory, this book offers concepts that numerous professional fiction writers now praise as the most insightful and biggest paradigm shift they have ever learned, regardless of their previous literary training.

Dramatica is filled with specific terminology. Some of it is unique to Dramatica. Most are familiar terms used in specific, non-traditional ways. Over the years there have been changes to some of the Dramatica terminology. If you are new to Dramatica, you wont notice these changes. If youre a longtime Dramatica user, a list of the changes appear on the next page.