Dramatica Definition: Dividend

Dividend (Objective Storyline) • [Type] • the benefits gathered while meeting the requirements of the goal • Although meeting the requirements of a goal can incur costs, it can also provide dividends along the way. Sometimes solving one of the pre-requisites or attaining one of the pre-conditions of the requirement has its own reward. Though these rewards are not individually as significant as the promised reward of the goal, sometimes cumulatively they are enough to cause a Main Character to quit while he’s ahead and avoid a particularly large cost that would be unavoidable if the goal were to be achieved. Other times, a particularly large dividend may loom just ahead in the story, providing the Main Character with a boost in motivation to continue on an otherwise costly path