Category Archives: Character Elements

The Main Character Element of the Hero Stereotype

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Of all four attributes of the hero, his role as the Main Character is perhaps the most intriguing. As described in an earlier writing tip, the Main Character represents the audience position in the story, and is the character with … Continue reading →

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Action & Decision Elements of Character Archetypes

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Sheldon

Each of the Eight Archetypal Characters contains one characteristic pertaining to actions and another characteristic pertaining to decisions. PROTAGONIST Action Characteristic: Pursues the goal. The traditional Protagonist is the driver of the story: the one who forces the action. Decision … Continue reading →

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The Chemistry of Characters

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Sheldon

Excerpt from an early, unpublished draft of the Dramatica Theory Book.   Many of these concepts were not included in the version eventually published: To make an argument that a particular element is or is not a solution to a particular … Continue reading →

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The Crucial Element

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Sheldon

The point at which the Objective Story and the Main Character hinge is appropriately called the Crucial Element. In fact, the Crucial Element is one of the sixty-four Objective Character Elements we have already explored (in the Dramatica Theory Book). … Continue reading →

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Can Two Characters Share the Same Traits?

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Melanie Anne Phillips

A Dramatica user recently wrote:   Hello Melanie   I need help, I’m trying to assign characteristics to my characters, I have a multitude of characters, and many share the same characteristics but the software seems to only allow one … Continue reading →

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Four Archetypes

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Excerpt from an upcoming book on story structure: So far I have spoken of characters as representing or embodying fragments of the overall Story Mind, but that is misleading; characters are much more orderly than that. The term “fragments” provides … Continue reading →

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Change, Steadfast – Success, Failure

Posted on May 8, 2010 by Melanie Anne Phillips

The following  excerpt is taken from The Dramatica Class Transcripts If you have a steadfast character and the story ends up as failure, you know they were not standing on the right spot. Its pretty easy to do for the … Continue reading →

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Main Character, Obstacle Character – Problem & Solution

Posted on May 8, 2010 by Melanie Anne Phillips

The following  excerpt is taken from The Dramatica Class Transcripts Dramatica: As you know, there are two types of characters we see in Dramatica Theory. Subjective and Objective. Objective characters are seen from the position of a general on a … Continue reading →

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Objective Elements and the Subjective Characters

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Elements serve to show what the inequity looks like from all possible points of view and thereby hone in on the source: the one bad apple in the basket. All 64 Elements in this level must be represented in character … Continue reading →

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The Crucial Element

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Melanie Anne Phillips

As indicated elsewhere, stories are really about inequities and their resolutions. When the four principal elements are considered in this light, the Problem element appears more like the essence of the inequity. The Solution becomes the essence of what is … Continue reading →

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