Worth • [Variation] • dyn.pr. Value<–>Worth • a rating of usefulness or desirability to oneself personally• Worth describes the subjective value of an item or action to an individual. Of course, this varies greatly from individual to individual. This is the nature of garage sales • one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. Making choices on the basis of Worth is an efficient way to get the most with one’s resources. But there may be all kinds of potential locked in something a character considers worthless because objectively it has great Value. For example, Native Americans used gold simply as a decoration. To them it had little other Worth. Of course to Europeans it had significant Value. A character who ignores potential value because of low Worth can live to regret the deals he makes in a story, both physically and emotionally. • syn. subjective value, individual appraisal, personal importance

From the Dramatica Dictionary

Worry • [Variation] • dyn.pr. Confidence<–>Worry • concern for the future • Like confidence, Worry looks toward the future but is based on a projection of negative experience. When in the past seemingly innocuous situations have developed into disasters, one learns to Worry at the slightest evidence of instability. Worry has the positive quality of motivating one to prepare for the worst. If the worst happens, the character representing Worry is truly prepared. But how often does the worst actually happen? The downside is that resources one might use to make advances are wasted just trying to protect the status quo. And those who worry tend to avoid unknown situations that might hold substantial rewards. • syn. anxiety, concern, apprehension, misgivings

From the Dramatica Dictionary

Work • [Variation] • dyn.pr. Attempt<–>Work • applying oneself to something known to be within one’s ability • When a task lies within one’s known abilities, effort applied to the task is Work. There are no surprises; no short-comings. But has one accurately judged both one’s abilities and the demands of the task? If not, perhaps the task is not achievable or of a size that one must increase one’s abilities before undertaking it. • syn. appropriate undertaking, suitable task, manageable labor, a performable activity

From the Dramatica Dictionary

Wisdom • [Variation] • dyn.pr. Enlightenment<–>Wisdom • understanding how to apply Knowledge • Wisdom is the meaning of what is known. A Character may be aware of facts but unless he sees the pattern that organizes those facts, the knowledge alone may be useless. Wisdom, therefore, does not describe just being aware of something but understanding how many bits of knowledge fit together .• syn. mental mastery, integrated understanding, seasoned understanding, comprehension, astute cogency

From the Dramatica Dictionary

Willing • [Overview Appreciation] • The Main Character willingly participates in the effort to find a solution to the story problem • Willing describes a Main Character who is self-motivated to find a solution to the story’s problem. Even if the going is tough, he requires no outside encouragement or compulsion to keep up the effort.

From the Dramatica Dictionary

Variation • [Structural Term] • The 64 items that can be employed in a story’s thematic arguments • The variations describe the thematic message and the development of that message in the story. Variations are measuring sticks by which the author wishes his message to be evaluated. It is the discrepancy between opposing ways of evaluating the meaning of the story that creates the thematic statement as to which is the best way or that one way is no better or worse than another. There are 64 Variations in the Dramatica structure, 16 to each Class.

From the Dramatica Dictionary

Value • [Variation] • dyn.pr. Worth<–>Value • the objective usefulness or desirability of something in general • Value is a good indicator by which to predict its import to others. However, no one really thinks completely objectively so there is always a degree of personal preference included in a determination of Value. Difficulties arise when a character neglects the personal worth someone else may or may not find in something of specific value. For example, a Boss may find it of no direct Value, but placing a candy bar on each employees desk for them to find in the morning can have a lot of worth to the employee. Indirectly, then, Value is returned to the Boss in the form of a better day’s work. But seeing the indirect Value is difficult from the subjective view. Learning to see items and actions not just for their intrinsic Value, but for their conditional Value is a strong thematic message. • syn. utility, objective appraisal, general usefulness

From the Dramatica Dictionary

Unwilling • [Overview Appreciation] • The Main Character unwillingly participates in the effort to find a solution to the story problem • Unwilling describes a Main Character who would prefer not to become involved in either the problem or the search for a solution. As a result, some sort of leverage must be applied to “force” him to join the quest. Once the Main Character is enticed or coerced into beginning the journey toward a solution, he requires outside encouragement or compulsion to keep up the effort.

From the Dramatica Dictionary

Unproven • [Element] • dyn.pr. Proven<–>Unproven • a conjecture that has not been tested • Unproven describes an understanding suspected to be true but not substantiated enough to call it fact. The character representing Unproven will not accept anything as fact just because the theory has worked so far. No matter how many times or how many ways evidence builds to support the contention, Unproven will not be satisfied until the conclusion is absolutely drawn in hard data not just road tests. This keeps the character representing Unproven from jumping to conclusions, but makes him less able to accept the obvious conclusion unless it is directly observed in a way that is not open to alternative interpretation. • syn. unverified, unconfirmed, unestablished, undemonstrated, untried

From the Dramatica Dictionary