Main Character’s Focus • [Element] • where The Main Character believes the problem to be; where the Main Character’s attention is focused • When a Main Character is at odds with his surroundings, a problem exists between himself and his environment. The actual nature of this gap between Main Character and environment is described by the Problem Element. The nature of what is required to restore balance is described by the Solution Element. This is the Objective view of the problem. The Main Character, however, is not privy to that view and must work from the Subjective view instead. From the Subjective view, the problem does not appear to be between the Main Character and the Environment but wholly in one or the other. Sometimes a Main Character is a “Do-er” type and will perceive and first try to solve the problem in the environment. Other times a Main Character is a “Be-er” who will first try to solve the problem by adapting to the environment. A “Do-er” focuses the problem in the environment; a “Be-er” focuses the problem in himself. The Focus Element describes the nature of how the problem appears to the Main Character when he places it wholly in one area or the other.

Main Character Domain • [Domain] • the realm of the Main Character’s personal journey and growth • Everything the Main Character does and represents that primarily relates to him alone, as opposed to specific relationships he has with other characters, can be said to be part of the Main Character Domain. There are four different perspectives in the structure of any story represented by the combination of each of the four Classes with each of the four Domains– the Objective Story Domain, the Subjective Story Domain, the Obstacle Character Domain, and the Main Character Domain. The Main Character Domain describes in the broadest single term what the Main Character represents and the area in which the Main Character operates within the story.

Main Character’s Direction • [Element] • The response of the Main Character to his apparent problems • A Main Character can never be sure if what he believes to be the source of his problem really is the source of his problem. Regardless, based on his apparent problems he will determine a potential solution or Direction which he hopes will work as a solution. The dramatic unit that describes what a Main Character holds as the path to a solution is the Main Character Direction.

Main Character’s Critical Flaw • [Variation] • the quality that undermines the Main Character’s efforts • To balance the Main Character’s extraordinary status conveyed by his Unique Ability, he must also be shown to be especially vulnerable in one area as well. This vulnerability is called his Critical Flaw. The Main Character’s Critical Flaw is his Achilles heel that prevents him from being too one-sided. Just as with Unique Ability, the Critical Flaw can be quite mundane as long as it can threaten him with failure from an unprotectable direction. The specific Critical Flaw must be unique to the Main Character in the story. However, the more common the Critical Flaw is to the audience, the more it will identify with the Main Character’s predicament. In Start stories, the Critical Flaw inhibits the Main Character from using his Unique Ability. In Stop stories, the Critical Flaw undoes work done by the Unique Ability after the fact. Only when the Main Character learns to either Start or Stop as required by the story can the Critical Flaw be avoided, allowing his Unique Ability to solve the problem.

Main Character’s Concern • [Type] • The issue or issues held in greatest importance by the Main Character’ • The Main Character Concern describes the kinds of things the Main Character is striving to attain or maintain. This could be in terms of concrete or abstract things, depending partly on the Main Character’s Domain and partly on the twist the author wants to put on that Domain.

Main Character’s Benchmark • [Type] • the standard by which the degree of the Main Character’s growth is indicated • the way of telling how much the Main Character is dealing with the issues at stake for himself in the story is by choosing an item in the story and using it as a measuring stick. This can be subtle or obvious, illustrated perhaps by the number of empty beer cans next to an alcoholic’s bed, the severity of a facial tick, or the amount of perfume a character puts on. However it is illustrated, it needs to be there to give both the audience and the Main Character some way of judging how deep his concern is and how far along in the story he is.

Main Character • The Character representing the audience position in a story • A story has a central character that acts as the focus of the audience’s emotional attachment to the story. This Main Character is the conduit through whom the audience experiences the story subjectively. The Main Character may be the Steadfast Character who needs to hold on to his resolve or the Change Character who alters his nature in an attempt to resolve his problems. Either way, it is mostly through his eyes that we see the passionate argument of the story, if not also the dispassionate argument.

Logic • [Element] • dyn.pr. Feeling<–>Logic • a rational sense of how things are related • Logic is the mental process of choosing the most efficient course or explanation based on reason. The Logic characteristic exemplifies the theory behind “Occam’s Razor,” that the simplest explanation is the correct explanation. Therefore, the Logic characteristic is very efficient but has no understanding or tolerance that people do not live by reason alone. As a result, the character with the Logic characteristic often ignores how other’s “unreasonable” feelings may cause a very real backlash to his approach. • syn. linear reasoning, rationality, structural sensibility, syllogistics

Limit • [Plot Dynamic] • The constraint of time or options that, by running out, force the story to a climax • The Limit is what forces the story to a close. One of the functions of a story is to give the audience the value of experiences it has not had itself by living through the Main Character. As such, the Main Character in the story Changes or Remains Steadfast and hopes for the best, and we learn from his accomplishments or disappointments. Yet, even a Main Character would not jump into the void and commit to a course of action or decision unless forced into it. To force the Main Character to decide, the story provides all the necessary information to make an educated guess while progressively closing in on the Main Character until he has no alternative but to choose. This closing in can be accomplished in either of two ways: either running out of places to look for the solution or running out of time to work one out. Running out of options is accomplished by an Optionlock; a deadline is accomplished by a Timelock. Both of these means of limiting the story and forcing the Main Character to decide are felt from early on in the story and get stronger until the climax. Optionlocks need not be claustrophobic so much as they only provide limited pieces with which to solve the problem. Timelocks need not be hurried so much as limiting the interval during which something can happen. Once an established Limit is reached, however, the story must end and assessments be made: is the Outcome Success or Failure? is the Judgment Good or Bad? is the Main Character Resolve Change or Steadfast? etc.

Level • [Structural Term] • One of the vertical strata of the Dramatica structural chart. The relationship between levels (Elements, Variations, Types and Domains) of dramatic units is similar to turning up the power on a microscope: each has a different resolution with which to examine the story’s problem. Domains take the broadest viewand have the greatest structural impact on Genre. Types are more detailed and most directly affect the Plot. Variations are even more refined, most intensely inflluencing Theme, and Elements provide the greatest detail available in a story, concentrating on the qualities or traits of Characters.