Choice • [Variation] • dyn.pr. Delay<–>Choice • making a decision • Choice is simply a decision as to which is the best path toward resolving a problem. A character will ponder all the information and factor in all his feelings and arrive at a decision. Sometimes a character will choose before all the information is in. This can lead him to take steps that may ultimately prove to be counter-productive or even self-destructive. On the other hand, such intuitive leaps can bypass a number of obstacles on the way to a story’s conclusion. Still, “snap judgments often lead to regrets for those whose only exercise is jumping to conclusions.” — Dramatica fortune cookie • syn. decision, selection, determination, pick

Character Dynamics • [Dramatica Definition] • dramatic potentials which determine a Main Character’s Resolve, Growth, Approach, and Mental Sex.. • Some characters are used for entertainment purposes only. Others have dramatic functions they fulfill. Of those that have functions, the Main Character is the most important for it represents the audience position in the story. As a result, the audience sees more of the forces that drive the Main Character than of any other. These forces are the Character Dynamics. There are four primary Main Character Dynamics, each of which provides the audience with a different kind of information about how it relates to that character. Main Character Resolve determines if the Main Character will ultimately Change or Remain Steadfast in regard to the central issue of the story. Main Character Growth determines if the audience will, in regard to the Main Character, be waiting for something to Start or Stop in the story. Main Character Approach determines if the Main Character is a Do-er or Be-er by preference. And Main Character Mental Sex determines if the Main Character uses Male or Female problem solving techniques.

Character • [Dramatica Definition] • In Dramatica, there are two major divisions of Characters: the Subjective Characters and the Objective Characters. In the most frequently told kinds of stories, Subjective Characters are the smaller group, consisting of only the Main Character and the Obstacle Character. Both of these are concerned with providing the audience with a Subjective view of the story. There can be, and frequently are, many more Objective than Subjective Characters. An Objective Character is defined as a specific collection of dramatic Elements or characteristics that remains consistent for the entire story. There are sixty four elements in the Dramatica Structure which represent the building blocks of Characters. All sixty four elements must be used to fully develop the story’s argument. To have meaning to an audience, the group of elements that makes up each objective character must present a consistent viewpoint (with regards to the story goal/problem) during the course of the story. In this way the relative attributes of each of these elemental approaches can be clearly explored during the course of the story. Sixty four elements may at first sound too limited to create interesting characters, but when you consider that the number of arrangements of the elements is multiplied by the way the might be grouped, the total number of characters that can be created is in the millions. In regard to story, the Objective Characters present the story to the audience and the Subjective Characters allow the audience to participate in the story. Because of this, Subjective Characters are unique in that they do double duty by having a special relationship with the audience and pulling their weight as Objective Characters as well. This is because they are concerned both with the Main Character’s personal problem and also the Objective Story problem.

Chapter • [Dramatica Definition] • a temporal unit of dramatic construction usually employed in books • Stories contain too much information to be grasped in a single moment. As a result, the information is doled out over time in segments. Each medium gravitates toward its own kind of segments. Books, especially novels, usually employ Chapters. Chapters may represent complete dramatic explorations of one aspect of the overall story or they may be more arbitrary divisions, determined by changes in location, changes in central characters, or changes in storytelling mood or style. In fact, the Chapters in a single book may vary in what defines each one. The principal use of Chapters is to break the unfolding of a story into portions of a like nature which are small enough to be considered at one time by the audience. In this way, the audience is able to arrive at an understanding of parts of a story along the way, rather than waiting until the end of the whole. In a practical sense, Chapters allow the audience to digest a complete thought before moving on to another. In books, this provides the audience a convenient pause point with an accompanying sense of closure when reading intermittently.

Chaos • [Element] • dyn.pr. Order<–>Chaos • random change or a lack of order • Chaos is disorder, randomness, anarchy. The Chaos characteristic is brilliant at cutting through a Gordian knot. But then it just keeps cutting every rope it sees until the chandelier falls on its head. It “stirs the pot” just to see what will bubble up to the top. • syn. randomness, anarchy, disorder, formlessness, noncohesion

Change • [Element] • dyn. pr. Inertia<–>Change • an alteration of a state or process • Change is the force that alters. A characteristic representing change is quick to adapt but also cannot leave well enough alone. It feels that if things have been one way long enough to establish a pattern, it is time to change it. • syn. altering, altering force, modify, reshape, adjust, adapt

Change • [Character Dynamic] • The Main Character changes his essential nature while attempting to solve his problems • Every Main Character represents one special character element. This element is either the cause of the story’s problem or its solution. The Main Character cannot be sure which it represents since it is too close to home. Near the climax of the story, the Main Character must demonstrate whether he is going to stick with his original approach in the belief that it is the solution or jump to the opposite trait in the belief he has been wrong. In “Leap of Faith” stories this will occur during a “moment of truth.” In “Non-Leap of Faith” stories this will occur over the course of the story and be assessed for Change or Steadfastness in the end of the story. When a Main Character abandons his original story-long approach for its counterpart, he is said to Change.

Change Character • [Character Appreciation] • the subjective character who changes his approach or attitude in a story • The Change Character is the single character who does change in a story in an attempt to resolve his personal problem. The Change Character must be either the Main Character or the Obstacle Character but cannot be both. A Change Character cannot tell until the end of the story whether or not he will change, and even then, a Change Character has no way of knowing whether or not changing will lead to success or to resolving his personal problem. However, in every story, either the Main Character or the Obstacle Character will Change in response to the other’s Steadfastness and become that story’s Change Character.

Certainty • [Element] • dyn.pr. Potentiality<–>Certainty • the determination that something is absolutely true • The character representing the Certainty characteristic is not a risk taker. It must be completely sure before it takes action or accepts information as true. The slightest potential for error or change will stop it in its tracks. On the plus side, it never goes out on a limb far enough to break it; on the minus side, it might never get out far enough to get the fruit either. Many opportunities are lost to it because it hesitates until it is too late. • syn. sureness, definiteness, having no doubts, total reliability, indisputability, irrefutability, unmistakability, certitude, conviction

Cause • [Element] • dyn.pr. Effect<–>Cause • the specific circumstances that lead to an effect • The character containing the Cause characteristic is concerned with what is behind a situation or its circumstances. This can lead it right to the source of trouble, the source of control. However, sometimes many things came together to create a particular effect. In that case, the Cause characteristic may fail by either looking for a single source or trying to address them all while ignoring the option of simply dealing with the effect. • syn. reason for, effector, source, agent, antecedent