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Category Archives: Narrative Psychology
Characters and Gender
Perhaps the most fundamental error made by authors, whether novice or experienced, is that all their characters, male and female, tend to reflect the gender of the author. This is hardly surprising, since recent research indicates that men and women use … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative Psychology
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Why Characters Misunderstand Each Other
This article was originally written as part of an early draft of our book on the Dramatica theory of narrative which but was never included. It seeks to describe how characters come to misunderstand each other, and how this can lead to conflict. … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative Psychology
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What Is Truth? (The Character’s Dilemma)
Characters reflect real people in a purified or idealized state. And so, we can see in them qualities and traits that are hard to see within ourselves. One of the most difficult challenges we face every day are exemplified by … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Narrative Psychology, Story Psychology
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Narrative Structure and the I Ching
A career psychotherapist recently wrote me about a method he is developing to employ theater in the therapy process, including an association with the I Ching. Many years ago he had encountered our Dramatica Theory of Narrative and noted a … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative Psychology
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Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex
Perhaps the most fundamental error made by authors, whether novice or experienced, is that all their characters, male and female, tend to reflect the gender of the author. This is hardly surprising, since recent research finally proves that men and … Continue reading
Posted in Character Psychology, Narrative Psychology
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The Impact of Stories
Stories, especially those told in the media of film or television, can have a tremendous impact on an audience. Experiencing a story is similar in many ways to experiencing events in “real life”. Stories can make us laugh or cry, … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative Psychology
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Group Identity – A Society’s Sense of Self
Here’s a little essay on how narrative can determine whether a group, culture, or society will hang together or fall apart… When you see a society as a group mind, you can see that it must have an identity, just as … Continue reading
Posted in Social Narrative
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Of Men, Women, and Narrative
Not to be cryptic, but perhaps the answer you seek cannot be found from the wisest man because the answer is just beyond what men can see. It is also just beyond what women can see, but then it is … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative Psychology
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What is Truth? (The Character’s Dilemma)
By Melanie Anne Phillips Characters reflect real people in a purified or idealized state. And so, we can see in them qualities and traits that are hard to see within ourselves. One of the most difficult challenges we face every … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative Psychology
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Psychoanalyze Your Story
By Melanie Anne Phillips Does your story suffer from “Multiple Personality Disorder”? In psychology, Multiple Personality Disorder describes a person who has more than one complete personality. Typically, only one of those personalities will be active at any given time. … Continue reading
Posted in Narrative Psychology
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