In the classes I teach on story structure we often point to Clarice Starling (Jody Foster) in “Silence of the Lambs” as a great example of a Success/Bad story in which the goal (save the senator’s daughter from Buffalo Bill) is achieved, but the personal angst of not being able to save that spring lamb […]
Check out our new audio program: Mental Sex, Characters and You – Just $9.95! This three-hour audio program in mp3 (download and/or play online) explores one of the most crucial aspects of narrative structure that reflects not only in characters, but in each of us as well. Mental Sex, Characters and You explores the nature […]
By Melanie Anne Phillips Narratives are constantly at work in the real world, in business, social movements, and politics. A good example of this is in the nomination and ultimate selection of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, as follows: There are many fine Republican educators with higher degrees in education who have worked as teachers, […]
All too often in stories, relationships and interchanges between characters of different sexes come off stilted, unbelievable, or contrived. In fact, since the author is writing from the perspective of only one of the two sexes, characters of the opposite sex often play more as one sex’s view of the opposite sex, rather than as […]
A story begins when the Main Character is stuck up in the highest level of justification. Nobody gets there because they are stupid or mean. They get there because their unique life experience has brought them repeated exposures to what appear to be real connections between things like, “One bad apple spoils the bunch” or […]
Think of the large structural elements in a story as tectonic plates in geology that push against each other driven by an underlying force. In geology that force is generated by currents in the mantle. In stories, that force is create by the wound-up justifications of the main character that puts him or her in […]
We all have certain fundamental broad-stroke mental traits such as Reason, Initiative, and Skepticism. As individuals, we use the full spectrum of these tools to try and solve our problems. But when we get together in groups, we quickly self-organize so that one person emerges as the Voice of Reason for the group, another as […]
People often shoot themselves in the foot, and so do characters. There’s a narrative reason for it. Happened to me today, but THIS time I dodged my own bullet. Here’s how I stopped following that storyline – something you can use for yourselves and for the characters in your stories as well. On a diet […]
This four hour 43 part audio program is now available free! Just click on the links below to hear it all, or go to the Table of Contents Volume One presents a whole new way of looking at and writing with story structure Part 1 – Introduction Part 2 – The Story Mind Part 3 – Story Perspectives Part […]
Discover the Secrets of Story Structure for your overall story, characters & plot Click here for details or to order for just $9.95 This downloadable three-hour 43 part audio program (mp3 format) is presented by Dramatica Theory co-creators Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley in their only published seminar as co-instructors. Volume One presents a […]