Dramatica is a program designed to be a "creative partner" for screenwriters, playwrights, novelists, and short-story authors. As a poor soul doomed to earn his keep as a screenwriter, I was intrigued. Visions of Dramatica interacting with my PowerBook and creating big-buck scripts while I sat back doing The New York Times crossword puzzle filled my head. Not surprisingly, Dramatica required a bit more involvement on my part.
The useful, somewhat complicated program forces writers to make critical decisions regarding characters, plot, theme, genre, and just about everything else you have to think of to make a successful film. The program is long and complex - sometimes I felt needlessly so - but it does make you define what it is you want to say, and in the end, I think it will result in better stories and perhaps even better movies.
The kind souls at Screenplay Systems had their staff members game out one of the movies I'd worked on, Revenge of the Nerds. The results were interesting, and for the most part made sense, but I wanted to try this baby myself. I had an idea for a feature that I was about to pitch to a producer. Why not pitch it to Dramatica?
I began feeding answers to the various queries the program gave me. It seemed at first that Dramatica was somewhat daunting in its demands. The questions it asked seemed at times to be irrelevant, then redundant. Just as I was losing patience, a funny thing happened. I realized that the sneaky little bugger was making me clarify my story! Not only that, but the story was getting better!
Two days later, I had my pitch meeting with a producer, a man who had once been the head of a major studio. The pitch went very well. But the amazing thing was that afterward, when he began asking me questions about the story and the character, it was a piece of cake compared to Dramatica. Everything he wanted to know I'd been forced to game out with my ol' friend Mr. Dramatica.
The program may not be for everyone. It's tough, time-consuming, and exacting. But if you're willing to do the work, answer its questions, and pay attention to its instructions, the program will make your job as a writer not only easier, but more fun. By the way, I got the deal.
Dramatica, for Macintosh and Windows: US$399. Screenplay Systems: (800) 847 8679, +1 (818) 843 6557, fax: +1 (818) 843 8364.
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