Dramatica Pro – Intense Software for Writers

I discovered Dramatica Pro when a friend gave me their old version of Writer’s Dreamkit, which is a limited version of the full program. It wasn’t long before I was hooked and had to get Dramatica Pro. This is writing software at its best, an author’s assistant containing interactive features to both manage and inspire the creative process. Even with its power, though, it’s so easy to understand – there is no learning curve.

Key Features of Dramatica Pro

There really isn’t any other software out there like this. The features that have been combined to make up the entire piece can be found individually, in some form, by other companies – but they don’t compare. So what am I raving about? A story writer’s dream come true. Here’s the key features tightly packaged in Dramatica Pro:

StoryGuide – The story guide walks you through the creation of your story. Using a wizard, you are asked some really intensive questions about what your story is, who plays in it, and how it is going to work together in a seamless whole. Each of your responses dictates the next question, so you aren’t ever going to have the same treatment twice. If you feel a bit stuck on any of the questions, all you have to do is look at “Usage” to get examples from classic and modern literature.

Help – A full section is dedicated to help, consisting of tips, tricks, hints, and even an online Dramatica theory book. As with all the key features, Help is accessible from the moment you open Dramatica Pro, easy-to-find with its tie-dye box.

Open Story – This feature is deceptively simple. On the surface, it means that you can open up a full story file treatment that you’ve saved. But what isn’t so obvious at first is that you can also open any of the example stories or structure templates that come with Dramatica Pro.

Characters – An amazing feature, this one focuses on creating and developing multi-dimensional characters. Working with a wizard, you decide which characters fulfill which roles – and then can graphically see how each character affects another, what their major role in your story should be, and how they affect the story’s movement.

Plot Progression – Using signposts and journeys, this feature helps you visualize the way your story is moving. It uses a tabular display of your story’s four “throughlines” so that you can really see where you’re at and where you’re going (or trying to go).

Theme Browser – Another graphical feature, this one helps you model your story’s thematic elements.

Other features included are a dictionary, query system, story engine, story points, brainstorming, and reports. Reports are the best of all, if you’re like me and need to have something on paper that you can easily flip through. Every question you ever answer within your story, every character you develop, and every theme you create is input into a massive “overview” of your story that can be printed out. It develops a synopsis for you, and each of your graphs can be printed for constant review.

Overall Review of Dramatica Pro

Seriously, I can’t praise this software highly enough. If I had to be picky and pinpoint one thing that I would improve, it would be the graphics they use. But what do graphics have to do with you telling your story? Nothing – and that’s what Dramatica Pro does best. It helps you tell your story.

In short, Dramatica Pro takes you above and beyond what is the norm. There are things in this software that would take reading several different “how-to” books to really understand – and it makes it easy on you. It is a full-service fiction-writing assistant, and it’s essential for authors.

Just remember – no software can generate a story for you. Or, to be technical, you should never rely on software to generate a story for you. Get the basic, bare-bones idea of your story in mind and take it to Dramatica Pro. You’ll be astonished at how much more depth and dimension a few minutes at it will yield.