Write Brothers Dramatica Pro Win

I found it forced me into story decisions that don't make sense. Some aspects of it are crystal clear and quite useful, others are confusing. After spending a long time following the process, I'm left with a plot progression that makes no sense--like going from the present, to how things are changing, to the past. One doesn't go from the present to the past! Also, the software is clearly quite old--doesn't work properly on Windows 10. Screens are cut off, it is buggy, have to restart at times. On the plus side, it really helped me develop my characters and backstory. I just had much higher hopes for what it would create when I was done.

Eh. It is a little pretentious. It is really easy to answer all the inputs about your story and you get this wonderful grid that means absolutely nothing. I could not understand anything it was telling me. I have gone to other writer friends that also have this software and they can't use it either. I even went to some of the story breakdowns that they do at their office. I listened to a few stories and it still makes no sense. I asked some of the creators of the system and they were of no help either.It is kind of like a bunch of writers (how good, no one knows) got this idea to analyze story structure. These writers got it in their head to do the job of a systems analyst but they didn't know how to do that kind of job. They may know story really well but suck at systems analysis.In their book it is almost as if they were doing a tear down of a jet aircraft. They analyze it in their own unique way but you will never be able to build an airplane from their analysis. I don't even think they understand their theory.It is a GREAT idea though. I wish it worked.

The Serial Number that came with this software was initially invalid. No, the 6 is not a G, and the 0 is not an O. Yes, I can read. Yes, I tried all the serial number-letter confusion possibilities, just in case. Yes, it was incredibly frustrating. This software is available for direct download from their site, but I bought a physical copy off of Amazon instead, because I wasn't going to give my credit card information to a website that looks like my 12-year-old cousin's HTTP class designed it. Now, I had to go through their awful site anyway, because - surprise! - there's no support phone number. Seriously, this website looks like it narrowly escaped the 90's, and it wants you to enter all of your personal data - email, address, name, everything - to get any support. I'm sure it's very secure (that was sarcasm).Upon delving into their FAQ, I discovered that Windows 7 users couldn't use the CD install. They HAD to download the software. This wasn't made clear at all, and honestly, Windows 7 has been out for years. At least stick a note into the case or something. Considering the fact that the "invalid" serial number errors I was getting didn't allude to my Windows version at all, I might not have figured that out without having to actually sit on my thumbs waiting for an email response. The software is great and all but the install experience was awful. It put a bad taste in my mouth and knocked it down a star.

I agree with the negative reviews that say there is a very steep learning curve here. But if you're willing to put in the time and work to learn the theory, the payoff is enormous.The Dramatica software uses the Dramatica theory as its logical underpinnings, so you really need to take the time to read the book and understand the theory, otherwise the results you get from the software are just going to be confusing and frustrating. (A free version of the book is available for download from the dramatica.com website as a PDF file. Be aware that it is an older edition, and some of the terminology has changed in the current edition. But it might be a good place to start, to see if this theory is for you.)Dramatica is CONTEXTUAL, it is not intended to provide you with a story. Based on how you answer the hundreds of questions the software poses regarding your characters, their motivations, methodologies, relationships, plot points, etc., the software begins to build a suggested framework (context) for your story. Because you can start answering questions anywhere (you don't have to start at the top and work down, or vice versa), the software will even be sensitive to the priorities you are expressing. For example, if you start by answering questions about your characters, the storyforms that emerge will support a more character-driven storyform. If you start with plot elements, a more plot-driven storyform will emerge.To demonstrate how Dramatica is contextual, let's say I want to write a story with a thematic subject of "forgiveness". In this case I would start by answering Dramatica's Concern class. You won't find "forgiveness" in the pick list, because what you are looking for here is a CONTEXT from which to tell your story about forgiveness. An obvious Concern for a story dealing with forgiveness would be "The Past", i.e. "Objective view of what happened" -- or, perhaps even better, "Memories", i.e., "Subjective view of what happened." But it could also be "The Present" (how is a lack of forgiveness [either giving or getting] affecting us now?) or "The Future" (how will forgiveness [either giving or getting] affect us down the road?) or "Changing One's Nature" (movement from being unforgiving toward being forgiving, or vice versa), or "Obtaining", or in fact any of the Concern items available.Which of these you choose will "weight" the storyform that emerges in that direction. The storyform for a Concern of "The Past" will likely be different from a Concern of "Memories" -- although this depends on how you answered subsequent questions after establishing your Concern. If you don't like the storyform you end up with, you may have not picked the right Concern for your particular priority, or you may need to back up and answer some of the subsequent questions differently.There is a huge learning curve here, but I have been diligent and find Dramatica to be indispensable to my work. Again, I would not attempt to use the software without reading the book first. It will make little sense otherwise.

I am very upset that I just paid all this money for it and the product won't even install on Vista. That's extremely frustrating. I do have an older PC, which it will run on, and I've had some use for it, I don't quite like the interface, it's not very graphic friendly, -large blocks of text, not so many visuals, but I'm sure it will prove to be useful- only I can't use it on my main computer which I can't stand