Story/Plotting Software?

October 26, 2010 3:41 PM

Alternatives to Dramatica?

Dramatica doesn't seem like it's had an update in forever. I want a story engine like that to play around with for NaNoWriMo inspiration, but I kind of don't want to pay for Dramatica. Are there similar, less expensive programs or online versions of that kind of tool available?

posted by empath to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

Response by poster: I'd actually like something a bit less heavy handed and looser than Dramatica, if there's anything like that out there, but I don't want just outline/organization software like Scrivener.
posted by empath at 3:42 PM on October 26, 2010

I'm a little curious about NaNoWriMo and didn't know such software existed. I did a little googling and found Storybook, an open-source novel-writing application. Runs on various Windows options and several Linux versions as well; doesn't appear to have a Mac version.

I have no experience with either Storybook or Dramatica, so I can't address whether Storybook has the "looser" quality you're looking for.
posted by richyoung at 4:20 PM on October 26, 2010

Not that this helps, but after dumping Dramatica, I tried Storybase (which is based off the book "Plots Unlimited"), but wasn't impressed with that, either. Or Storyview, for that matter, but that's more of an organizer than a play-with-plot program.
posted by mittens at 6:22 PM on October 26, 2010

It's not really too close, but Mariner has StoryMill for Mac and Contour for both Win and Mac. There are demos as well. Contour is similar to Dramatica in that it has cues and questions for creating a story but it is for screenplays only. Contour is even an iOS app, which is kind of fun. StoryMill is more writing software like Scrivener but is Mac only.

Here is a user's short comparison of Dramatica and Contour.
posted by acheekymonkey at 8:44 PM on October 26, 2010

Not helpful: I read this thinking 'yes, what are some good alternatives to Encyclopedia Dramatica?' A cruel, funny site perhaps not appropriate for your place of employment and for shish there is no alternative.
posted by eccnineten at 2:32 AM on October 27, 2010

I feel your pain. I've demoed pretty much all the different story engine software available and found Dramatica is by far the most in-depth (to the point of overkill). Contour will help you structure a 3 Act story but it's very simplistic. Programs like Storymill and Storyist are basically more robust versions of Scrivener. I would try the Contour demo and see if that works for you. Sadly there is nothing out there to fill the middle ground area for more complex story telling without all the trappings of Dramatica.
posted by cazoo at 2:16 PM on October 27, 2010

Of course, who needs software when you could have a Plot Wheel?
posted by mittens at 5:10 PM on October 27, 2010