List Price: $59.95 Our Price: $29.51 You Save: $30.44 (51%)

Product Description

The Dramatica Writer's Dream Kit helps you create the story floating around in your head. It asks thought-provoking questions about your characters and plot, helping you find your voice as a writer. Realize your Personal vision and unlock the strengths of your writing to create a classic story! Pre-built dramatic structures for your novel, screenplay, or short story -- complete with instructions

Customer Reviews:

• Helps you create a first draft once you plot out the basics.
  I thought the ads for this program were somewhat vague, so I'll try to be specific. Writer's DreamKit will not create your characters, generate story ideas or write your novel. It won't even force you to write five pages per day. It will help you organize chapters and define conflicts in your stories. Creative but maybe poorly organized writers will benefit from the outline feature, which is pretty versatile and easy to use.

  The best way to use this software is to plan out the characters, situation and ending beforehand and have an idea for the outline in mind. The first step is answering a serious of multiple-choice questions and describing your characters and their situation. This section can reveal aspects of your story you may not even be aware of and I found that very interesting. (For example, you may not realize that two characters always contrast in their approach to solving problems but by answering the questions, some subtleties like that become obvious.) You can use the observations to better define your characters and expand on elements of your story.

  The DreamKit allows you to leave gaps and move chapters around easily but some changes, like adjusting character personality traits, require recreating from scratch. You can transfer your outline to a word processing document or fill in the chapters in DreamKit, though there are no tools to assist with editing-- it won't advise you if you're writing clich¨¦s or losing the reader's interest in exposition.
  
  The examples taken from well-known films like Star Wars and Casablanca are very useful since the writing terms used are somewhat distracting (activity, impact character, etc.). The pictures feature is less useful. (You can select graphics to represent all your characters, but why would you?)

  There is a slim users manual that is mandatory reading before you can even begin the program. If you enjoy writing fiction more than reading instruction manuals you may find this frustrating. A poster-sized chart warns "Read This First", but I personally found the chart tedious.

  A complex story, with multiple points of view or an atypical plot structure, will be more difficult to utilize with this program with than straightforward, single dimensional one. A short story writer may not have much to gain from this program either. I didn't use the screenplay feature, so I won't comment on that. Overall, this program is much more useful than I expected and can really help a writer get his characters and situation into a cohesive and complete first draft....more info

• Story Struggle Became Success
  I wanted to be a fiction writer. My critique group tossed me out, and I was devastated. They said I wasn't positive enough when I gave them feedback on their work. They called me negative. I found myself alone and struggling and in pain, trying to give birth to my novel. I got Writer's DreamKit and found a friend. The software wanted to know many things about my story ideas, and it gave me further dimensions to travel in my imagination. It encouraged me to go to places in my mind, by the questions it asked, that I would never have thought of on my own. It helped me tell a solid story that was a satisfying and fun read. It helped me create stories that could be easily turned into short stories, novels, screenwriting and play scripts. I ended up using much of what I had written, especially my character ideas, just the way I put them into Writer's DreamKit.
  
  My first writing professor at Portland State University told me that plotting was my greatest weakness. I had to admit that both softwares, Writer's DreamKit and Dramatica, forced me to become professional in plotting techniques. Creating characters with Writer's DreamKit was a dream, however creating plots was hard work. In the end, I appreciated the structure Writer's DreamKit forced me to follow, because it helped me succeed.
  
  Plus, it was reasonably priced. That was important. Since then, I got other, more advanced and more expensive, writing software, and discovered that the story ideas transferred, easily. I found the Writer's DreamKit a big help and affordable....more info
• Negative 4 Star Rating!
  I would give this program negative stars if possible!!! Not only is it confusing it is not the least bit helpful. I only regret that the box was destroyed. I am out [of my money] for nothing!...more info
• Not what to be expected!
  I bought this because I am an inspiring romance writer. This was an "ok" program. It only lets you write everything you want to put in each scene and then you can print it all out. But if you don't know what you want to write yet, it doesn't give you any ideas or anything. I suggest buying books to help you learn to write instead, and then just using plain old microsoft word!...more info
• Don't think of this as a shortcut template.
  If you think this is going to be another formulaic, cookie-cutter template you'll be as disappointed as those "don't waste your time" reviewers. This software gives you sound structure and detailed info about your characters, plot, theme and genre. If you're serious about your writing and willing to put more than 10 minutes in writing a great story, give this product a chance. If not, there are tons of editing patterns that'll give you what you're looking for....more info
• Good but confusing
  Has some GREAT information contained in it. The concept presented is too encumbersome for me. Well worth the price for the information I gained though....more info
• Mistakingly Expected More
  I downloaded the Dramatica Pro 4.0 demo as well as the 350-page theory manual. I found it to be an AMAZINGLY helpful aid to writing a complete story.

  The product description for DreamKit read similarly to the Pro version, and I couldn't tell any differences by the product descriptions. So I called the company up, and the most specific information that the guy that I talked to could provide was that the Pro version "offered more features".

  Since the cost of this DreamKit is significantly less than the Pro version (and you can get an upgrade credit from DreamKit to Pro), I decided to try the DreamKit first.

  Perhaps those that haven't tried the demo may find this software somewhat entertaining, the DreamKit IS ALMOST WHOLLY INCOMPATIBLE with Dramatica theory, as it leaves out major features required by the theory.

  For instance (for those of you who have used the demo and are somewhat familiar with Dramatica theory...), there is no way to plot each individual "throughline". The theory manual states that each throughline must be mapped out to ensure story consistency and that only with the aid of a computer can this be done.

  Another glaring ommission is that character motivations are broken down into only 16 basic components--Dramatica theory calls for them to be broken down into 256 components.

  I recommend saving your money and purchasing the Pro version if you are able....more info

• Challenging to use
  This software does provide a framework to organize and expand your story ideas but the framework feels a little too rigid as it forces stories down a canned path after a few preliminary questions.
  
  The guided mode took me through the increasingly complex process. At first it was great, helping me flesh out my characters and challenging me with questions about their motivation. Once I got to the part were you outline scenes to mesh your idea with the prefabricated story arc it started to irritate rather than help me.
  
  All the character and story information you enter is stored in several disjoint views making it hard to print out a report that showed the flow of what you had input. I like using a word processor for writing my stories and typing my work into text boxes without so much as a spell checker bothered me as well.
  
  Finally it saves everything you enter in a proprietary binary file format which makes it difficult to pick up the outline and start working with it in a standard word processor....more info
• Horrible and hard to get to work on my computer
  There are books that are far more creative and interesting and more likely to help a writer get it out and on to the paper. I bought this thinking it would do just that. However it was problematic from the beginning just to get it to work on my com-puter and when it did smooth out a bit I realized why I do not like Hollywood and american movies as a rule: They are canned products.

  I do not know what the alternative is but this product is a waste of time and money....more info

• Delayed Gratification
  At first I was skeptical about this product since some of the reviews I read were very negative. Several people seemed furious about what they thought they had purchased. As for myself, I was looking for a program that would help me outline and structure my story. Well, I got that and much more with this DreamKit. The "much more" is a plus, but only after you get used to it since there are many terms to learn. I must admit that my first reaction was not a good one. There's so much to learn and absorb if you're a beginning writer or if you have limited knowledge with the terminology, that it's a real daunting proposition at first.

  After a hard day's work, I wound up with 32 Scenes, many with full descriptions which you can shuffle however you like. This program is very flexible and intuitive once you get the hang of it. I'm still learning many things about it, but my main interest was getting help with the outline, and it delivered. The HELP Section is great and the Dramatica Terms Dictionary is very helpful as well.

  The bottom line: this program takes a little time to warm-up to but once you do, it's very useful and even fun to use. Beginners will find the almost scientific approach to writing somewhat intimidating, but it's all designed to make the artistic side of writing much more effortless. I suggest that all the disgruntled users take a deep breath and give it another shot. You'll be glad you did.- A. Rios Jr....more info

• Expected a lot more
  I've written one book without the use of such software and I thought that it would be great to try this for a second book. I tried and only get words to come up and can never get it to form any type of story. I'm like another reviewer, "Maybe I'm green to this." I think I'll stick to the old fashion way. At least I can see something "create" before my eyes instead of wondering how to do it. Myhappiness goes out to those who can master this program....more info
• Do Not Buy This!!!
  This software is the cheap version of Dramatica, so it is based on the Dramatica theory of story. I tried the software... It does not work at all. It will not even install on my PC. I hope Amazon will refund my money... Concerning theory, I would stick with McKee's Story and Vogler's Hero's Journey. The Dramatica theory requires an almost complete re-learning of story theory. Instead of writing your screenplay or novel, you waste a lot of time learning Dramatica's terminology. ...more info