Method in the Madness

Recap

In the previous posts, I looked at two of the four Dimensions of Character.  The Motivation Set described the sorts of innate attitudes that a character could display, such as Pursuit or Support or Disbelief.  Another set, called the Purpose Set, described what each character was striving for, such as Order or Change or Knowledge.  I showed how these dimensions could be expressed 4x4 grid patterns, onto which we can map the characters of the story, and see relationships between them.

Dramatica proposes four dimensions, so in this post I will introduce another dimension of character, which Dramatica calls Methodology.


The Method

Where a character has an innate Motivation, and strives for a Purpose, the Method dimension describes how this character goes about getting the Purpose.  What thought processes does the character mainly use as a way of moving toward the Purpose.  Again this can be arranged as a 4x4 grid in the usual pattern.

Certainty	Probability	Proaction	Inaction
Possibility	Potentiality	Protection	Reaction
Deduction	Reduction	Acceptance	Evaluation
Production	Induction	Reevaluation	Nonacceptance

These are again arranged in pairs of opposing Methodologies.  Dramatica says that each of your characters need to have at least one of these Methodologies, but can have combinations. 

Let's have a look at what each of these sixteen Methodologies mean.

Certainty	The method of always waiting until the character is certain before acting.  This makes the character risk-averse, safe, but sometimes unwilling to go out on a limb to gain the prize, so sometimes misses out on the prize because of this.
Probability	The method of going with the most likely.  This makes the character calculating, and can sometimes seem as if they change sides according to the weather.  A character who follows probability can sometimes avoid the downsides.
Proaction	This is the tendency to be a self-starter, to begin moving towards a goal without external prompting.  Although this makes a character a driver, it can also lead to bad decisions though premature choices before all the facts are known.
Inaction	The trait of failing to take action when presented with a problem, or giving no response at all.  This can lead to dragging of feet on positive actions, achieving nothing, and for getting in the way in a negative sense, sometimes for good.
Possibility	Thinking about all the possible solutions to the problem, not being tied down to the most likely.  Sometimes this manifests itself as over-thinking, and in some cases not concentrating on what is most likely in favour of other possibilities.
Potentiality	Appraising all options in solving a problem according to their potential for most gain, and sometimes acting as if that was true even if it is not probable.  Leads to the character seeing benefits that others don't, and missing pitfalls.
Protection	A character builds a wall around their concerns to avoid them being interfered with by actual and potential threats.  This character resists attempts to force it down a path it hasn't chosen and can see such approaches as a threat.
Reaction	Not acting on a problem until it manifests, the Reaction character only acts in response to another character.  It never acts pre-emptively, and this can lead to delays which may have been advantageous.
Deduction	This is the methodical way of thinking which tries to eliminate all competing possibilities until only one remains.  This is the mainstay of the detective novel.  A deductive character can sometimes miss a possibility when two answers are true.
Reduction	A method of thinking which judges competing theories on their merits and ranks and groups them according to relative likelihood.  This sort of thinking sometimes leads to fixed ideas unable to recalculate based on changing circumstances.
Acceptance	When a character has decided not to oppose anything that comes along.  This can diffuse conflict in certain circumstances, but in the long run can mean that bad situations are allowed to continue unopposed..
Evaluation	The ability of a character to piece together a collection of seemingly unrelated facts into a cohesive theory which allows him to assess the relationships between the parts.  This needs to be continually updated to maintain correct understanding.
Production	This is a process of thought where the character determines potential of solutions, by ruling out the ones which cannot happen.  Sometimes this character can rule out certain possibilities early on which later become possible by change of facts.
Induction	The method of working out causal chains of events by linking seemingly unrelated facts together.  The downside of this approach is that the induction ins only one of a set of potential solutions, and it is difficult to compare each one.
Reevaluation	The re-assessment of known facts or believed theories.  Unlike Evaluation, the Re-Evaluation method takes what was guessed at before and compares with the facts since.  These characters can be swayed by new, sometimes false,  information.
Nonacceptance	The desire to oppose a course of action.  This character can be strong and steadfast against slippage, but at the same time they can be nit-picky and apply their stance against the smallest movement which may have allowed more casual relationships.

Another bit of a brain blurb

That is quite a lot of data again.  Dramatica seems to love its tables and grids, and some of these opposing pairs seem a little arbitrary at this point, but perhaps they will make more sense as I try to scatter my Fiend characters across the Methodology Set in the next post.