The Time Traveler's Wife book and movie Dramatica discussion
Details
Hello and welcome to the Dramatica Writers Community.
Let's begin reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
Wikipedia Excerpt:
"The Time Traveler's Wife is the debut novel of American author Audrey Niffenegger, published in 2003. It is a love story about a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel unpredictably, and about his wife, an artist, who has to cope with his frequent absences and dangerous experiences. Niffenegger, frustrated in love when she began the work, wrote the story as a metaphor for her failed relationships. The tale's central relationship came to her suddenly and subsequently supplied the novel's title. The novel, which has been classified as both science fiction and romance, examines issues of love, loss, and free will. In particular, it uses time travel to explore miscommunication and distance in relationships, while also investigating deeper existential questions."
Please rent the book from the library, or purchase a copy from the book provider of your choice (it sells for under $9 on Amazon at this time), and watch the movie at your leisure.
The Time Traveler's Wife DVD is available through Netflix (not streaming at this time), and if you are a Comcast subscriber, it is currently playing On Demand on Cinemax.
Please try to identify the four throughlines, the main character, the obstacle character, and answer the 12 Basic Questions in advance of the meeting (or be familiar enough with the story to discuss them).
The 12 Basic Dramatica Questions are:
Resolve
In "My Story," after maintaining his story-long approach, Main Character arrives at a moment of truth in which he ultimately will Remain Steadfast. Main Character Growth:
Regarding your Main Character, the audience is waiting for something to stop or start? Main Character Approach:
Your Main Character prefers to work things out Externally as a Do-er, or Internally as a Be-er? Main Character Mental Sex:
The Main Character's Mental Sex is Male or Female? Driver:
In the story, do Actions force decisions, or do Decisions force Actions? Limit:
What type of Limit brings the story to its climax, a Timelock or an OptionLock? Outcome:
Do the characters' efforts to achieve the Story Goal end in Success or Failure? Judgment:
The Main Character's personal resolution is shown to be Good or Bad? Objective Domain
What domain best describes the scenario against which your story takes place? Universe, Physics, Psychology, or Mind? Objective Concern
What is teh common area of Concern shared by the characters in the story? (The Past, Progress, The Future, The Present, Understanding, Doing, Obtaining, Learning, Conceptualizing, Being, Becoming, Conceiving, Memory, The Preconscious, The Subsconcious, The Conscious.) Objective Issue
What is the thematic issue that affects all characters in the story? Objective Problem
What is the source of the central problem that affects all of the characters in the story?