Dramatica is designed for developing stories of dramatic fiction, which includes novels, screenplays,  stage plays and short stories. A main difference between the forms is scope. Novels can contain many characters and the progression of their activities over much space and time. Short stories tend to concentrate on a smaller number of characters, perhaps on one dramatic incident in one place over a short time span.  Scripts for screenplays and stage plays tend to fall somewhere between novels and short stories in their scope of breadth and depth.

Whichever form you choose, the StoryGuide is a great place to start. It leads you through the steps of developing your characters, creating a storyform structure, and writing concrete examples in Illustrating.

When it comes to the Storyweaving stage, short story writers will probably want to skip Exposition Development and jump straight into Scene Creation to shape the scenes that make up the short story. For your Scene Labels, choose Scene. After planning your scenes, print a Story Treatment Report and expand it into your short story.

Novelists, dealing with a much larger work of fiction, will want to take advantage of all the story pre-planning tools available. Exposition Development gives you the opportunity to further develop your story. It also provides you with a way to visualize your characters' Introduction into, and Dismissal from, your story. In Scene Creation, you'll be using Chapter or Scene as your Scene Label. The “Story Points Referenced" table  helps you plan the threading of thematic elements through your throughlines. Print a Storyweaving Overview Report to see how you've tied all the elements of your story together, scene by scene. For a plain plot synopsis of your chapters and scenes, print the Story Treatment Report.