Jim Hull

Jim Hull

@jimhull.blog

From Dramatica to Narrova: Building https://narrova.ai, steering https://narrativefirst.com, and shepherding Narrative Context Protocol (NCP).

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I started to build what is now Subtxt/Dramatica and Narrova back in 2017–but I’ve never seen such a huge upsurge in interest before, and so many emails from writers who LOVE the new version. I think I finally got it. 😃

Jim Hull reposted

Muse has officially lost its mind with today's story starter. 🤣 "Puberty was awkward enough before dodgeball came with an STD twist." Zoe Martinez has finally found the perfect escape hatch from social obscurity: a wildly inappropriate, ridiculously elaborate sex-ed obstacle course

The “Hotel Reverie” episode is literally exactly what we’ve been working on the past six months. Just without the Stack Overflow Errors! 🤣

No idea how I got here, but I'm super proud to open up the intelligence behind Subtxt to anyone at the conflux of AI, storytelling, and fun. 🤩

Dramatica@dramatica.com

Just cracked open eight years of storytelling genius—Subtxt API is LIVE. Go build the next big thing, or just blow minds. Your call. narrativefirst.com/blog/introdu...

Spoiler: It's all in your head! 😆

Dramatica@dramatica.com

Is GPT-4.5 real—or is it just great storytelling? 🤖✨ Turns out, structured chaos is the heart of both AI and narrative. Here's how GPT-4.5 is quietly making stories even better in Subtxt: narrativefirst.com/blog/gpt-4-5...

It would be so cool if there was a way for an interactive fiction to refuse to progress until the players adapted and transformed their actions to sync with the underlying thematic construct. 😊

loving how everyone's head is in the same place. 😊

Dramatica@dramatica.com

Shelly Palmer is right: Hollywood isn’t quite ready for AI-enhanced storytelling. But the real danger isn’t job displacement—it’s losing the essence of what makes stories work.

This was so cool to see play out, especially since Muse predicted the Storyform we all ended up landing on in the end.

Dramatica@dramatica.com

The storyform for The Penguin, Season 1 Episode 4 "Cent'Anni" is now in Subtxt. Wonderful how the title of the episode fit so perfectly into the Obstacle Character thematic Issue of Destiny.

We're live! (recording avail. later)

Dramatica@dramatica.com

The group analysis of "Cent'Anni" - the 4th episode of "The Penguin" series is now live - feel free to join in and hear us debate some of the underlying thematic issues. us02web.zoom.us/j/81566870632

This was really fun to see play out -- didn't even know this was a thing that was possible!

Dramatica@dramatica.com

We uploaded *Didi*’s Storyform into Subtxt, asked Muse to describe the film based on structure alone, and it nailed it—before even knowing the plot. Then, once the synopsis was added, it refined everything even further. Full breakdown here: narrativefirst.com/blog/explori...

DeepResearch + Subtxt Storyform is all you need when it comes to matching artist's intent with the underlying narrative structure of a film.

Dramatica@dramatica.com

We also did this for "Conclave" over the weekend - and look forward to adding more and more to make Subtxt the absolute best place to learn about narrative theory and structure!

The storyform is simply put: artist's intent caught in a thematic blueprint. Matching that with in-depth interviews and insights from the filmmaker and you have an unmatchable place to discover the hidden elements of story.

We also did this with "Conclave" over the weekend, and we're so impressed with the results, we can't wait to have unlimited Research so we can cover all 600+ storyforms in Subtxt.

Have to say, I'm totally aligned with this: "There is a great deal of talent right now without the resources to fully express itself, and if we change that, the resulting creative output of the world will lead to tremendous benefits for us all." blog.samaltman.com/three-observ...

blog.samaltman.comThree ObservationsOur mission is to ensure that AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) benefits all of humanity.  Systems that start to point to AGI* are coming into view, and so we think it’s important to...

This is a wonderful read. Ethan Mollick set Deep Research out with the task of unraveling the evolution of TTRPGs--and completely unravels my concept of the internet, AGI, and the potential that lies before us. t.co/h9VZobnS59

When you have to spend the weekend re-working all the copy surrounding o1 and "slow" deliberate thinking. The whole slow thing doesn't really apply to o3-mini. 🏎️💨

Absolutely shell-shocked. What started out to be kind of a bummer start towards integrating o3-mini into Subtxt just took a massive turn as I discovered the vibe between Focus and Flow and beating out an entire 28 sequence screenplay—all in chat—in about an hour. Blog post on the way.

A story is not a collection of conflicts. It's not a bundle of issues, problems, or dramatic situations. It's the exploration of one single inequity--spread across every character, theme, and structural element.

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A story isn't about what's happening--it's about the gap that's driving everything forward. The tension between perspectives. The unsolvable imbalance that demands resolution (or proves unresolvable).

A story is not a collection of conflicts. It's not a bundle of issues, problems, or dramatic situations. It's the exploration of one single inequity--spread across every character, theme, and structural element.

The OS Issue found in Subtxt? That's one way to appreciate the inequity. The Pivotal Elements? Another lens. The whole model is built to illuminate the same imbalance from different perspectives.

Muse just starts proactively drawing images to help explain narrative structure to users, something I’ve never seen before—but am highly encouraged by. The image is even an accurate representation of the narrative model.

Pretty much everyone assumes that Subtxt’s inability to build a story is a problem with Subtxt. 9.999 times out of 10, it’s a problem with the story.

Dramatica@dramatica.com

Ever feel like Subtxt won’t let you start fresh with a blank Storyform? That frustration is actually teaching you something crucial—conflict has to be functional.

Stargate’s half a trillion dollars means faster analysis, deeper insights—and maybe, just maybe, a step closer to actual emergent story fields. At least, that’s what I’m thinking. 🤔

For years, I helped writers figure out how to tell a great story. Now the game has shifted: it's about showing AI how to tell your great story. And it’s unbelievably fun. 😊

Dramatica@dramatica.com

Not every story needs a hero’s transformation. Sometimes, the most powerful tales are about characters doubling down on who they already are. Think Chinatown or Amadeus—stories that resonate because of the tension between opposing perspectives, not a tidy personal epiphany.

Jim Hull reposted

AGI/ASI will always do a better job of writing. But AI doesn't know what makes your story meaningful--you do. That's why Subtxt isn't just another story structure tool. It's a narrative intelligence system that helps you define, refine, and shape the creative intent behind your story.

For decades, I taught narrative structure--how stories work, how conflict drives meaning, how form shapes impact. But now? That's not the hard part anymore. AI is getting really good at writing. Coherent, structured, polished. It's not just generating words--it's executing stories.

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This is reshaping everything I do--from Subtxt to my research on emergent story fields. AI doesn't struggle with execution. We do. The real work is shaping, refining, and elevating raw material into something meaningful.

For decades, I taught narrative structure--how stories work, how conflict drives meaning, how form shapes impact. But now? That's not the hard part anymore. AI is getting really good at writing. Coherent, structured, polished. It's not just generating words--it's executing stories.

So what's left? Clarity of intent. AI can write a story. But it doesn't know why this story matters. It doesn't know what makes a story yours. That part? That's on you.

The real shift: The blank page is dead. The problem isn't "how do I structure this?" It's "What am I actually trying to say?" That's the challenge now. That's the work.

Really excited about the new blending of Throughlines in Subtxt. Kind of annoyed me how similar they were in the new Story Starters page, so I reworked the algos to reflect more of the Storyform in its blending. Go to Four Throughlines in the app, and resurface to see the difference.