The Ins and Outs of Drama

When most people think of drama, they think of shows like Jerry Springer and Jersey Shore. But what is drama really? According to dictionary.com it means: any situation or series of events having vivid, emotional, conflicting, or striking interest or results.

So when we think of drama in writing we all know it's important. The question remains is how to create it and make it believable. My first indicator is to look at reality TV. This stuff is made up of endless hours of video taping, which is then edited to create a story. Anything that can create a change in emotion is drama. A fight of course, a battle with a super demon, or a break up with a lover. But little things are drama too. Someone losses their keys, or can't decide what to wear.

There are two types of drama:

1. Internal
2. External

These things are drama because they cause emotion for someone, maybe not everyone, but someone out there will feel something. So how do you know what the good ones are to use to move your story forward?

Ask your characters.

Just like people, characters have personalities. They have likes, dislikes, interests and annoyances. What creates drama in a story about them, should be what makes them feel emotion.

For example in the book Inheritance, which is released Sept 14, my main character Seiran has a lot of little quirks that cause him emotional trouble. He has to have a clean kitchen, no crumbs or stains on the counter or dishes left in the sink. He has to have clean sheets even if they haven't been slept in. While these things may not bother most of us, the are such an intense part of his character that his lover knows he has comply. His drama is internal and that affects how external drama can change his story.

Some characters can be really laid back, and not care so much about little things. Those characters have drama come at them mostly from external, or outside sources. We see a lot of police fiction with external drama. The guys are cops so yeah there's rules, however, there's a criminal to fight, or a case to solve. Those are external dramas.

Now that's not to say that characters can't have them both. In fact, the most well written characters have both internal and external drama. It's their reaction to these things that makes them original and builds a story to a realistic ending. We learn about the character in the beginning, maybe see a glimpse of a bigger external drama, but throughout the book we see their little internal issues coming to live and building to easier or harder for them to reach a conclusion with the external drama.

Why is internal drama so important? Think of reality TV and our real lives in general. When we are conflicted about something, it's usually something in our personal lives. A argument with a family member, or a missing bit of money in our checkbook. When something big happens like a car crash that kills a friend, that's important too, but how you react is carved out by the little things you do, how well you knew the friend and how involved you may or may not have been in the crash.

So think of this as an exercise of thought for the day. The next time you feel joy, sadness, fear, anger, jealousy, irritation, ask yourself is it internal or external? Why does this feel so real and important to me? Then maybe you can use that little trouble for your next character. After all, a little drama never hurt anyone.