What makes good drama for you?

Kindness · Mar 5, 2013

I know this is a bit of a nebulous term but I see drama as social conflict (between the MC and their friends, family or community) with social/emotional implications.

I think I've made it pretty clear that I write action stories (haha) but I have a bit of an issue with coming up with drama, because I tend to think like this:
1. What do I want to happen?
2. What characters do I need for this to happen?
3. How might they interact with each other in an interesting way?
And that's my story.

I'll be honest: I don't usually care about the drama between, say, the MC and their father unless the MC's father is a vampire slayer who's a bit too brutal and the MC wants him to show more mercy. Then it has to lead to something physical. That kind of stuff. It has to tie neatly into the stuff I like reading about.

I also tend to skimp on the drama at times. I'll make my character relatable, then make any other characters who drive the story likeable (for example, the girl who wants my MC to track the monster that kicked their door down and dragged her mother off into the night) and continuously remind the reader how much it means to these characters that they acheive their goal (rescuing the girl's mother/slaying the monster/finding out who or what sent it) while throwing mysteries and dangerous situations into the way. It gives me a plot and the emotional connection I need to ground the reader.

As you can see, there's not much drama in the above description. Every now and again there'll be something like the dad thing above but with the wolves at the door (as it were) I don't devote many sections to my characters dealing with interpersonal issues.

It's usually just the MC and whatever "partner" they've dragged along on their hunt. And if my MC doesn't bring a partner along then there is no drama and most of the conflict is my MC dealing with the faces of various antagonistic factions.

So before I go on too long about how I do things, what makes good drama for you? Have I got the definition right? And how large a role do you want it to play in an action story? What about in "lone wolf" type stories?

MartinaMay · Mar 5, 2013

My drama tends to be wrapped up in the growth of my character - I try to explore in my mind what makes them tick, their motivations and what their weaknesses are, then exploit these characteristics in my plot.

Kerosene · Mar 5, 2013

Make me care about a character, I'll care about what they go through.

KSavoie · Mar 5, 2013

I really think it depends on what you consider drama, or how dramatic I guess. My WIP has quite a bit of action, but I have managed to slip some drama in every here and there so that I now think it's a nice balance of the two.

lolchemist · Mar 5, 2013

I think you're defining 'drama' a bit differently than I do. For me drama isn't just interpersonal bickering but just stuff happening in general (prettymuch synonymous with conflict.)

But anyway, just going off your definition (and thanks for providing it btw, it really clarifies things and prevents people (me) from answering wrongly!) I FREAKING HATE when characters bicker for no reason and you can tell the author thinks this is charming banter but it really isn't! Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan made me want to pull my own eyeballs out and throw them at the author with how obnoxious some of the bicker/banter/drama was. The brother and sister in the book would just get on each others nerves all the time, for example, in once scene the sister has the *whatever important thing, I don't even remember what it was* in her hand and the brother needs to see it in order for the plot to move along, INSTEAD the sister refuses to let him see it and we literally have over a page of them arguing (and then she finally lets him see it, bawww.) I was sitting there like 'Why is the author wasting my time like this???'

But really, you don't need (your definition of) drama at all! Characters don't need to have issues with each other to make the story interesting ESPECIALLY if the story is action-based. If your character is busy trying to slay vampires and then the action comes to a screeching halt because he gets into a shouting match with his brother about who used the last of the shampoo, rest assured your readers won't be too happy.

I DO LOVE (your definition of) drama though (when it's done right) for example, in the Harry Potter series, there was tons of action but there was also drama between Harry and Draco, Snape, Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron and tons of others. The drama was (mostly) realistic, helped the plot move along (rather than causing it to come to a screeching halt) and helped provide character growth.

Anyway, I've babbled on enough!

missesdash · Mar 5, 2013

I guess I find characters more relatable when they begin to break down a bit as stakes raise. My characters mostly get along well, but when shit hits the fan, things get a little tense and because they are average people, conflict results.

They'll often apologizes later, of course (think Ron deserting in HP). But it's natural to freak out a little when things get intense. I also tend to have circumstances throw them together rather than "hey best friend, lets go on an adventure." So again, conflict is to be expected because they are total strangers and have different goals and different ideas of how that goal is to be achieved.

Look at any buddy cop film. I honestly can't think of any combinations of hero + partner where I'd buy it if they agreed on *everything.* Btw what you described isn't "drama" in the literary sense, it's just one of the many types of conflict. As long as you have some type, you're fine.
But interpersonal conflict adds a very relateable human aspect to the story. It shows us that you've created unique individuals with rough edges rather than a seamless pairing that manages to stay seamless under stress.

A real world example is *any* couple once they fall under financial strain or take on extreme schedules or (the big one) have kids. Even the most perfectly compatible people won't always see eye-to-eye during these trying times and conflict will result.

So I think you should ask yourself whether it is entirely realistic that you have two people without conflict. If so, maybe your stakes aren't raised enough. At the very least, I imagine the MC and antagonist have some conflict, hence the term 'antagonist.'

ETA: oh and with "lone wolf" types, that interpersonal conflict will often appear as (to use a grade school English term) 'man vs himself' aka internal conflict. Or if the "lone wolf" is stuck with someone else, that will almost certainly result in conflict.

breaking_burgundy · Mar 6, 2013

The best interpersonal drama is when the reader doesn't know with whom to side.

JustSarah · Mar 6, 2013

The best drama to me is one that blends a little bit of the real world, with the world of science fiction, in ways unnoticeable with characters that attempt technical solutions to every day problems, yet often find themselves dug further into a whole, and they are the only ones to dig themselves out.

What makes good drama for you?

Kindness

Back From My Self-Imposed Exile

MartinaMay

Kerosene

Your Pixie Queen

KSavoie

lolchemist

Shooting stars.

missesdash

You can't sit with us!

breaking_burgundy

JustSarah