melodrama

Melodrama is not always the worst thing. Sometimes even real life can be melodramatic. Also, when we look over our own work, we are more likely to see actual drama as melodrama because we see the big picture instead of watching it unfold the way characters or a reader would.

I don't know if this is helpful, but as an example, one scene I had to write was when a young character finds out his best friend has been killed.

Of course he cries, and his head floods with a million images of said friend in one second as he stomps away covering his face. I tried to reel it all in as much as I could, as he was at his place of work, and hid in the restroom, but then I had him shift to thoughts of who killed his friend, and the anger changed the mood enough to complete the scene without him being a crying mess.

I did take a few other moments though out the story to let him get emotional about it, so it was sprinkled in.

I agree like other posters, I like emotionally driven scenes.

So I'm reading "Manuscript Makeover" and there's advice early on to add 'voice' to one's writing and the idea of 'voice' is conflated with 'characterization' ... and the examples provided of 'good voice' could be seen as melodramatic. Depends on externals.

Harlequin - I think you nailed it with 'what the run up' is. If there's no reason to think character A and B have a strong relationship, then any extended gnashing of teeth by B when A dies ... is a bit ... off.

But, emotional depth is what we strive for. Not in the sense of 'the grief was like a claw to his heart, scraping him clean, a single drop of blood sprouting forth like the death of the evening sun...' ... lol ... but more like, you know, when ... your mom dies, and you feel it in the day to day. You feel it in your heart, like an ache that can't be ignored for more than an hour or two. And it's inconvenient, maybe, because you don't have a car and she would take you places and you feel like a heel for missing *that.*. And your baby will never know their grandmother. That sucks. And you see your mom's eyes in your baby.

It's not a single drop of blood from a claw to the heart. It's that ... this baby that you are raising will always wear your mother's face. And you love that, and it brings you to tears at the same time.

That's what I think.

Hmm...I think you’re on the right track, Harlequin: there’s something to the characterization being off and leading to the cheese factor. I like me some good melodrama when it’s called for. But when I get nailed for the cheese, it’s usually because I portrayed the reaction that doesn’t quite suit that character. Once in a while it’s because I decided to drag out the emotional wallop a wee bit too long. But more often these days, it’s a case of Goldilocks syndrome. Not quite right yet for that character.

This is on my mind since I just got nailed by a CP for a character’s recounting of a death. Aaaaaand reading this thread helped me figure out what was off, so yay me!

Discovering your own cheese? That can be hard. Because sometimes you just really like the cheese. And sometimes there’s nothing wrong with a little cheese.


ETA. And now I really want cheese. -_-

I used to have this issue. I've gotten more objective. When it comes to emotional scenes, I rely more on action than on internal monologue or dialogue. An example would be showing a character crying after his dog died as opposed to him going on and on about how painful life will be without his dog. I also took the "less means more" route.

Less definitely does mean more. Fully agree with that.

You can do this, Harlequin. I have full confidence in you!

I agree with a few who have posted here. I think melodrama can be used as a cheap trick to get us to feel something when the groundwork hasn't been laid out properly. But very strong emotions are amazing if you are invested in the character and plot in the first place.

For some readers Stephen King writes banal melodrama framed by comic book plots, while for others he is master of the human condition. So to a large extent, what is "melodrama" does depend on people's tastes and life experiences and exposure to types of films, TV serials, music, and books.

A musician who is a seriously deep poet of the human heart to a fan, is to someone else a whiny git with a suboptimal understanding of what chords are for. Or even some titan of classical symphonies is to one person a master of divine transcendental architectures, and to another--a producer of primitive pathos and sugary sentimentality and a waste of good orchestras.

I think that if the writers feel they are writing honest stuff, presented as well as they can present it, this is enough. If its good enough to become popular, the right type of readers will find it.