 Drama: November 11, 2009 Issue [#3373] |
  Drama
This week: Edited by: StephBee  
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1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
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DRAMA IS:
#1 - The Greek word for "action."
#2 - A real life situation or succession of events having the dramatic progession of a play.
Descriptions can be tricky. Sometimes there's too much, sometimes there's not enough. Where can you find the balance? I thought I'd tackle descriptions this week since it was the winner in one of my previous HOT DRAMA POLLS (What's the weakest aspect of your writing?)
I just want to say I'm sorry I dropped the ball. 11 NOV is Veteran's Day and I had a great opportunity to write about military/war drama and I lost it. I promise that's coming up - I'll try to tackle that in January.  |
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What is a description? Simply, a picture in words. It's how you paint a picture in the reader's mind. Easy enough, huh?
DESCRIPTIONS ARE USED FOR:
Establishing the setting
Conveying emotions
Painting a character's physical appearance
THE FIVE SENSES
One of the easiest ways to paint your picture is to tap into the five senses. You live your life through your body, experiencing the physicality of life. Let your reader experience the physicality of your character's life. Tell us how the air smells, how the coffee tastes, how the ground feels on their feet, what their eyes see when it rains (big, fat raindrops) and what the wind sounds like.
 Use an economy of words, picking the BEST words for the description.
THE BEST WORDS
Have a wide choice of words to choose from. Carry a dictionary or a thesaurus to find different words with similiar meanings.
Stay away from adverbs. Let the verbs do the hard work.
EXAMPLE:
#1 He marched out.
#2 He walked briskly out.
Which verb is more dynamic?
TIP: Stay away from cliches. They're overused and don't engage the reader.
SIMILES AND METAPHORS
A simile compares two unlike things using "like" and "as."
Example: Her touch was as light as a hummingbird's feather.
A metaphor is a figure of speech where the thing spoken about (your character for example) resembles the figure of speech.
Example: He was a wolf of a man.
Example #2: Edward's eyes were a mirror in the room, watching every dirty little secret play out.
If you're new to writing and wondering where to start with your descriptions, work on the five senses first. They are usually easy to master. When you feel comfortable with them, then you can tackle the similies and metaphors. Similies and Metaphors work really well with emotional descriptions, whereas the five senses can blend in with whatever you want to describe.
TIP: DON'T!!! Start a story with a paragraph of description. Start with the action. Use a good descriptive verb to carry the action. Slowly and carefully weave in strategetically placed descriptions so by the end of the first scene, the reader can picture the setting.
Hope this helps. I'd love to hear your thoughts about descriptions in drama writing.
Reference for this Newsletter: Writing Fiction," Gotham Fiction Writers, Edited by Alexander Steele, 2003, Bloomsbury Publishers
THE HOT DRAMA POLL
This month's question: Who's your FAVORITE dramatic actress? Some of the replies:
Meryl Streep
Hillary Swank
Sally Field
Angelina Jolie
Anne Hathaway
Jennifer Aniston
Other, explain.
The RESULTS of last month's poll:
What is the STRONGEST aspect of your writing?
#1 POV narration
#2 Characterization
#3 Dialogue
#4 Writing the Beginning
Other thoughts:
Christopher Corcoran 
I've been mainly writing about people from work and my life so I try to be very descriptive in character development.
D.L. Fields
I'd like to say it's all of the above. For me, the characters have to be strong and I need to use all my skills (sadly this doesn't always happen) to describe the action and setting.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll!
NEXT: My December Newsletter is always a favorite of mine. I take a look at drama in holiday writing and share some great holiday stories with you. If you've got a holiday story you'd like me to feature in the Drama Newsletter next month, please submit it to the Drama newsletter.
January: I'll take a look at military/war writing in Drama
Feb 2010 and beyond: We'll work on crafting another script/play for the newsletter for those who are interested in the mechanics of script/play writing.
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Here are some DRAMA Picks from around the site:
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#1614035 by Not Available. |
|  | Golden (ASR)
A Microfiction to portray an event of a single moment; one some may feel is controversial.
#899633 by Jack Goldman |
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This item number is not valid.
#414912 by Not Available. |
| | | Invalid Item
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#1606266 by Not Available. |
SOME DRAMA ACTIVITIES
|  | Drama Forum (13+)
For those of us drama queens and kings, a forum to swap writing ideas and post questions
#1394242 by Joy  |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Don't forget to support our sponsor!
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Here's some feedback from my 14 OCT 2009 Newsletter:
Catherine Hall
I came into writing through science fiction so I have read (and written) plenty of dross, in my time. I have also read wonderful writing which was somehow disregarded because it was science fiction. Your article shows us how to make it good and readable, and to avoid the pitfalls of the less-skilled writers. Thanks.
Scene patterns can be tricky, but I think once you, as a writer, start to play with them and master them, you'll see your writing kick up a notch.
StephBee is a 911 Dispatcher for LAPD. As of 5 NOV, she's officially written over 6,000 words for NaNoWriMo. Her paranormal romance, "The Hungarian" will be published with Desert Breeze Publishing in May 2010. It was inspired by her short story, "The Wolf's Kiss" which you can find in her port in her "Romance" folder.
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