 Drama: August 25, 2010 Issue [#3913] |
  Drama
This week: A Sense of Mystery Edited by: Joy  
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"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." --Albert Einstein
"We wake, if ever at all, to mystery." --Annie Dillard
"The final mystery is oneself." --Oscar Wilde
"The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery."-- Anais Nin
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue will take on the sense of mystery and how to add it to dramatic fiction..
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Typically, a mystery is something we do not grasp right away because it puzzles our senses and imagination. While some mysteries can be solved, others linger for a solution or stay unsolved.
In the mystery genre, the mystery is external. A crime is committed, and the mystery lies in the whodunit factor or in how, why, and where the crime took place.
On the other hand, the sense of mystery in any writing is quite different from the idea of mystery in the mystery genre. In a story, be it a short story, play, novella, or a novel, the sense of mystery through the plot is already there because most fiction makes the reader wonder what will happen next. If he didn't, he would stop reading.
In addition to making the plot interesting, creating a sense of mystery in a fictional piece's components can enhance the reader's enjoyment and approval of the work. How can a writer create a sense of mystery, then, aside from the workings of the plotline?
One way is through diction. The magic of diction is in the words, in their placements in relation to each other, and in their hidden meanings. In the following example, although the words are simple and the sentences are short and without decoration, the reader feels the cold the character feels, senses the mystery of the cold, and wonders what this cold could do to this character. Plus, just notice the repetition of the sounds. Don't they add greatly to the piece?
"As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. There was a sharp, explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again. And again, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled. He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air. Undoubtedly, it was colder than fifty below-how much colder he did not know."
From the short story To Build a Fire by Jack London
Another way is to create a mysterious feeling as to the setting or the background in a scene. In the following example, we immediately feel the threat of the hidden in the setting.
"For this powerful army, moving in battle order through a forest, has met with a formidable obstacle-the open country. The crest of that gentle hill a mile away has a sinister look; it says, Beware!"
From A Son of the Gods by Ambrose Bierce
Then, just remember the famous line by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz: "Toto, this doesn't look like Kansas anymore."
Yet, the most effective sense of mystery is achieved through a character's traits and actions. This could be done, in the beginning of a story, by hinting at or holding back some of the things about a character, as did C. S. Lewis in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
"There once was a boy by the name of Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."
Then, in describing Eustacia Vye, in The Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy wrote, "Her presence brought memories of such things as Bourbon roses, rubies, and tropical midnights; her moods recalled lotus-eaters and the march in 'Athalie"; her motions, the ebb and flow of the sea; her voice, the viola."
A character's words and actions can create an even more important sense of mystery to make the reader marvel at her, as in The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.
"I keep him in here," Chilton said and pushed a button beside heavy double doors of security glass. A big orderly let them into the block beyond.
Starling made a tough decision and stopped just inside the doors. "Dr. Chilton, we really need these test results. If Dr. Lecter feels you're his enemy-if he's fixed on you, just as you've said-we might have more luck if I approached him by myself. What do you think?"
Finally, by Dean Koontz, the master of action setting his characters in action in The voice of the Night:
"But he had to trap Roy, get the truth on tape, and this was the easiest way to accomplish that.
He left the room and went down the stairs to the first floor, then out of the mansion by way of the front door.
The plan would work.
It had to work.
If something went wrong, his and Heather's bloody heads might wind up on the mantel in the Kingman house."
An important point to keep in mind is that the actions of a character need to fit in well with the conflict in the story. As mysterious as an action can be, that action is useless if it doesn't spring from the conflict or connect to it in some way.
May all our stories bring on a sense of mystery and wonder, and one more thing:
Happy Tenth Birthday Writing.com!
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   Enjoy!
"Wind whistled through the aspens and clouds raced across the skies. Dakota shivered and glanced overhead. "We should probably head back." In the distance, the pack sang a lament to the unforgiving forest."
"Flopper fell into our laps one cold and windy November night back in 1988, and I do mean literally fell!"
"She forced a needy, insecure smile, obviously reluctant to go back out into the world. I tried my best to summon a reassuring countenance when she shook my hand, but something wasn't right."
"Yea, Moon River's real, Donna. Distant and hard to reach. It hides a beautiful light few people ever see..."
"That oak was tall, majestic with its royal sienna trunk, pitted with deep age lines, like an old woman. Its malachite-green leaves shimmied from the tumble of the wind."
"A sinister silence coupled with a cool breeze stirring from the open window sent chills up her spine. She hugged herself, glancing at the night sky. The clouds moved like phantasms set to unveil a terror unseen by living eyes."
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"Alec Thompson was hot, thirsty, and above all he was lost. His mind was focused on a single object, he must continue to move. For a long time he sucked on a pebble for saliva to counteract the dryness in his mouth."
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Your Drama Newsletter Editors: Adriana Noir  Fyn-elf  Joy
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
 This Issue's Tip:
If you write a prologue for your novel, make sure it will be used throughout the entire novel.
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Ẃeβ࿚ẂỉԎḈĥmas 
Great Newsletter, Joy. 
I enjoyed your illustrations of "plot points," especially while using some of my favorite movies. 
Hmmmm, I think I'll pop in my old Casablanca video, now. It's a great muse kicker! 
Regards,
WW
Thanks, WW. 
Yup, some oldies are real goodies.
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Fiona Hassan
Thank you for the tip about using movement to create imagery. I'll have to try that in my stories.
-Fiona
I'm glad you found the tip useful, Fiona.
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Adriana Noir
Ohh, fantastic newsletter, Joy!  thank you for the awesome tips. I've never been one fr outlines, feeling like they box me in to much, but these I can handle. I'm bookmarking this one, and maybe I'll remember where I was headed the next time I novel!
Thanks, Adriana.
Plot points help me, too. Even If I haven't planned an entire novel as in NaNo, I try to write them before each chapter.
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Fyn-elf
Excellent newsletter!! Breaking an idea down helps to build on it! Thanking you as well for using one of my pieces in your editor's picks. Hoping to see some reviews...best way to improve it!
Thanks, Fyn.
"Home is Where the Heart Lives" is a moving and well-written story.
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Jeff 
Wonderful NL on plot points this week, Joy!
Thanks, SoCal. I try.
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BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  Here's a drama of mine. Based in Part by Tawna Tucker's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia". A man is arrested for a crime he didn't commit, and his only help is the actual criminal.
Great, and thanks for submitting it.
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