 Drama: February 23, 2011 Issue [#4257] |
  Drama
This week: Audience Determines Dramatic Effect Edited by: Fyn  
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A drama critic is a person who surprises the playwright by informing him what he meant.~~Wilson Mizner
Also, they don't understand - writing is language. The use of language. The language to create image, the language to create drama. It requires a skill of learning how to use language.~~John Milius
But a city is more than a place in space, it is a drama in time.~~Patrick Geddes
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Audience perception is the magnifying glass of drama. If perceived differently, the result is similar to that of looking through a pair of binoculars from the wrong end. Case in point. We'd been hiking in Scotland and taken a wrong turn at some point. We were up in the Bens (name for mountain in Scotland) and we were tired, thirsty and wet. Very wet. It had been raining now for several hours. It was one of those 'soft' days, a gentle misty sort of rain that permeated clothing and results in a heavy, sodden weight. We hadn't seen a person or a house all afternoon. We came up over the rise we had been steadily hiking our way up.
Just as we came over the top, the clouds parted and rays of sunlight rained down over the fields of heather below us. Still raining, the combination magnified the colors of the purple heather and the greens of the wild grasses. Off in the distance a loch glittered like a diamond jewel in a necklace of ancient stone fences. It was heart-stopping-ly beautiful. Off on the side, the crumpled ruins of a castle with a crenelated tower stood guard over shaggy cows grazing in bovine abandon. My mind's eye recreated the castle into what it once had been and visions of a long gone day surfaced, completing my fantasy. The worries and cares of a few moments earlier vanished and I was quite prepared to indulge in a thorough exploration of this hidden gem, this writer's dream, this perfect moment.
My companion, on the other hand, uttered an explicative and went on to bemoan the fact that there wasn't a village or a house in sight as far as we could see. The scene that had completely captured my attention, energized my tired muscles and sent my mind soaring with imagined possibilities had been perceived totally differently by my fellow hiker. What brought inexplicable joy to me, brought dismal hopelessness to the other. Audience. Minutes earlier we were both in the same frame of mind, yet the scene before us engendered two opposing responses. What was, for me, a dramatic moment, etched forever in my brain, pure pleasure to remember even now, years later was for him translated into hours more of a miserable hike that had already been far too long, and if remembered at all, is recalled with a shudder and a groan.
Another example would be the audience of one of the sit-coms aired during the week on TV. Thinking maybe something like 'The Office' or '2 1/2 Men.' People watch these shows and giggle or laugh, pleasantly amused, finding the shows funny. Or, as in my case, they wish that people had chosen to watch something else, wonder if there was any new email, would prefer to waste my time playing Bejewel Blitz on Facebook or sit there, clueless and not finding any of it funny. Audience.
Have you ever gotten a review from someone who (hopefully not) given you a low rating because they simply did not get it, or questioned why you might be writing about (insert an oblique phase or oddball combination of words given as a prompt) and then proceeded to tell you why you were off base?
I know I have. And given that my 'audience' in such a case may well have been a judge as opposed to the world in general, the other people reading it did not connect. Certainly, as a student, one learns to write to the teacher as they are your primary audience. Time and time again, I've told students that what ever an assignment is, to always remember that their teacher is Audience One; primary focus then needs to be aimed at the likes, dislikes and sensibilities of that audience. This tends to be true across the board.
Keeping the mind of the targeted audience in mind will go a long way with your connection TO said audience. That being said, the second part of this is to use the language, story-telling devices and vocabulary that fits within those parameters. Offering a glass of water to someone floating on a raft in the middle of a lake will not have the same impact as offering that same liquid refreshment to someone stranded in the midst of endless sand dunes. Using age and subject appropriate vocabulary will enhance your tale and not leave people floundering about, clueless and dissatisfied.
Audience, those readers of ours, are a major part of why we write. Keeping them in mind, helps to focus our energies into writing something they will enjoy as much as we enjoy writing it in the first place.
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For possible inspiration, potent reminders or simple enjoyment, I offer the following entries to the recent 'Dear Me' contest here at wdc.
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#1743901 by Not Available. |
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| |  | Dear Me (E)
My letter to myself to help me make this year 2011 a wonderful writing experience
#1747307 by Grin 'n Bear It!  |
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Winnie Kay  writes in: Ahh--Basements and old trunks make for a perfect history lesson for the kids and a nostalgic moment for the instructor. Beautiful NL, Grand. 
Thanking you. *smile* But twas more than a history lesson as in it is these types of moments that can be used in our writing. They translate well to being used in our work and the resulting 'reality' that can add much to writing. Our lives are FULL of moments that can add depth, meaning, flavor and truth to our writing. A bit of this, a piece of that can be combined to give an added dimension to descriptions, settings and interactions. This is what makes writing shine!
WHY do you write? For me it is the air I breath. Cut me and I will bleed ink. I write to exhale forth the words; grasp them and pull them, sometimes screaming, oft dancing, from deep within and set them, alive and wriggling, upon the page. This, this is why I write, because if I didn't, then I shouldn't be alive at all.
Let me know! |
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