  Drama
This week: Add Intensity to Your Drama Edited by: NickiD89  
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| Like many of you, I've considered myself a writer my whole life. But in 2007, I shifted out of hobbyist mode, started writing for an audience, and embarked on the exciting journey towards publication. As I continue on that path and delve ever deeper into the craft, I feed an insatiable appetite for creative writing theory. I seek out how-to books and workshop experiences to augment and amplify whatever talent I possess. For those of you like me, here's a little theory to appease your hunger. |
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How to Heighten Drama in Writing
Part Two: Add Intensity to Your Drama
Successful authors understand an important and fundamental truth: 'To read' is an action verb. That's why, for example, Show, Don't Tell
| When you show, rather than tell, a character's emotions through clever characterizations, the scene becomes interactive. |
"As you read and take in the information on the page, the brain is trying to work out where the story is going, what significance certain actions might have. It's also trying to work out puzzles and generally try to second-guess the plot." ~ Rob Parnell
Armed with this knowledge, authors heighten the drama by writing scenes that intentionally provoke questions in the reader's mind. The goal is not to mislead the reader - unless you're writing a crime novel which banks on the reader asking the wrong questions, making the story's twists more shocking. Rather, the underlying questions will amplify tension and keep the reader turning pages to figure out what will happen.
An example Parnell uses in his article I Can't Put It Down: Writing Compelling Fiction illustrates this point:
'Lucy went to see her father. He was angry that she was seeing Brad but she told him there was nothing he could do about it'
Obviously this is flat and lifeless prose that invites no great speculation. How about this?
'Lucy stared at her father's implacable face. When he was like this, she couldn't gauge his feelings. She swallowed hard. If he was angry, she'd end up with nowhere to live.
'I won't stop seeing Brad,' she said, not quite believing her own words.'
You see the difference?
In the second passage the reader is forced to ask three questions.
1. What's her father thinking?
2. Will Lucy get kicked out?
3. Will she carry on seeing Brad?
Rather than simply stating what your characters think and do, always try to leave an element of uncertainty in the reader's mind as to what will happen next."
Questions should linger between the lines throughout the story, but they are especially important in the opening paragraph(s), to hook the reader. There's a wonderful example found in Donald Maass's best selling writer's workbook, titled Writing the Breakout Novel. The excerpt Maass uses was written by New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult:
He wished he had a winter coat, but you wore out of jail the same outfit you'd worn in. What he did have was forty-three dollars that had been in his wallet on the hot afternoon he was incarcerated, a ring of keys that opened doors to places where Jack no longer was welcome, and a piece of gum.
Jail? For what crime was Jack incarcerated? Why has no one come to meet him upon his release? Questions leap unconsciously into our minds."
Effective storytellers weave unspoken questions into their scenes for the reader to puzzle out. There's the big-picture, thematic question the story is centered around (Is the price for freedom too steep to pay? Does the truth always prevail?), but there are also the smaller scene questions that keep the reader unable to put the story down: Will Stevie's bluff be called? Will the dosing man wake before the thieves get out? Questions 'up' the tension and heighten the drama, and keep the reader eager to turn that page.
Thanks for reading!
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Here's what you said about Part One of this series, Remove What Dampens Your Drama:
Jeff  : Wonderful newsletter this week, Nicki! This is crammed full of great advice. 
Thanks so much, SoCal!!
Adriana Noir  : Excellent NL and tips, Nicki!
Thank you!! 
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  :There are secrets everywhere.
Random feedback for this newsletter...but yes, I suppose that's true! *conjused*
Duchess Laughing Lemurs : Nicki, thanks so much for this newsletter about wordiness, passive voice and vagueness. I'm taking two New Horizons Academy courses and I think that this will help me both in those courses and in writing life altogether.
Awesome! I'm a former instructor with New Horizons Academy, and its a school close to my heart. Best of luck in your classes.
DRSmith : True to form from your previous, I feel compelled to again mention something that WDC'ers would do well to heed. Aside from the many good points you alluded to, one in particular ("redundancy") with many superb examples is so important. I can't tell you the number of times I've come across items with such a typical "fault" that can detract from an otherwise captive read. Mere edits easily fixed, I know, but if combed, one will certainly present a better groomed piece. I think why such seems to get by writers is, we tend to write as we may typically think or say, and therefore our eyes skip over these little annoyances. But, for most serious readers, they seldom slide past... and all the more reason for a good, TRUSTED set of second eyes to team up with when tightening any effort. Thumbs up again, maestro.
You're so right! I could have done an entire newsletter on redundancy. Even modifiers like "very" and "extremely" are (almost always) redundant. I like what you said about our writing mirroring our speech. I think you're correct. Thanks for the lovely comment!
Mia - craving colour : A great Newsletter Nicki,
You did a fabulous job of describing three elements that can "dampen" drama, or stories of any kind for that matter, as well as giving good examples of the difference a good rewrite can make.
Thank you.
 Mia
Thank you so much!
Victoria Earle : As a technical writer, I thought I'd have to remember NOT to write straight sentences with ordinary facts in my work. But did I do that? Nope. Lots of dead wood. So this is great advice!
So, for practice:
How To Heighten Drama in Writing - Part One focused on cutting out of your draft that which dampens your drama, but there are things you can add to your story that will increase the drama. Please join me on May 18th for Part Two: Add Intensity to Your Drama.
becomes:
Heighten Drama in Your Writing - Part One explained cutting anything that dampens your drama. You did that; your work is down to bare bones. Now, add elements that increase drama. Please join me on May 18th for Part Two: Add Intensity to Your Drama.
I can hardly wait!
---Vicki
Perfect demonstration for how there's always edit work to be done! Thanks!
atwhatcost: I'm still learning the art of elimination and have a question about passive sentences. Are they okay when it really is a case of being passive? Not like that, but sometimes my characters sit there and do nothing but let others do whatever they want. I can certainly say, "The doctor poked her under the ribs." BUT, she is the POV and is letting him, therefore this is more accurate - "She is poked under her ribs by the doctor."
Great question, Lynn! There is no doubt passive voice has a place in literature. I believe it could be used as a subtle, stylistic option to emphasize one particular character. However, the first (active) sentence in your example above definitely sounds stronger and more dynamic to my reader's ear than the second (passive) sentence. Maybe I would have a different opinion if I read the entire piece? Here's where your reviewers and critique partners can really help. Once you have the story penned, pass the draft around to writers and readers whose opinions you trust and see what they have to say. I find that's the best way to truly determine if a device is effective, or if it actually undermines what I'm trying to achieve in the story. Best of luck with it!
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Drama: May 18, 2011 Issue [#4399]
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