 Drama: December 14, 2005 Issue [#769] |
  Drama
This week: Edited by: Elisa: Snowman Stik  
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If you think about it for a moment, drama and the holiday season have a sobering common thread: conflict. With so many things that could go wrong during the holiday season, conflicts abound in a time of celebration, and it lends itself abundant dramatic potential.
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 CONFLICT
Holiday season is a frantic time of year for many of us. Some of our worries are relatively minor (but can be blown out of proportion by stress). We mull obsessively over what gifts to get people (or procrastinate and rampage any open retail business on Christmas Eve); we deal with travel; we gather with friends and relatives; we go to parties. All these typical holiday festivities have the potential to become nerve-wracking conflicts for us. There are also more tragic sources of holiday conflict, including grave illness and even death. These types of conflict tend to linger in our minds for many holiday seasons after they occur.
However, like with Christmas shopping, there is a method to the madness of understanding conflict. First of all, what is conflict? How do we define it? According to Merriam-Webster Online, conflict (as a noun) has three definitions; in writing, we opt to describe conflict as a clash of opposing persons or forces. From here, conflicts tend to fall into one of the following categories:
 individual vs. individual
individual vs. self
individual vs. society
individual vs. nature
individual vs. fatality (fight for survival)
Though these five are the most commonly accepted categories, I have noticed other types of conflict such as individual vs. machine and individual vs. ambitions and interests (as stated by Ferdinand Brunetière).
In any case, with these differing categories of conflict, we identify these conflicts in a written work and further classify them into inner and outer conflicts. Defining inner and outer conflicts is simple. Outer conflicts are conflicts affecting two or more parties in the physical world. Inner conflicts are conflicts that take place within one person's mind. Some categories of conflict are more limited to being inner or outer (individual vs. self being primarily inner conflict and individual vs. nature being primarily outer conflict). Others, though, can be either one; the best example of this flexibility is individual vs. ambitions and interests.
Since drama is a flexible genre, having two or more conflicts within a piece is common and actually can create wonderful, enticing plots. The trick with having multiple conflicts in a work is presentation. Even if you plan on having multiple conflicts in a story, you have to be careful not to advertise that in your writing. Balancing the number of inner and outer conflicts in a piece is the easiest way to keep your multiple conflicts from, er, conflicting with each other in the work. Another way is by not equally elaborating on all the conflicts in your work. You focus on one or two conflicts in the first draft and develop the others in editing by changing a sentence here, an action there and so forth. Though handling several conflicts at a time may sound intimidating at first, it's a trick that pays off in spades when it comes to writing drama.
So this holiday season, don't shy away from conflict. Take it head on! You might be surprised how much it inspires you and your writing.
Until next time,
(sig courtesy of Laart1-Season of the Heart  ) |
These works exhibit a variety of the conflicts I discussed in this newsletter. There's even a holiday touch to this week's selection.  Enjoy!
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#1043895 by Not Available. |
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A young working man discovers his purpose before becoming a victim of circumstance.
#1039305 by MiguelR |
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This item number is not valid.
#915246 by Not Available. |
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A few words from those who commented on my debut newsletter....
From Holly Jahangiri :
I favor psychological conflict over physical conflict, much of the time, but I appreciate a good mix of the two. Action/adventure is good, but can be exhausting if it's just one battle or chase scene after another. I have trouble writing those scenes convincingly, and tend to sketch them rather than develop them fully. Inner conflict (man vs. himself) is always interesting and can be a challenge to do well; I find it somewhat easier than swordplay, though. Inner conflict usually leads to more dynamic characters and storylines.
I agree with the favoring of psychological conflict. To me, it allows characters' motivations to be more ambiguous. Not having clear cut heroes and villians always adds to the suspense of the story, causing readers to think a little more carefully about what brought these two opposing persons together in the first place.
From Starr Phenix  :
Great article! Drama is my favorite genre to read and to write, though when I write it is usually a mix of genres, rather than one. Life, itself, tends to be one big drama. I suppose that's why dramatic stories resonate so well with us all.
From The Ragpicker - 8 yo relic :
The problem here is, of course, that you can't just classify a story as scifi or horror or drama or anything. Take any story and it's a combination of a few different genres.
And Drama is the mother of all of them. Or so I think.
I had to group your comments together because they both show the versatility (and perhaps intimidating nature) of drama as a genre. Since drama has so few rules when it comes to plot formulation (as opposed to romance and western), elements of other genres can be seamlessly integrated into a dramatic work. Drama is truly mutable!
From bazilbob:
Ah you gotta love internal conflict!
I sure do! I tend to dote on the internal conflicts I create for my characters. I bet if any of my characters came to life, they'd chase me down and give me some choice words! 
From Brians Next Novel Almost Done! :
Good NL! Those tips on heightening the dramatic element of a story were quite good.
I particularly enjoy reading and writing about conflict involving people and their respective pasts, how they struggle to try and overcome problems that have plagued them for a considerable amount of time.
This particular type of conflict is also very conducive to palpable angst, which can make it difficult to pull off without becoming overemotional in tone. When written well, though, this conflict is loads of fun to read.
And finally...
From billwilcox:
Stik!
Awesome newsletter! Congrats, and thank you for defining drama for us.
From Nikola~Asked Santa for a Pony!  :
Great NL, Elisa! Wonderful points about what makes a good drama.
 Thanks, you two! Now I'll be donning the tomato head look for the rest of the week.
For the first drama newsletter of 2006, I'll be covering the ways in which drama explores the origins of conflicts and motivations of dramatic characters. What do you like to see in these explorations when you read drama? When you write drama, how do you approach this task?
And if you happen to miss or misplace a newsletter, feel free to stop by "The Drama Box" [13+]
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