 Drama: October 19, 2016 Issue [#7904] |
  Drama
This week: Characters' Judgments to Incite Drama Edited by: Joy  
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“We are all hypocrites. We cannot see ourselves or judge ourselves the way we see and judge others.”
― José Emilio Pacheco, Battles in the Desert & Other Stories
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)... There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“God will judge us, Mr. Harris, by--by what we did to relieve the suffering of our fellow human beings. I don't think God cares what doctrine we embrace.”
― Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone
“Everyone complains of his memory, and no one complains of his judgment.”
― François de La Rochefoucauld, Reflexions, Ou Sentences Et Maximes Morale
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about the importance of characters' judgments.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
Note: In the editorial, I refer to third person singular as he, to also mean the female gender, because I don't like to use they or he/she.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Judgments add flavor and provide serious drama to fiction because they come, most of the time, quickly and automatically and they affect the characters’ inner peace and poison their relationships. Human nature is such that people become attached to their own outlook and judge others that are different with a negative evaluation.
One good story on this subject is in the Hebrew Bible as the Judgment of Solomon. In the story, King Solomon of Israel rules between the two women claiming to be the mother of the same child. Solomon’s ruling tricks the women into revealing their true feeling. The wise king announces a procedure of compromise, splitting the baby, which is reasonable in some perverse way. The real mother gives up on her claim. The story emphasizes cleverness, loyalty, and wiliness to drive the plot forward, while it glorifies King Solomon at the same time.
Yet, what if the situation had to do with regular people in everyday situations or maybe quirky people flailing inside incredible events? Can you imagine a time when you passed judgment on or condemned yourself or another person? Isn't passing judgment on someone rightfully or wrongfully a dramatic happening for a story or a character?
Quite a few works in literary fiction also examine the drama of judgment and justice from various viewpoints. One such work is The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky in which a chapter called The Grand Inquisitor doesn't move the plot, but as a parable, it is the most gripping since the Inquisitor passes judgment on Christ. Inside the same novel which boasts of several philosophical undertones, the characters judge free will as a crippling curse forced on humanity.
In Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Inspector Javert judges Jan Valjean according to own his personal and strict moral, legal, and societal code, but was Javert right? Didn't his way of judging stir up a hornet's nest?
In writing a story, passing judgment on the characters by the writer is taboo because it means that the writer is inserting himself into the story. On the other hand, if characters pass judgments on each other or on matters important to themselves, each judgment may lead to interesting plot twists.
If the judgment is harsh, the reader together with the characters will feel its effects in annoyance, resentment, or anger. The turbulence can stay with them for a long time, as they recall and rehash what was said or done, triggering new emotions and passions each time. Characters can relive and suffer from their judgments of themselves and others. When they play the judge, they are deciding who is guilty. When they condemn themselves or others, they may be condemning the rest of the humanity, too.
Then, what if their judgment is flawed or totally mistaken? This situation may usually take on an instigator or an incident as well as a victim, leading to inaccurate perceptions and misunderstandings giving the writer his perfect conflict.
And yet another form of judgment can be an intuitive one, like that of a mother for her children or one that can lead to supernatural avenues.
As the writer, whichever path you choose for your characters and story, you’ll see that the judgments take their roots from the characters' backgrounds and societal concerns. What is most important are the steps characters take based on their judgments, leading them to the final conflict. After all, the goal of any story is to prove its premise.
Until next time! 
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 This Issue's Tip:If the characters are correctly orchestrated, their speech will be contrasted also because the characters have to be faithful to themselves in speech and action for sustaining the conflict through the story's progress.
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Feedback for "Betrayal As the Dramatic Element"
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Quick-Quill 
What an informative NL. I love your layout and am going to keep this one for reference. This might work well into my new novel.
Thanks, Tina.
I'm glad it will be of help.
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SantaBee 
Joy, nailed it with betrayal. Another great NL with lots of good info. Betrayal is a great tool to tap into conflict and conflict makes the story that much more interesting.
Thank you, Steph.
I know you use betrayal quite a bit in your wonderful novels.
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