"OH THE DRAMA"

                                                       Leveling Dramatic Overkill

 

I love a good story, don’t you? Great stories have all the right ingredients, like a cake or a casserole. Too much sugar ruins a cake, and too much of this and not enough of that can be disastrous.  

IE... Overkill. But when you follow the recipe, whether food or storytelling, it’s hard to mess that up.

As humans, we require balance to walk, talk, and sleep. So why wouldn’t we need that in other areas?

We thrive on a levelized existence that covers every area of our lives.

By nature, we are excitable creatures; therefore, we expect some dramatic reactions. Typical, considering otherwise.

Life would be boring if there weren’t a measure of dramatic occurrences. But sometimes, it can be too intense to the point of overkill.

I have family members I’d rather not invite to weekend barbecues and holiday functions. You know who you are. When they come — bring the drama with them.

It reminds me of the soaps my mother watched daily, AKA the stories: three channels, three hours of daytime drama that was relatable when compared to real life in some instances.

Honestly, it was entertaining, and who doesn’t like a little drama? Life would be dull without it, especially the holidays, but only in equal measure.

So now we’ve established some drama is acceptable when used accordingly.

Unlike real life, writers use their skills to depict drama in storytelling. A talented writer knows the correct amount of drama to interject into a story.

Imagine if we controlled the world through levelized drama. It would be a better place to live, for sure.

But I digress.

The question is, can there be too much drama when writing that borders on overkill?

Absolutely. Now allow me to explain.

Some writers use drama as a way to maximize the excitement of a particular scene. We understand some amount of drama is needed to sell a storyline.

But there are ways to set a scene without dramatizing it to death. Yes, we want that emotional roller-coaster ride effect but interjected so that it falls under the heading showing vs. telling.

Sidebar: what is showing vs. telling? It is a tool using drama to tell the story through details and not a play-by-play description.

Example: “We trudged through the desolate land, parched as the earth beneath our feet. The blazing sun and arid winds pierced our skin like razors.” So basically, I showed you instead of telling you I’m in the desert, thirsty and hot, with the wind cutting me to shreds.

The recounting is dramatic, without overkill, while showing vs. telling increases the excitement without over-emphasizing the drama.

This same method is essential when describing dramatic scenes. We want to create a visual image through virtual imagery.

Write a story correctly, and you can achieve this by using the senses, strong verbs, specific rich dialogue, and character reactions.

Importing real-life effects into creative writing with equal parts drama and technique.

Action movies would be boring without special effects. But equally ineffectual if overdone. AKA a weak storyline prompts overkill.

Keep that in mind when writing; too much drama and not enough detail kills what could have been a great story.

So, if you can remember the show vs. telling rules, no matter if you write scripts, are books, the story will achieve the designed goal without dramatic overkill.