  Drama
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Writers will happen in the best of families.
~Rita Mae Brown
Write what matters. If you don't care about what you're writing, neither will your readers.
~Judy Reeves
My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers; when you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.
~Elmore Leonard
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A Night at the Fair
When writing any sort of serious fiction, a little lightheartedness can help to break up the dramatic bits and give your readers a break.
Case in point:
A few weekends ago, I worked the county fair with the police volunteer group. I've had some health issues and can't walk a lot right now so one of my officer friends told me he'd nab one of the golf carts that the officers use and I could ride with him.
When I arrived, he was already there and we had our choice of two carts. By evening time on the last Saturday of the fair, most of the exhibits are gone save those trying to sell something. The midway is open until midnight and that, along with the parking areas, was our territory.
The fair, especially the midway, is well known for fights breaking out. A strange contrast; the bright lights, music, laughter, screams from those on the rides and then toss in people angry enough to fight. It usually stems from someone running their mouth or horsing around that has gone too far. Some sneak a little extra something into their soft drinks. It really gets ridiculous.
The first several hours went by without any problems. My friend kept taking the golf cart into the concrete runways of the barns, speed up and hit the brake in an attempt to make the cart slide. It does. We tried to run over a partially full soft drink bottle. It kept sliding away from us. I think we learned pretty much the limits one can take a cart. I hadn't laughed like that in a long time!
His family came out so we followed them while the kids rode the rides. His son is not quite two years old. He was more fascinated with the pretty lights than the rides themselves. They decided to grab a bite to eat so he turned over the cart to me and the one other VIP who showed up. I refused to drive it. I've never driven a golf cart before and was afraid I'd hit someone in the now-crowded midway. My new partner took the wheel and away we went. Now there are two of the VIPs that I'm not fond of partnering with and this was one of them. She doesn't think about consequences or safety, both key issues for us. It was getting dark and she insisted on driving out to the farthest, darkest corners of the parking lot. This is not a safe practice for two unarmed women. The parking lot is known for things more sinister than fights and such things I'd rather not happen upon. We lucked out. There wasn't much happening.
I changed chauffeurs one more time before I was back with my original officer. He, and the others who hadn't worked the fair before, were getting complacent. I told them that not much would happen until around nine or ten. by then, the families have taken their small children home and the teenagers and those up to no good filter in. And sure enough, that's how it went. By ten, we'd had several fights. Most were reported to the officers by a third party. By the time we'd arrive, everyone was gone.
We began checking on the parking areas across the busy road. It was dark, the road not well lit and here we are in a golf cart with no lights, driving down the middle of the street. I loved it! I so enjoy doing things I could never get away with on my own.
We found a group of three young men at a dark corner that were drinking. No one could hear us on the radio to work backup and I was nervous. I had forgot to bring my radio and, of course wasn't armed. Should they jump my friend, I was helpless. Not a good feeling. A guy that the officers knew had heard our call on the radio and he and his wife showed up as extra help should we need it. Well, the didn't just show up, the roared up on a huge Harley! After the stop was complete, we checked this thing out. I didn't ask but my guess is that it was worth more than my house. It had all the bells and whistles. Sweet bike and a nice diversion.
By now, it was after eleven and the midway, and thus the fair would be closing at midnight. My friend and I, two other officers in the other cart and a few more officers standing were at the entrance just talking and minding their own business. A group of kids were walking across the street, two of the boys playing around. Then one hits the other too hard in the face and the fight is on! Right in front of the cops! Now that takes some smarts. They broke this one up, told everyone to go home and settled back into the carts. In less than a minute, two girls that had been across the street with the others got into a shouting match. Someone had called the mother of one and she showed up and hauled both of them home before it got out of hand. Now it's nearly midnight. Of course, we had to have a grand finale and we weren't disappointed. Well, I wasn't. By that point, the officers had lost their good humor. Two more girls got into it, the whole hair pulling, scratching stuff. They were separated. When my friend walked over to talk to one, she started cussing him. That was his final straw. He grabbed her up and cuffed her. We have a little building just inside the entrance we call the "shack" and he took her there. Mom was called and the girl got a ticket out of it. Once that was settled, it was time to close the gates.
We were getting ready to leave. One officer got in his car and the battery was dead. Just one more thing to cap off the night for him, I'm sure. Just so happened that I was the only one with jumper cables. Aren't these guys supposed to be prepared? We got his car jumped off and finally, after a long evening, took our separate ways home.
So while there was a lot of drama taking place, there were lighter moments such as the little one on the ride and goofing off with the golf cart. It broke up the tension for us. This same thing can work in your writing as well. If you use constant tension, especially in a longer piece, it will wear on your readers. Break it up with lighter events and when the drama begins again, it will catch readers a bit off guard.
Until next time
~Nikola~No Pony Agiain!
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From esprit  : Nikola, I really like the cork board idea for writers. I've used it for my quilt patterns for deciding on colors. I know scrapbookers use it, and photograpers in putting together a montage. It ought to be listed among useful tools of any artist. It is very helpful, thanks for the reminder.
From Waltz Invictus  : Your technique of tacking visuals to a corkboard is a good idea... except maybe for us horror writers. "Sir, can you explain exactly why you had photos of severed limbs tacked up?"
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Drama: September 20, 2006 Issue [#1277]
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