This week: What Is Drama, Anyway? Edited by: Jayne  
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| Hello, I'm Jayne! Welcome to my dramatic explorations. My goal with these newsletters is to explore the elements that make for great dramatic stories. Sometimes, a series of newsletters will interconnect, while other issues will stand alone. I strive to ensure they are informative but fun and do my best to spark your curiosity. Don’t forget to check out this issue's selection of stories! |
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At some point, many of us nodded along in English class when someone mentioned "drama" like we were totally clear on the difference between drama in a story and drama as a story. But let's be honest — for a bunch of us (myself included), it wasn't all that clear at all. And now, when people throw around phrases like "the drama of it all" or "such a dramatic read," it's not exactly helping us understand it any better.
Is it Shakespearean tragedy? Soap opera shenanigans? That one family holiday where someone flipped a table over a game of Connect Four? The stories found in the literary fiction section? The thing that sparks the inciting event and is a necessary element to make a plot, you know, happen?
Yes.
Drama can be all those things. But not all those things mean a story belongs in the drama genre.
Glad we cleared that up. No further questions, but definitely not because I have no idea how to explain this any better. See you next time.
Drama as a Genre
The confusion about drama makes sense. After all, every story needs conflict. Isn't conflict drama?
When we're talking about drama as a genre, it's a bit more specific than the conflict needed to move the story forward. To fall in the drama genre, the focus is on emotional, character-driven stories. Unlike mysteries, thrillers, or romances, which often revolve around external stakes, drama thrives on internal conflicts — the kind that keeps readers up at night wondering why they feel the way they do about a character's choices and what choices they might make under the same circumstances.
Likely Drama: Messy family dynamics, personal revelations, and moral dilemmas that leave you staring at the ceiling long after you've put the book down.
Not So Much: A high-speed car chase, a daring heist, or a dragon battle — unless the real tension comes from the relationships tangled up in the chaos. If the aftermath of the fallout is the heart of the story, that's when we're in drama territory.
Essentially, if the emotional fallout or dynamic is the story, it's probably in the drama genre.
But Wait, Isn't Drama Everywhere?
Yes, and that's part of the confusion. If drama can include Shakespearean tragedy, people falling in love while fighting over HOA rules, a family intervention gone horribly wrong, and some brief angst in the middle of a space battle, you aren't the one at fault here. While drama as a genre exists on its own, it also sneaks into just about every other genre:
 Romantic Drama: Will they? Won't they? Should they? It's not just about the kiss — it's about everything leading up to it.
Legal Drama: A court case where characters are unravelling as fast as the evidence.
Sci-Fi or Fantasy Drama: Dragons are great, but so are the centuries-old family feuds that come with ancient prophecies.
Mystery Drama: Sure, we care about who did it — but we're also fascinated by why.
Even stories marketed as "light" (like cozy mysteries) often rely on dramatic undertones to keep us hooked. There's a good reason for that: characters without emotional weight are generic and boring, and meaningless plots are wildly unfulfilling.
Still not sure if a story qualifies as drama? Here's a cheat sheet:
The conversations carry the emotional weight of the entire story on their back.
Someone has a big realization about their internal struggle outside of a single moment of "I can do this" right before taking down the bad guy.
Tension lingers in every glance across the dinner table, and it's not because they're worried someone poisoned the chicken (or other murder mystery trope).
The climax involves a truth bomb, not an actual bomb or other action-packed finale.
You feel like you need to call your mom after reading, just to say, "Hey, we're good, right?"
If a book makes you emotionally exhausted but deeply satisfied (even if you're bawling your eyes out), it's probably drama.
It Sounds Like Drama Is Basically Literary Fiction
You know life's not that easy.
Literary fiction and drama aren't in competition, but they're also not the same. In fact, much literary fiction is drama, but not all drama is literary fiction. The difference here is genre versus category.
Drama is a genre — It's all about emotional stakes, character-driven conflict, and personal growth. If a story's tension is rooted in the relationships, emotions, or internal struggles of the characters, it's drama.
Literary Fiction is a category — It's more about how the story is written than what the story is about. Literary fiction tends to emphasize beautiful prose, complex themes, and introspective character studies. It often doesn't follow a traditional grammar rules or plot structures.
In other words:
If Drama is the 'what,' Literary Fiction is the 'how.'
A book can be a drama without being literary if it's more straightforward and accessible. Similarly, a book can be literary without being a drama, especially if it's exploring something like speculative fiction or satire but with a literary focus.
But Not All Booksellers Have Drama Sections. Why?
Book publishers and booksellers like to market and display things in a way that helps readers find what they're looking for. Because drama intersects with so many other genres and is often associated with theatre and screenplays, it doesn't necessarily get its own signage on the bookstore floor.
Instead, fiction often get divided up like this:
Literary Fiction  Think emotionally intense, character-driven stories that often focus on relationships or internal struggles and have a specific style of writing. (The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath) Sometimes, the Lit Fic shelves are used as catch-all for all sorts of things that don't quite "fit" anywhere else.
Commercial Fiction You’ll usually find these shelved under General Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, or Book Club Picks. These are plot-driven stories with broad appeal, emotional stakes, and enough drama to keep the pages turning. (It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover)
Genre Fiction These are things like sci-fi, fantasy, romance, or mystery, with genre-specific conventions. No matter the genre, emotional drama often drives the most compelling stories.
So, if you've ever felt a little weird for not knowing what drama "really is," know this: It's not just you. The term is slippery, and the amount and type of drama has to hit a high bar to meet the genre's demands (or else it falls into a different genre).
Here are some examples:
Literary Fiction Drama:
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath — A psychological descent explored with distinct literary flair.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman — Emotional drama wrapped in clever prose.
Normal People by Sally Rooney — A relationship drama in slow motion.
Commercial Drama:
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover — A domestic drama tackling tough themes, but in a highly accessible style.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty — A suburban drama with thriller undertones.
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King — A character-driven drama showcasing King's talent beyond horror.
Genre Fiction with Drama:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy — A post-apocalyptic survival story with devastating emotional stakes. Yes, I know some of the stylistic choices could shove it straight into Lit Fic, but we're calling it for Team Drama today. Don't come for me.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro — A sci-fi novel that's deeply emotional and full of existential dread and tears (and also flouting the lit fic line).
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern — While primarily fantasy, the emotional undercurrents are pure drama. The prose is flowery, but not in that "I need a nap to rest my emotions" kind of Lit Fic way.
The Blade Itself series by Joe Abercrombie — fantasy for its magic and war, but drama in how it centers flawed characters and their emotional struggles. The reason the characters ring true is because the real battles are deeply personal.
Let's Wind it Up
Drama, as a genre, is writing that focuses on emotional stakes, character-driven conflict, and personal growth. Everything else in the story is secondary. You'll often find it nestled among Book Club Picks, Contemporary Fiction, or General Fiction — sections that may contain complex plots but usually favor straightforward, accessible writing.
Most genre fiction contains some kind of drama to keep the story going, but it's defined (and shelved) by the primary genre it was written in — conveniently right where readers would expect to find it.
The "Literary Fiction" shelf contains plenty of drama, but not everything there is strictly drama. It's often written with highly complex structures, prose that one can only marvel at, and stylistic choices that aren't always easily understood.
At the end of the book, if you're staring at the ceiling, emotionally spent or slightly uneasy, wondering why you put yourself through all that — and what you'd say to these characters if you met them in real life — and trying to avoid thinking about whether your life choices have amounted to anything worthwhile, chances are you've got a solid drama in your hands.
As always, happy writing!
Thank you so much for the topic suggestion, Quick-Quill  !
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Drama: April 16, 2025 Issue [#13060]
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