  Drama
This week: Edited by: StephBee  
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Drama is:
#1 The Greek word for "action."
#2 A real situation or succession of events having the dramatic progression or emotional content of a play.
I'll be wrapping up my look at character development in Drama writing with a peek into complicated characters. Enjoy. |
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Recapping our working scenario: Private Stephanie "Stevie" Franklin is our protagonist, a go-getter. Her friend, Adam Banning, is a likable but unreliable friend. Staff Sergeant Jose Siliva is the sergeant in charge who is loathed.
2nd working scenario: My story, "The Wolf's Torment." A werewolf haunts the royal family of Moldavia. Prince Mihai Sigmaringen is the protagonist. Viktor Bacau, Mihai's friend, is the werewolf, and Sonia Bacau, is Viktor's suffering wife.
Creating Complicated Characters
People can want conflicting things, feel conflicting things, and over time come to feel differently about things. This is what makes our characters complex. What drives these characters? Conflicting desires, confused basic drives, and colliding values.
CONFLICTING DESIRES
By focusing on two different desires, you can show complexity in a character. For example:
Private Banning has developed a crush on Stephanie. He wants to be more than a friend to her. He writes her a letter expressing his feelings, but just as he's about to give it to her, he holds the letter back. He realizes his male friends in the squad will make fun of him and not take him seriously as a soldier. His desire to be taken seriously by his male peers wins out.
The above scenario can also play out the other way with Adam giving Stephanie the letter. The only thing different will be the consequences of his actions.
How do you dramatize the choice?
In the above scenario, Adam has a choice. How do you as the writer convey that choice? By showing the reader. Show Adam writing the letter and tearing it up. Share his thoughts with the reader. Show us his emotions. HOW does he choose to tear up the letter? Regretfully? Angrily? Despairingly?
Editor's Challenge: Write the scene discussed as above and show Adam giving Stephanie the letter or holding back the letter. Outstanding scenes will receive a merit badge.
Conflicting Basic Desires
"I love you and hate you."
This is a technique used to show mixed emotional responses at the same time. This can be challenging and characters need to be consistent to be believable. Understanding the reasons behind the conflict is a must. (Knowing a back story to a character is important, as we talked about in the last newsletter.)
In "The Wolf's Torment," Sonia is a commoner, afraid of werewolves and witches. It's just how she was raised. She considers herself lucky when she falls in love with Viktor Bacau, the king's best friend, and gives her heart to him. Unfortunately, on their honeymoon, Viktor is bitten by a werewolf. This is the reason for Sonia's conflict. She loves her husband, (the man) but hates what he's become. (the werewolf)
How can you get these conflicting choices across?
One other technique is to use exposition. When you use exposition, just remember you're telling and not showing. This has the potential to slow down your story so use it wisely and sparingly.
Example: Sonia looked through the window at her husband who walked aimlessly about the garden. He was still handsome, and his smile could melt her heart with just a glance, but beneath his cool cerulearn eyes was a beast who scared her. She wanted to go and wrap her arms around her husband and declare her love, but fear of the beast and his feral reaction kept her rooted to her spot.
When you the writer want to explore a character with mixed emotions, keep the following in mind:
#1 - Identify in YOUR mind what emotions the character is feeling.
#2 - Check to see if you've established a background for those emotions. If not, you may have to add a scene.
#3 - Decide how you want to do it. Do you want to show or tell?
#4 - Make the reader share each emotion with the character.
 Tip: If it helps, sketch out an emotional mini-bio for the character.
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EMOTIONAL MINI BIO FOR: Sonia Bacau
What three things does she fear the most?
monsters, losing her family, losing Viktor.
What is her basic attitude toward life?
You have to work hard to get by.
What would cause her more pain than anything possible?
Viktor turning into a monster.
What is the most wonderful thing that could happen to her?
Falling in love. She thought no one could ever fall in love with her.
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This concludes my four part series on characters in drama writing. I hope you've enjoyed it. Do you have an idea or a topic you'd like to see me tackle in the Drama newsletter? Write in!
Source for this newsletter: "Characters, Emotions, and Viewpoint," by Nancy Kress, published by F+W Publications, 2005
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Editor's Note: Beth is dying of cancer and dealing with a lot of emotions as she puts her life in order.
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A woman leaves her abusive husband. Would that more would.
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Note: Penny has an emotional choice to make.
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Note: Isolde feels the gambit of emotions
Note: The narrator, Miss Rivera, has a tough choice to make.
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Note: Dark Vader hunts for Padme.
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Note: Maggie's series, "To Protect and to Serve," is an excellent example of showing complex emotions. It really makes her characters real and down to Earth. A good read. |
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Here's some great feedback from my last newsletter. Thanks for writing in!
alanscott
Steph, thanks for the great newsletter! I have a question. How do you transition between the main story and a flashback? Should I have an introductory sentence to let the reader know it's a flashback? Or do I simply write the flashback and give the reader a clear indication this happened in the past?
Thanks,
Scott
Scott, it all depends on the type of story you're telling and how you're telling it.
Most of the time an introductory sentence helps to frame the flashback so I would suggest that, but sometimes you might want to dive right into the flashback depending on the pace (fast) of the story. You have to determine which one would work the best for the type of story you're writing.
dejavu_BIG computerprobs
Steph,another awesome and informative newsletter.I love all this information on characterization and this issue on how to incorporate backstory was excellent. I have been taking a rather expensive writing course and they don't include a quarter the information I've gained here.Thank you for such a helpful issue.
SM Ferguson
You're very welcome. I'm glad you enjoy the newsletters. 
Gunny
Thank you for the great newsletter. More ammo for my writing guns. Lynn.
You're welcome.
Vivian 
Good suggestions, Steph. You helped some writers with this one, for sure. ~~ Viv
Thanks, Viv. I highly recommend Nancy Kress's book, "Characters, Emotions, and Viewpoint. There's so much in there that really helps to hone one's writing.
likenion
Good techniques! The key is to use them at the proper moment. Timing is essential! Great newsletter!
Yes, ditto - I agree. Timing is important. If it's not used in the right space, it could slow down the pace of the story.
Comments, suggestions & feedback are welcomed! Write in!
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StephBee is a 911 Dispatcher for LAPD. She received an Honorable Mention in the 75th Writer's Digest Annual Writing Contest in genre fiction for her short story, "The Music Box." Her novel, "The Wolf's Torment," received a 5 Star review from READER'S VIEWS.
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Drama: October 03, 2007 Issue [#1980]
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