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Heighten The Drama Increase The Danger!

By Anonymous
Howdy-Hey Folks,

Okay that a little bit of a cheesy opening, but every so often, I have to be cheesy. It's part of my charm.

More sunshiney clear sky lovely days! But I know it's going to be in the 70's. May I whine that it's not any cooler than that? Please? I'll be your best friend.

Okay, all kidding aside (obviously coffee and sleep deprivation kicking in--okay maybe sleep deprivation isn't really the excuse, but coffee kicking in)

Todd Stone said to put your people in danger to make your book more of a page turner. This doesn't mean that if you're writing in a genre that believes in happily-ever-afters (e.g. Romance) that you make it impossible for some form of happily-ever-after to happen. What he means is throw everything you can reasonably throw at your characters to make that ending even better.

This might mean put more tension between your characters (in Romance you can have the two that are supposed to end up together hate each other for a long time before they realize they actually are madly in love...ooo, I like those! I think they're fun).

Or if you're writing action go all James Bond-MacGyver on everyone. Write so that it's heart-thumping, pounding action. Don't let them sit still, if you're writing action your readers will be expecting ACTION.

Drama--ooo so many ways to increase drama. Whether it's a 17 year old running away from home or discovering his or her parents are actually aliens who want to take him/her away to their home planet for morbid experiments.

Or even something Stephenie Meyer-esque like in The Host or even a brooding vampire/shape shifter falling in love with someone he/she can't have.

Or the dragon that suddenly turns on his/her master and wreaks havoc on the village.

There are a bazillion ways of heightening the drama and increasing the danger.

What are your suggestions on heightening drama and increasing danger? What inspires your drama/danger in your stories?

Have A Thrilling-Thudding Thursday!
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Comments

Marsha Sigman said…
Hi Bethany! I think that when you want to increase the drama in your work, just ask yourself what does your character really want? Then don't give it to her...or at least not for a while. Sounds a little sadistic, doesn't it? I have to go back and rework mine a little, I think the love interest caved in too quickly.lol Have a great day!
Thursday, 05 November, 2009
Anonymous said…
Marsha,

That's definitely a good way. LOL. I'm kinda doing that in "Conjure A Man". :-) Good suggestion, thanks! :-)

Hope to see you Saturday :-)
Thursday, 05 November, 2009
Regina Quentin said…
Wow. I loved Marsha's comment. That is basically how I try to write when I'm working on my romcom screenplay. That's funny.

I do however need to incorporate more "action" into my mystery...

Great post Bethany.
Friday, 06 November, 2009
Anonymous said…
Regina,

Thanks :-) Happy Writing to you as well :-)
Friday, 06 November, 2009
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