6. Drama

I've recently started with a film group, and to keep our writing skills sharp, we've been doing weekly writing assignments. And thus I take a dive into dramatic writing! My relationship with drama has been rather up and down. As a child I loved dramatic stories, particularly as I did not get out very much, and thus had to live vicariously through my dolls the way I imagine some parents live vicariously through their children. In high school, however, the hormones hit, and my entire group of friends probably synched up our periods and I got all the dosage of drama I could ever want. I began to lean towards indie dramas and comedies, light-hearted takes on the world. My favorite characters were the emotionally dead ones being re-awakened.

Now that things have stabilized a bit, I find writing dramatically to be quite fun. Particularly if you write about it, what's interesting is how it'll enter your life sporadically. I imagine constant drama to be the roller coaster ride of a soap opera. Intermittent drama comes up with scenarios that leave these awkward transitional periods before and after. For example, consider the following:

I decided to write a piece about a couple fighting, so to get myself into character and the mood, I watched clips of Revolutionary Road. It's very well-directed, and so the drama gets to you. It does, however, also leak into whatever other conversations you might be having. So a motivational speech I was giving a friend went from "You can do it!" to

You should totally go for it! I don't see why you haven't! There will always be uncertainty, and it's up to YOU to get over it!! THESE ROAD BLOCKS YOU HAVE ARE ONLY IN YOUR MIND!! YOU WILL NEVER LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST IF YOU LIVE THIS WAY!!! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF??? WHY??? WHY???

I imagine my friend, while motivated, was also very confused. I, on the other hand, was dramatically amused.