Managing Drama in Your Story and Your Life

We experience drama in the stories we read and in our everyday lives. Chaos, struggle, anger, misunderstandings, miscommunications, betrayals and loss create page-turning fiction. Those same elements in our personal lives suck our creative energy and deplete us of the urge to write and create. Rather than spiral out of control and lose your way, learn how to create page-turning drama in your stories and foster peace in your life in managing drama in your story and your life.

Dramatic Action

I recently wrote a blog post about what makes action in a story Dramatic Action (one of the three major plot lines in every great story). Movement and momentum qualify as action. Movement that is wrought with conflict, tension, suspense becomes dramatic action.

As carefully as you craft the dramatic action and sense of uncertainty in your stories to create page-turnability, use the same care in keeping drama to a minimum in your personal life.

Will She or Won’t She Succeed?

When the protagonist is not in control of the action, doubt is cast about the character’s ability to succeed. With something or someone other than the protagonist in control of the outcome of the action, action is dramatic. “Will she or won’t she get what she wants?” The reader reads faster to learn the answer.

Will You or Won’t You Succeed?

Drama is essential to your story. Managing drama in your life is important to living a creative life. A clear understand of how you thrive, or not, on drama serves you well as a writer and creative person.

Power Imbalance

Drama in real life implies a power imbalance. The degree of imbalance decides the seriousness of the struggle. A struggle for power creates dark emotions. Lost in the struggle to prove yourself right, worthy, strong and brave and protect yourself from hurt and loss is a form of resistance. Resistance produces procrastination. Give over the authority for your own life to your fears and you lose the energy and belief in yourself needed to keep going forward.

Who holds the power in your creative life?
Where is your authority for your life?