Help with Drama |
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zoper33
NYC Midnight Groupie Joined: 25 Jan 2019 Location: Luxembourg Status: Offline Points: 228 |
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Posted: 26 Jan 2023 at 2:59am |
Help! I'm so lost. This is my 5th year doing this competiton, and it's the first time I've been given Drama as a genre, and I just can't understand what I'm supposed to do with it.
My prompts: drama - a routine - a provocateur Every time I try to come up with an idea, my mind goes blank. What little I have managed to come up with so far all seems to veer towards other genres pretty quickly - horror, crime, comedy, romance... How do I keep it strictly drama? Or is that not necessary?
It doesn't help that the definition for "provocateur" is reaaaaallly specific. At first I just thought it was someone who goes around provoking people, but then I checked and it's a very specific term. :-/ I'm worried I'm going to end up with absolutely nothing at this rate. |
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MF100 R1 G44:
It Takes a 'Borg to Know One |
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nobodyowens
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 23 Apr 2022 Location: Drexel, NC Status: Offline Points: 304 |
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Well I think you can add other elements of genres but you should stay mostly drama. I always think of drama as like "My Sister's Keeper" or "Grey's Anatomy" because both use the viewers emotions like they try to make you feel for the characters. I looked up Provocateur and you're right it seems very specific. One example used was like an undercover officer or like offical. Maybe you could do something with that? Like you could have an officer who uses a certain "routine" to go undercover and catch criminals by being a Provocateur but one day they end up arresting their son/daughter/wife/husband and it makes them rethink their career? It's sort of drama like as it adds in the family drama because they arrested their family but also the inner turmoil and of guilt they feel? I hope that helps, hang in there!
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zoper33
NYC Midnight Groupie Joined: 25 Jan 2019 Location: Luxembourg Status: Offline Points: 228 |
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Thanks for the suggestion Especially the bit about playing with the reader's emotions. Actually, since writing the post (as always happens), I did find an idea. I'll see how it goes. |
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MF100 R1 G44:
It Takes a 'Borg to Know One |
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nobodyowens
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 23 Apr 2022 Location: Drexel, NC Status: Offline Points: 304 |
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😂That's how it usually works I hope it helped and good luck I look forward to reading if you decided to post it 😊
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zoper33
NYC Midnight Groupie Joined: 25 Jan 2019 Location: Luxembourg Status: Offline Points: 228 |
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It did, actually It helped me think of a good twist ending. I will post it, and I look forward to reading yours too. |
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MF100 R1 G44:
It Takes a 'Borg to Know One |
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Suave
NYC Midnight Black Belt Joined: 25 Jan 2015 Location: Thailand Status: Offline Points: 25027 |
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This may or may not be of help. Drama: to put to sleep in stages.
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Silverlock
NYC Midnight Regular Joined: 22 Jan 2022 Location: Brocéliande Status: Offline Points: 352 |
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I think Drama is a tough challenge.
Many genres (particularly Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Historical Fiction) have specific characteristics that can easily be identified. Put some magic into a story, and it's automatically Fantasy. Then you can do anything else you want. You can write a mystery, a spy thriller, an action/adventure, a domestic melodrama, or anything else - and it still counts as Fantasy because it has magic potions, or dragons, or a wizard in it. Drama lacks such clear identifiers. You can't just insert a unicorn, a time machine, or an 18th-century battlefield, and regard the genre box as definitively checked. I was assigned Drama this time, and found I was really grappling with the story to prevent it from turning into a Thriller. In the past I have found the judges tolerant and flexible when it comes to genre - sometimes too much so. Correctly or not, I feel the need to play it very safe with this one.
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