Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Wednesday - Plotting - Melodrama

Don't know about you but when I hear melodrama the first image I see is the evil villain twisting the ends of his mustache and yelling, You must pay the rent." Yes, this is melodrama, but what the term really means is something that's larger than life. Super heros are melodrama. The volcano erupting and threatening the hero and heroine is melodrama. Much depends on how you use this event that could easily go over the top.

Melodrama ignores the ordinary to hone on the unusual and unlikely, making the reader lose faith in the story. There can be a credibility gap. Think of melodrama as salt added to the story to enhance the flavor. Too liberal and the reader backs away. Using none and there is a blandness to the story.

So use melodrama without becoming cliched, trite,, silly or weird. There are ways that this can be dome. Next time I'll look at 7 or 8 wasy to sue melodrama to add flavor to the story.

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