As of now, I am 30,000 words into writing a novel. In terms of my pace, it's all well and good as I am set to finish by the end of August at the rate I am working. However, reading back some of the chapters, I am finding melodrama abound. Here's the thing about what I am writing; melodrama is kind of the point. All of the characters are unstable, foul-mouthed, beaten people constantly at each others throats, stuck in a situation where they are forced to be close with one another for a long period of time (this sounds vague, because it is. I'm not about to give free plot summaries of my work to strangers).The whole point is that the characters are all loaded guns waiting to shoot off at each other. One character is insecure about their ideology. Another is guilty of a horrible crime and must keep the guilt inside of herself. Another is a slave trying subtle ways to be free. They all bring out the worst in each other before bringing out the best in each other, their stress amplified by the confined space that they occupy together. The problem? I need to find the line between characters who are meaningfully unstable and, well, angsty-angst-angst-angst-angst-angst faces. This is especially dangerous considering that I am a teenager, who, naturally, is a powder keg of illogical emotion myself. How do I avoid melodrama? Over-the-top emotion can be done right. Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart are both fairly narmy actors, and yet they are both lauded for their performances. Viola Davies the actress comes to mind as well. Then again, those are movie stars, and this is a novel. Any advice on how to pull this off?
Just a bunch of scrambled thoughts by me, based on your description: The first problem is that each character seems to be (from your description) too close in personality to one another. Artists rarely paint with just red, and a pile of angry characters is tough to pull off too. Take a lesson from MLP:FiM and see how the Mane 6's different personalities can clash, mix, and resolve for a good story. Considering your story has already been mostly written already, this may delay your novel. Don't worry though, as some other things could be changed and added. Imagery! Descriptions! All those blue window shades that your teacher thought had symbolic meaning can still enhance a story. Instead of just a dull room, you can have a blue room, with a dull light barely illuminating the corners. This can be useful to set a mood for a scene: A day can be sunny with a light wind, but perhaps after a scene of anger, a storm blows in and rain falls upon the characters. Be careful to not over-describe everything, though. How are these characters developing throughout the story? Their angst-filled hearts should slowly melt as the story progresses. (Like the melting imagery in that sentence?) There is a time for tension and a time for resolve. Have the characters' differences create moments of anger, yet have them learn from these and learn how the others can support themselves. Lastly, have friends read it and revise it. All artists, writers, musicians, and creative people get unsatisfied with their own work, when all they need is a different perspective! Encourage them to be honest, relentless, yet constructive.
That's good advice, making more varied characters. Also I'm having my friend read it over which I'm soooo nervous about but it'll be helpful and she's excited. Thank you for the reply!
Drama in writing is very difficult, because writing requires you to balance proper detail with "good god this is taking too long to read". It may be a good idea to have characters express emotions with actions rather than with words. This will force you to consider your scene and props more carefully as characters regularly interact with them, and has the added option of their impulsive actions causing repercussions. Strong emotions come with subtle tics or cues that would take far too much time to go over fully in writing, so you need to pick and choose important ones so that you aren't slowing your scene down too much (especially for slower readers.) I advise picking different emotional tics for each character to add flavor both to the writing itself and to the characters' personae. One person gets a twitchy temple vein when they're angry, someone else gets a set jaw, etcetera. This will also let you use foreshadowing by having a character's consistent emotional cues not match up with a fake emotion they're putting on, etc. Most importantly, you have to consider whether a character's reaction is proportionate to the stress, and if not, why. You don't have to have sane, rational characters, but it helps to give them a driving force that explains their seemingly exaggerated rage or despair.
Your characters obviously have different backstories; therein lies the solution. A character with a unique backstory will also have a unique goal. They want something from the world around them. They have certain moral practices or make certain judgements regarding the world around them. Since you seem to have a grasp of this, you now need only apply it to the conflict in your writing. You ought to ask yourself how, if at all, a certain character would successfully attain their goals. Then, apply this to the drama in such a way where the characters are obviously pushing for something. They don't have to come out and say it, but everybody does things for a reason. Sometimes the dialogue between characters can just be them clashing colorfully, but at least most of the time it should give some sort hint as to what that character wants, and it should always hint at that character's perspective in life. Otherwise, the drama tends to fall flat. This was a really good question.
Make realistic situations, even if your novel is in a fantasy world. Ask yourself, "How would a real person react to x?"
