Beware of melodrama from "summary" of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition by Renni Browne,Dave King
Melodrama is the kind of writing that tries too hard to manipulate the reader's emotions. It's the kind of writing that tells the reader how to feel. It's the kind of writing that uses larger-than-life characters, contrived situations, and over-the-top emotions to try to make the reader care. Melodrama confuses sentiment with sentimentality. It tells the reader to feel sorry for a character instead of showing the reader why they should feel sorry. It tells the reader to like a character instead of creating a character that the reader can't help but like. It tells the reader to be happy for a character instead of creating a situation that makes the reader happy. Melodrama often resorts to clichés because it's easier to tell the reader what to feel than to show them. Melodrama is easy. It's cheap. It's writing by the numbers. It doesn't respect the reader's intelligence. It doesn't respect the reader's emotions. Melodrama is the writing equivalent of a laugh track. It's the writing equivalent of a soap opera. It's the writing equivalent of a Lifetime movie. It's the writing equivalent of a Harlequin romance. It's the writing equivalent of a summer blockbuster. I...
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