#you should read my friend yellowocaballero she does the dramedy thing ALL the time. with more drama and more comedy than i do.

[lazuliquetzal]

Hey speaking of fanfiction/writing asks, I have a weirdly specific writing question: How do you manage to balance comedy and drama so well in your writing? I've read other stories straddling comedy and drama genres, but I often felt that the comedy cheapened the drama, and the drama made the jokes fall flat. But I've never felt that with your writing? In fact, the drama often makes the jokes funnier, and the jokes make the drama more impactful. Maybe it's contrast? How do you do that?

OH BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT COMEDY ALL THE TIME!

So the idea behind juxtaposing comedy and drama is kinda like putting coffee in your cake--the bitterness draws out the sweetness and makes it stronger. The contrast highlights the presence of the other. But if it's too unbalanced, you either get cheap drama or flat comedy, as you mentioned.

The first thing you need to decide what flavor (genre) you're going for. For example: I consider Dawn of the Fourth to be heavier on the drama than the comedy. I crack some hilarious jokes all throughout DotF, but the moments that I build up to are dramatic moments, even before the mystery kicks in! Ch1 builds up to baby Time screaming about the moon, Ch2 builds up to Wind lying to Time, Ch3 builds up to Wind being seriously suspicious about Sky, etc. The important, plot-moving moments are consistently played straight. So even though I crack a ton of Very Funny jokes, the thrust of the story is actually a mystery-thriller.

In contrast, I would consider Dinked Up to be more comedy than drama. The scenes are all comedic situations. Most of the moments of payoff are jokes. Every scene has a bit of sentiment to it, though (they all circle around Dink's very sincere teenage angst) which is why, when we hit the turning point, it's (hopefully!) not out of place. The drama hits harder in this case because ideally, the reader would have gotten used to the comedic flow, so when we swerve into drama, it's a surprise. Then we get to the climax, which is pushed along with comedy (Time being super nonchalant, Dink tripping and yelling super pathetically, etc). While it is running off of drama, it's a return to the comedy of the earlier scenes. I'm still ending the story with the same tone I established early on.

So basically: while I may be pinballing back and forth between comedy and drama, there's structural consistency going on underneath.

#asks #runaway-ramblings #writing #honestly i think it's easier writing a drama with comedy elements #than to write a comedy with drama elements #you can get away with shoving a LOT of jokes into a drama as long as the Main Moments are dramatic #but a comedy with drama elements is more like. the drama is a joke until it's no longer a joke. and then you go back to the joke. #but don't undermine the drama! #i hope this helps! #you should read my friend yellowocaballero she does the dramedy thing ALL the time. with more drama and more comedy than i do. #lazuli talks