Writing Blog - What’s Dramatic vs. What Makes Sense (Patreon)

No one wants to read a story where only boring things happen.

It may sound super dumb when I just say it like that, but it’s super important to remember. It’s the writer’s job to come up with interesting things for the readers to read. 

Either that or have the ability to tell boring things in a really interesting way. There are people who can do that.

However, the writer must also consider what makes sense for the story.

Let me explain what I mean by that. When planning the wedding arc, I came up with lots of ideas. Little events that could possibly happen during the wedding ceremony. I wrote a bunch of bullet points on my outline and marked the ones I thought would be cool to see.  It would have allowed characters like Yun Han and Doctor Wu to make a bigger impression on the readers.

However, I soon realized something pretty important.

Once Meng Yue arrived, there was no way any of those things could happen.

It just didn’t make sense. None of the characters would dare to try anything with Meng Yue right there. No one was stupid enough to push their luck. Meanwhile, trying to put everything before Meng Yue's appearance would have messed with the focus. 

So all those ideas couldn’t happen. Not without forcing the characters to act in ways that wouldn’t make sense.

I could have tried to force it regardless, but that would have done the story a disservice. At least, that’s what I believe. As important as it is to create big moments in a story, it is just as, if not more, important to keep a sense of internal consistency

That’s my take on it.