DRAMA

I can't do it. I don't know what my problem is, but I cannot write a dramatic piece. I think it has to do with the fact that I find humor in everything I do in real life. I'm starting to wonder whether there's some human emotion that experiences the very serious side of life that is missing or broken in my brain. Even in the most boring sacrament meeting, the most frighteningly dangerous situation, or the saddest circumstances, my brain is constantly writing my life as a humorous memoir to be shared with others later and make them laugh.

By the time I sit down at the computer to record the event, it;s just a matter of getting the thing out of my brain and onto paper, fully formed. I don't write in drafts, generally. The earlier drafts are revised long before I ever let any of it out of my head.

Anyway, this deficiency of drama has me wondering what it is that makes something a drama. I'm a smart guy, and feel that I should be able to figure this out.

Drama does NOT mean the absence of humor, because there are some hilarious moments in even the grisliest of Shakespeare's tragedies. Drama isn't ensured just by killing everyone off, because you have movies like "Mars Attacks."

What's interesting is that dramas are my favorites. I don't even watch comedies, generally. While everyone raves about The Office, I'm watching 24 and LOST.

Maybe 24 can help me. It seems that the stakes are always very high. Drama seems to be about betrayal and death and war. Comedies are about misunderstanding and love and injury. Maybe I can write a drama if I just crank everything up a couple of notches. I'll work on this.