Melodrama in Fiction
This is going to be a bit of a longer blog, so buckle in because you’ll learn:
📚 The history of melodrama
🔑 Key elements of intentional melodrama
🙅🏼♀️ Why it’s best to avoid melodrama in your writing
💼 How melodrama can work if it’s intentional
Ready? Let’s go!
What is Melodrama?
Melodrama refers to situations or behaviors that are overly emotional and exaggerated. It’s a literary and dramatic genre in which standard tropes and elements are exaggerated to elicit emotional responses from audiences and readers.
Often characters of melodramas exhibit exaggerated emotional behaviors and the plot events are extremely sensationalized, creating a tone that feels outlandish, unrealistic, and at times, completely absurd.
The Brief History of Melodrama
Melodrama can be traced back all the way to the ancient Greek. But in the modern era, it became popular in theater during the late 18th century and early 19th century.
Soon the genre hopped to literature.
Plays and novels (called sensational novels) incorporated melodramatic elements like dramatic language and reactions, exaggerated situations, and stereotypical characters.
And the genre still exists today, though it’s used more in TV and film. In my research, Grey’s Anatomy is often categorized as a melodrama. Intentional melodrama—but more on that later.
The Key Elements of Melodramas
🔑Simple Plot – The plots are typically straightforward, relying on exaggerated action and events to (sometimes) convey themes like good vs. evil.
🔑Stereotypical Characters – Characters in melodrama tend to be one-dimensional with their personalities magnifying a singular trait.
🔑Dramatic Dialogue – The dialogue is used to move the events of the plot forward, using grand proclamations and declarations.
It’s Best to Avoid Melodrama
Over the decades, melodrama fell out of favor for literary realism and that’s where we are today.
Readers want to experience stories as if it’s their own life. As if they’re the main character. And if you’ve read Story Genius by Lisa Cron, you’ll know that your 🧠brain fires as if it is you going on those fantastical adventures, falling in love, or solving a murder.
Now, before we get into this I need you to know that melodrama isn’t always a bad thing, but when it’s done unintentionally we have to examine why it’s happening.
Now, remember, melodrama shows up as:
Sensationalized drama
Exaggerated, flat characters
Absurd actions or events
Extreme reactions, dialogue, or actions
When melodrama appears unintentionally, readers may stop reading because it’s not what they were promised and instead feel more like an over-the-top version of what they were promised.
We Can’t Force Readers to Feel Emotion
Melodrama creeps into a narrative when the writer isn’t sure how to create an emotional response in their readers. It shows up as character dialogue and reactions to plot events that are way out of proportion to its gravity.
Another way to think of melodrama is telling rather than showing.
Telling readers your characters’ emotions doesn’t make them feel those same emotions. And a more over-the-top reaction won’t do the trick either.
What elicits a true emotional response from readers is allowing them to go through the scene with the character and seeing the character experience the emotion.
It’s not the events themselves that affect readers (nor is it a big, loud, absurd reaction from a character), it’s the effect those events have on the character that makes readers feel.
What does this look like?
Let’s imagine your protagonist is going through a breakup and it’s frrrrresssshhh.
Here’s an exercise:
What emotions are they feeling? Name the emotions (e.g., sad, panic, grief, distress, etc.).
How can you write those emotions without naming them? Naming an emotion can be the first sign that you’re telling. Readers are much smarter than we give them credit for—they can figure out a ton of things on their own.
How can you write that character’s interiority? What is the most heartbreaking thing about breaking up with the love of your life? To name a few: reliving the good times, waking up alone, the what-could-have-beens.
What’s going to make readers feel the sadness, grief, and utter despair of the breakup with this character is the context and consequences of being broken up with and showing the character’s emotions.
That’s the good stuff that will absolutely rip your readers’ hearts out. 💔
When you focus on the emotional reactions only—especially if they skew more extreme—the scene feels less authentic, less real, and it makes it hard for readers to connect with your characters (and your overall story).
Unintentional Melodrama Solution
Sooooo we know that over-the-top reactions, exaggerated dialogue, and one-dimensional characters equal melodrama. The character might even lose their ability to speak normal sentences and become cartoonish and predictable.
The Solution:
Develop your character
Become a native of the world you’re building
Let your characters feel their emotion through body language, facial expressions, and internal sensations
Add memories, interiority, and realistic metaphors to bring context to those feelings
And watch the unintentional melodramatics melt away!
Why? Because otherwise you’re trying to manipulate the reader to feel something and that’s not our goal as writers.
Readers want to pick up a book and become your protagonist. They want to read between the lines whether it be dialogue or interiority.
Don’t just be a writer, put yourself in the character’s shoes and make them feel as human as possible.
Can Melodrama Work?
Of course, it can—just look back at the history of melodramas in both literature and theater.
When it’s done well it can be a lot of fun to read and write. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
Set the melodramatic tone early so readers know that’s what they’re going into
Confidently use it and don’t let your novel veer too nonsensical
Control anything too ridiculous
Ensure the crazy happenings or emotional reactions have clear cause and effect
Understand and be consistent with what’s considered normal/acceptable and what’s considered unusual/bizarre within the confines of your story
Keep the pen moving, drama queens, 😉
Kourtney