When does a story become melodramatic? Thoughts on comedic relief?

[frixelkind]

Sometimes, when I really get into writing, I breach some pretty dramatic territory. But what's the line between well done drama and melodrama? When should comedic relief be used, and when is comedic relief overkill?

[VibrantFox]

As a reader and creator I think for both but comedic relief especially it's about timing and setting. Knowing what's going on and being able to tell if something fits or just feels absolutely absurd. Most often I use real life as a mirror for stories I'm creating or scenes that I'm developing. Watching how people react to certain things and observing how they handle certain situations is a good way to make things feel natural. If there's no mirror for a specific situation then the next best thing you can do is try to think of how you would react to a certain situation. Ask questions, take a moment to think it out and though it may seem difficult for some try to visualize. A vague image is better than having nothing at all; and you can build from the abstract.

Another useful tip is finding references, how have other people portrayed these kinds of situations, how did they execute a certain scene, what were these characters reaction to this, how did they respond to that, and so on. Once you've gotten a concept you can go from there. Sometimes though not very often I also like to look at certain psychology reports or books that explain certain personality types and other things that can help to elaborate on how people tend to respond to things and how certain action and other things can affect (effect?) them.

As far as personal opinion goes I think when it comes to comedic relief is that it's most seen as overkill when its occurring far to frequently or when a joke or humorous effect is poorly timed be it through execution or a simply the wrong moment.

[frixelkind]

That's intriguing. Thank you very much for your input! I guess it's true when they say that the best works of art are reflections of the real world!

[akemikae]

Definitely use real world things that have happened to you and others around you as the first point of reference. I have had some things happen to me in my life, that seem like they couldn't have happened, but they did, so I use them as reference points.

There is also nothing wrong with doing some research. Search through reddit forums, or just do a google search, and go deeper than the first 3 pages. You can find some interesting real life stories of people, and you'd be surprised how many people went through scary/dramatic situations and simply reacted with a laugh, or a "meh". It's these kinds of things that you can begin to figure out when a slice of comedy is a good, believable thing. You'll start to feel more comfortable. And even better, your characters eventually become their own being, and you'll just know how they'll react to things.

[zetina]

I guess by... not presenting the dramatic as dramatic if that makes sense? Like, I'll be planning a page and dialogue and, to me, certain lines of dialogue hide certain meaning so I end up giving those panels bigger sizes and pace those parts slowly but, then, like... this is just a normal conversation, really. I haven't gotten to draw anything truly dramatic yet though. Um... It's, like, if the actions are justified, it won't be melodramatic at least, I think.

As for comedic relief... Personally, I guess I don't enjoy it when it disturbs the melancholy of everyone being sad and in deep thought. Sometimes I don't want the "relief". But I guess the best timing is between major dramatic moments when the characters are just living their lives, doing mundane things and interacting with aspects that are uninformed of the drama? I guess it depends on the setting. A setting that's very gloomy will usually introduce an ignorant entity that can always be cute and chipper to be that relaxing thing for both the cast and the audience.

Butyea I mean some characters are just the type to joke around even when things are bad so in part it's also all on how the characters are written. Like, whether they're the type to always be upset and only talk about problems with each other and never have a rest or they can change tack and just chill a bit, talk about something fun or mundane.

[ashriott]

As a reader, I personally don't mind a bit of melodrama. I'd go so far as to say I enjoy it if done well, and not done for the sake of being dramatic... If that makes sense.

The type of melodrama I DON'T like however, is when the characters angst about something that isn't worth angsting over, unless it's the character's personality to angst over something petty. This is pretty preferential, cause what is worth being melodramatic over may differ between you and me.

As for comic relief, it should be all about timing and making sure it doesn't just get lopped into a dark and dramatic scene. Much like in real life, you don't crack a joke if the situation isn't right. I guess it's all about reading the mood? On the other hand, shows like GoT do pretty well with black humour in the midst of dramatic moments.

[shazzbaa]

I mean, in real life, you would tell someone that they're being melodramatic when they're overreacting. I think it's the same for stories -- when a character overreacts, and emotions are too explicitly spelled out, we feel like it's melodramatic -- the situation doesn't feel real, it doesn't feel honest. People wouldn't act like this unless they were acting, trying to manipulate you.

As far as comic relief goes, personally I find that trying to INSERT FUNNY MOMENT HERE tends to go poorly, or feel a little forced at best, so I tend not to think of funny moments as "comic relief" for that reason? I don't think it's an issue of like, how much comedy you use -- you can write a good story with no comedy and you can write a good story with lots of comedy -- but more an issue of how it's implemented. Like, if a creator finishes a page or a scene, and they know it needs a good endbeat, but they're scared of being seen as overdramatic so they don't want to end on a serious, dramatic beat, and so they have a character crack a joke or make a snarky comment or do something goofy to break the tension so that they can end on a punchline, instead.... I think that can immediately feel dishonest, in a way? Like they built to a dramatic endbeat and then pulled the punch at the last minute because they were scared to follow through.

I have a lot of jokes and moments that I play for laughs in my own story, but the moments I'm happiest with are the ones where it's not me trying to invent a funny moment, but like, just being honest about who my characters are, and being willing to laugh at something I personally think is funny. I think it's okay if the tone of the moment is serious but the character is cracking jokes because they're stressed or upset. I think it's okay to laugh at the absurdity of a situation. But I think it can hurt the moment if you try to force its tone to suddenly change because you want to cram some Comic Relief in there.

[Aspie_Gamer]

For me, drama is when its played straight. No exaggeration or anything. i.e In Chapter 4 of my comic, Life of an Aspie, my main lead got into a fight with an Alpha Bitch type of girl for bullying her friend and making her shut down on an emotional level. Anyway, because she messed the girls face up pretty bad and because she's both autistic and a foreigner as the only white person amongst a predominantly Asian cast, her peers are just in shock that she would do something like this regardless of her personal reason for doing so. One girl is pretty much scared shitless of my main character even though she didn't do anything to piss her off personally. (though she still feels responsible for starting the whole thing between the main leads friend and the Alpha Bitch even though her only "crime" was asking the victim a benign question about her surgical scar.)

On the subject of comedy, I just go for natural conversations where the humor is bound to come out at certain intervals. Speaking of pop culture for a minute, I don't do the "Marvel Method" and put jokes in where they honestly don't belong. Not that you can't relieve the tension a bit, but too much humor and you end up with Avengers: Age of Ultron or as I like to call it, Age of Joke-tron.

[frixelkind]

That's a really interesting way to look at it. Sometimes I feel like if I write something too dramatic it won't be taken seriously, but I guess the same thing can happen if I do the opposite. Thank you for your input!

[colonel_ressentiment]

Like, if a creator finishes a page or a scene, and they know it needs a good endbeat, but they're scared of being seen as overdramatic so they don't want to end on a serious, dramatic beat, and so they have a character crack a joke or make a snarky comment or do something goofy to break the tension so that they can end on a punchline, instead.... I think that can immediately feel dishonest, in a way? Like they built to a dramatic endbeat and then pulled the punch at the last minute because they were scared to follow through.

This is something that's caused me to stop reading quite a few series, because when the expected dramatic payoff of a serious interaction is replaced with humor, it feels like the entire interaction was ultimately pointless, and that the author isn't actually willing to commit to changing character dynamics or developing characters' personalities beyond the status quo. So melodrama is too much, but never having any acknowledgement of a dramatic situation, emotional turmoil, etc. may very well be worse. At least with melodrama, the author is acknowledging that their story is willing to grow and change.

(There are successful episodic humor comics that use the structure of problem->drama->solution->humorously played off, of course, but it takes a very strong writer/artist to make each episode actually interesting to read on its own without consistent character growth - like Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 - and at that point you're in a different genre entirely.)

[gojimun]

imo, keep in mind that regardless of how upset someone is, the world will never revolve around that! normal, 'funny' things will still happen. try deriving your humor from the ways your characters interact, and from how their differing personalities clash or mesh with one another.