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Drama: Decision Making Drama
Drama: June 03, 2026 Issue [#13778]
Decision Making Drama Editor: Dawn Embers 
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Drama Newsletter by Dawn
It can be tough when one has to make a decision. Even dramatic, at times. |
One thing that can add drama and create a conflict is the use of having a character need to make a decision. Having to pick between a number of options can push at emotions and develop the story into something that will interest readers. If they have a very limited number of things to decide from, like maybe two, that can be even more intense depending on what is involved.
Sophie's Choice is probably one of the most reknown and heartbreaking decisions that is often referenced by many others, including comedies. In the television show, The Big Bang Theory, there is one episode where the friends have to pick between meeting Stan Lee or helping Sheldon when he had to go to court for a traffic violation. Howard is the one to joke that if it was Sophie's Choice it would have been a much easier decision and picked Stan Lee.
Some people have a harder time making decisions compared to others. Another common stereotype with having to make a decision is women and what to eat. Now, I will admit that I do have a hard time making a decision. Ask me what I want for dinner and you don't get an answer because there aren't really things I crave if nothing is already planned so then I just don't know. Plus, if there are too many options it's very difficult to narrow things down to one. There are too many good things. It's not a matter of not being capable of making a decision but I need a smaller parameter. Give me some limited options and we'll be able to get somewhere in the food choice challenge.
What decision does your character need to make? Will their choice influence the overall conflict or with their personal development? How many options are available?
Sometimes two options can be enough to add tension. It doesn't always take throwing more and more at the characters in order to create the existence of drama. A big factor will come after the decision. Which option did they pick? How does that change their life or what problems does it create? Even having to pick either door A or door B for prizes on a game show can be dramatic because the audience wants to know which one had the best things up for grabs. That can be a hard decision. Which is another element to create drama in a story: how difficult is the decision?
Does the character have a hard time decising what they want to do or what they are going to pick? The difficulty gives us personal drama in a story as we worry about the character. More drama and emotion. What do they feel about the problem with having to make a decision? Are there any of the other senses that you can involve in the scene to pull the reader in further?
Many options and questions for you to consider when creating drama. And there is drama for you in what you will write and what problems your characters will face. What will you decide? |
| |  | Regrets (13+) "You deserved a grandfather who loved you." |
| | Midnight Moonglow (E) A moonlit night changed their lives. Under a moon halo, two hearts found each other. |
| | | (1) (E) Performing for a notification that never feels like enough - 86 words |
| | | The Fold (E) A quantum experiment traps a physicist between parallel versions of life. |
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https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
What tough decision does your character need to make?
The last newsletter in 2025 from me discussed the question of why. Here is a comment sent back for the conversation over why characters do certain things and how much the author questions different actions or decisions in their story:
Comment by S🤦♂️  :
When your character does something, do you know the reason why?
I feel it is important for me to know why my bad guys - and even my good guys - do things. I have done counselling and too often in the real world, we never ask why people break the law (for instance), and I think that simply leads to more crimes because we cannot go to the very source. And because of that, all my stories have characters with definite motives. They might be twisted, and normal people might not see it their way, but they believe what they arte doing is for the better good.
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