Do you watch Asian dramas for their storyline,
actors/actresses or both?
Story will always be a make it or break it. I have continue dramas because I really like the actor/actress but it always ends in disappointment. I have dropped a few dramas because I just couldn't continue them. Sure most of the plots are the same thing over and over again but if it is in the good hands of a writer those stories could turn into something new.
Gu Family Book - A newer drama this year. Wasn't horrible in terms of writing but the macguffin of the series (i.e. The Book) was never even looked for. I mean this things was the whole reason for the title of the show and not once did Kang Chi ever go on his journey to look for the darn thing. The whole story took a turn in a different direction that had nothing to do with the Book and more about embracing who you were born and his family drama. I am not evening going to start with the crazy time passing what is call the ending to that thing.
But the writing for each of the episodes was good writing that kept the theme of Kang Chi learning to embrace his new self. This was one of the things that kept me interesting with the show. Of course we had Kang Chi and Yeo Wool getting closer to each other and the dooming prophecy that one of them will die. Yeah that thing bug the crap out of me. I was hoping for a twist and got a jump instead at the end. I should have known the writer didn't map out where this thing was going when they wrote out that crappy prophecy. But those holes kind of made you either love the show as a whole or had mixed feelings. Yeah the mixed feelings is me.
Princess' Man - The writer for this show had plotted out where the show was going for beginning, middle, and end. The flow of each episode is really well done. In a few episodes, characters are kind of saying the same thing over again but it is a little different than the time before. The characters have changed their roll - they went from Father/Prince and daughter to King and Princess. So it makes sense we have another scene between these two you kind of seen before. Yet the flow of the show is just prefect. A solid bit of writing for a series.
Watching a series for the actor or actress mostly lead me in disappointment. Yoon Eun Hye, I tried to watch Take Care of the Young Lady (My Fair Lady) and stopped watching like 6 episodes in. I mean Yoon San Hyun, Jung II Won, and Moon Chae Won were also apart of this drama you would think this would have been a winner. Well just because you cast great actors/actress doesn't mean they can turn lousy writing into gold.
If the writer knows there will be 16 episodes, they should be able to out-line out the main conflict of the drama and where these characters are going to end up. I mean I was always told when I write a story to out-line my story before starting to write it. My English teachers always drilled into us whenever we wrote something to out-line it out, complete a rough draft, revising, edit, and final draft.
I wonder if the writing of a drama fails is due to the writer finishing the script minutes before production? It is my understanding drama scripts continue to be written while the drama is airing to make changes based on ratings and comments from the viewer. Maybe this will be another post to talk about production.
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