How to make me watch your drama in ten easy steps
1. Come up with a cool idea. There are a ton of dramas coming out all the time. An idea that catches my attention is a lot more likely to get a look-see. "Cursed prince fights against his destiny" sounds a lot more fun than "come and watch the lives of gynecologists." I may not like what I watch once I do check it out, but at least I will check it out, which is more than I can say for a boring idea.
2. Please cast people who can act or at least not make me cringe. Corollary: My interest in your drama is inversely proportional to the number of idols you cast.
3. Try not to make your posters and promos look like those done by first graders. Posters/promos are the first glimpse of your drama. No matter how awesome the drama itself may be, if your posters and promos look horrible, how would I know the drama is nothing like that? (Tamra is a huge sufferer in this. Great drama, worst posters/promos ever).
4. Please don't make your first episode a nightmare of pointlessness. I don't require the first episode to be something I adore (though that helps) but at least make sure it's not so horrifying I tune out and never come back. The drama may improve tremendously by ep 2 but how will I find out if ep 1 scars me enough to never want to continue?
5. My patience is not limitless. I give the average 16-24 ep kdrama about 4 eps (and longer dramas anywhere from 8 eps to couple eps after adult characters appear, whatever is longer) in order to fall in love. If you can't get me attached to your drama after a quarter of its length, you are wasting my time. Life is not long enough for me to watch a 20-hour drama is hopes it gets better eventually.
6. Drag = bad. A certain amount of fast-forwarding is inevitable but if I enjoy about two minutes out of every ep because you are stalling in the middle of the drama, I am going to drop it like a hot potato. Life = too short for this. This also applies to overall drama length. I like some longer dramas (my all-time favorite drama is 50 eps and I am currently obsessed with 60-ep Giant) but there better be a damn good reason for all those eps. As I would like to point out, if Legend could cover 3000 years of epic fantasy in 24 eps, you should be able to tell your boring family story in that much.
7. If you are doing a love story, please make sure I don't hate one of the participants. Not only does this make unappealing to ship the couple, it makes me wonder about the sanity of the other participant. I can deal with being indifferent to one part of a couple (then I just fixate on the character I like and wanting him/her get what he/she wants) but outright dislike is another matter.
8. Don't insult my intelligence. I realize drama world is the kind of place where amnesia is common, twins get separated at birth and people get eye cancer through car accidents. But the story has to be internally consistent - if A suddently starts being weak and meek from being strong and outspoken, you better explain why. And some common sense must be present. If someone tries to kill A's Mom, you better justify A moving on and being pally with a wannabe killer. The situations may get insane but the human reactions shouldn't be.
9. Make the story go somewhere. You know what sucks? Watching a cute drama, waiting for expected character changes or plot developments and then realizing this is going to remain static and go nowhere - you might as well skip watching it then - see Oh My Lady and You're Beautiful.
10. The end should not be the result of your LSD binge. There is nothing worse than a good drama with the ending episode(s) which makes the whole thing implode and not make sense - whether through the last few episodes which go off the rails (Bad Guy), an incomprehensible last episode (Powerful Opponents) or last minute bad ending out of nowhere (Glass Slippers). Don't check out until you finish that last ep, OK? If you leave me with a bitter taste, I am never checking out another drama of yours.
So, here are the ten steps. Ready, set, go! Now entertain me!
2. Please cast people who can act or at least not make me cringe. Corollary: My interest in your drama is inversely proportional to the number of idols you cast.
3. Try not to make your posters and promos look like those done by first graders. Posters/promos are the first glimpse of your drama. No matter how awesome the drama itself may be, if your posters and promos look horrible, how would I know the drama is nothing like that? (Tamra is a huge sufferer in this. Great drama, worst posters/promos ever).
4. Please don't make your first episode a nightmare of pointlessness. I don't require the first episode to be something I adore (though that helps) but at least make sure it's not so horrifying I tune out and never come back. The drama may improve tremendously by ep 2 but how will I find out if ep 1 scars me enough to never want to continue?
5. My patience is not limitless. I give the average 16-24 ep kdrama about 4 eps (and longer dramas anywhere from 8 eps to couple eps after adult characters appear, whatever is longer) in order to fall in love. If you can't get me attached to your drama after a quarter of its length, you are wasting my time. Life is not long enough for me to watch a 20-hour drama is hopes it gets better eventually.
6. Drag = bad. A certain amount of fast-forwarding is inevitable but if I enjoy about two minutes out of every ep because you are stalling in the middle of the drama, I am going to drop it like a hot potato. Life = too short for this. This also applies to overall drama length. I like some longer dramas (my all-time favorite drama is 50 eps and I am currently obsessed with 60-ep Giant) but there better be a damn good reason for all those eps. As I would like to point out, if Legend could cover 3000 years of epic fantasy in 24 eps, you should be able to tell your boring family story in that much.
7. If you are doing a love story, please make sure I don't hate one of the participants. Not only does this make unappealing to ship the couple, it makes me wonder about the sanity of the other participant. I can deal with being indifferent to one part of a couple (then I just fixate on the character I like and wanting him/her get what he/she wants) but outright dislike is another matter.
8. Don't insult my intelligence. I realize drama world is the kind of place where amnesia is common, twins get separated at birth and people get eye cancer through car accidents. But the story has to be internally consistent - if A suddently starts being weak and meek from being strong and outspoken, you better explain why. And some common sense must be present. If someone tries to kill A's Mom, you better justify A moving on and being pally with a wannabe killer. The situations may get insane but the human reactions shouldn't be.
9. Make the story go somewhere. You know what sucks? Watching a cute drama, waiting for expected character changes or plot developments and then realizing this is going to remain static and go nowhere - you might as well skip watching it then - see Oh My Lady and You're Beautiful.
10. The end should not be the result of your LSD binge. There is nothing worse than a good drama with the ending episode(s) which makes the whole thing implode and not make sense - whether through the last few episodes which go off the rails (Bad Guy), an incomprehensible last episode (Powerful Opponents) or last minute bad ending out of nowhere (Glass Slippers). Don't check out until you finish that last ep, OK? If you leave me with a bitter taste, I am never checking out another drama of yours.
So, here are the ten steps. Ready, set, go! Now entertain me!