Creating Drama to Garner Attention

Remodeling a house built on sand.

What good is a house remodel without drama?

Our culture thrives off of drama, so one should expect a certain level of chaos in our lives. There are times I prefer to avoid the drama, like during a remodel and within my friend groups. And if I am lacking the excitement, then, simply… I can choose to create my own!

Drama in my writing, however, helps to propel my story forward.

Igniting the Flame of Shame

Stepping out onto the hard pavement, I hear the clang of metal thrusting metal. The air is heavy; I am being suffocated by my unconscious guilt. I squeeze the cold bars, craving just a taste of your robust body. 

Strong and forceful, your hands are begging me to surrender. They search my body, hoping to find the shame buried deep inside. I allow them to penetrate me, wanting to be set free. They ignite a fire from within.

Turning around to face you, I plead with my eyes, begging you to see my innocence. I search your deep, dark eyes for compassion. My façade is burning, the flames surrounding me, protecting me. Not allowing you too close, knowing you will only get burned.

My wrists bound, I’m unable to cradle you in my hands. Inhaling your scent, noting the bitterness from your past. My mouth wants to savor your full, complex body; explore your angular, muscular frame. Resorting only to the use of my mouth, I long to take a sip to enjoy your warm juice, like a Lambrusco on a hot Florida day.

Calling out to God, I plead for Him to remove my deep, dark obsession—to have Him fill me with His Spirit, restoring my sanity. I know He has other plans for me. Your obsession with the flesh is much more displeasing to Him.

Restraining your hands, protecting you from my damaged soul, you use your mouth, and I ignite your senses. The heat of my skin makes your mouth water. The tip of your tongue is fooled by my sweetness. As it lingers, a burning sensation intensifies. Held captive by my vulnerability. Not allowing you to taste me, only to feel me. To taste me will fuel your desire.

We need to extinguish the flames, keeping our desires at bay. Otherwise, our shame will spread like a wildfire, consuming us. Destroying the plans God has for us.

~ Swallow Your Pride, Introduction of Part One

Most of my adult years I did my best to stay out of the drama. I prefer to not be the center of attention. March 17, 2021 I failed at my attempts. Drama demands attention and being a writer who avoids drama this can be a detriment, because when it comes to building a platform and publishing the squeaky wheel is usually the one who gets the grease.

Creating Drama to Get Your Attention

One thing that drives drama is conflict and emotion. A good design and piece of literature both employ these elements. Conflict in design isn’t something a designer should strive for, but it is part of the process and conflict within writing keeps the reader engaged. An interior space and the written words should evoke feelings.

Not that I find anything wrong with the other writers and their work here on Substack, but I want to be different. I am willing to break some rules, try and make some noise, and offer my reader an unique experience.

My typical self wasn’t getting noticed so I needed to think outside of the proverbial box, Remodeling a House Built On Sand is my solution. And who doesn’t like a house remodel? In the end I get to combine my two creative passions, package them together and share to a perspective audience.

Sounds like a win for both you and me!

Creating Drama in My Remodel

The before is a sleepy bedroom lacking drama. The after Thunder Gray walls adds an explosion of color to the remodeled room.

What are your thoughts on my dark walls?

I am not your typical woman and appreciate individualism. The houses that I have remodeled over the years and my current project reflect my personality. The older I get the more simple I prefer my life to be, but I do not shy away from making a statement.

Black walls are currently trending. Painting a room black is bold so I toned it down slightly by introducing SW Thunder Gray. The color works well with the natural oak furnishings and frames the sliding glass door, drawing attention to the water view.

The white wall on the right flows into the great room, where the white is already used as a focal point wall. The purpose of the white wall is to camouflage the doors on that wall. The doors pose a problem in our bedroom. And I rather not draw attention to them. The door openings do not allow for good furniture placement.

I will reveal in the next post the solution to my door problem.

Creating Drama in My Writing

The previous piece of flash fiction, Igniting the Flame of Shame, is dialogue from my book Swallow Your Pride, a self-help, speculative memoir, I wrote during the first eighteen months of my recovery.

I am not the first woman who has written a memoir sharing her recovery. There are many brave women who wrote a book revealing their alcoholic past and the marketplace is saturated with these books. To make a book stand out it needs to be different and that is just what I did when I wrote my book.

Swallow Your Pride or Your Shame Will Eat You Alive is a book that removes alcohol as the focus of my problems and points to me, divulging all of my character defects as the source of my problems. It is a book that dares my reader to introspect their own life and to reveal their flaws.

Finally, embracing the beautiful woman God intends for her to be.

Drama in Active Addiction

Remodel projects prior to recovery would have left me thirsting for not just one glass of wine, but the whole box! During a typical remodel we need to relinquish a certain level of control. And control is part of the reason I am where I am today, at a place in my recovery where I am confident to share my past.

Igniting the Flame of Shame dramatizes the shame I felt, humanizes the addiction, and sympathizes with tempter. These themes are what make my self-help, speculative memoir, stand apart from the others. The drug in an active addiction is only a small part and I focus on the drama and chaos behind the addiction.

The Bible uses parable to create drama within it’s stories to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. Scripture is woven throughout my book, because my healing has been Christian-based. Swallow Your Pride isn’t necessarily written for the devout Christ-follower, but the woman who is struggling with her faith. Shame, addiction, and temptation, these struggles are all real. Within certain Christian circles I have found these topics are taboo, when really they should be openly discussed.

I create drama in my writing to ruffle some feathers and to garner attention to these topics that need addressed.

Drama is part of remodeling a house built on sand.

Build Your House on the Rock

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew 7:24-27 ESB