Hi everyone!
Ok 2 questions.

1-Is my story a drama or a thriller? Basically a woman is murdered, her sister believes the woman's husband is to blame.  Sister must prove it.  Should I focus on the drama aspect of it and not make it suspenseful, or should I focus on the thriller...maybe make the husband go after the sister in a cat and mouse type thing.  I have 2 ways of going and I am not sure which is best.

2-Any tips on writing a drama or a thriller?

Any suggestions, advice or ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks so much!
Stephanie

You have to decide this yourself, Stephanie.  It could go either way, based on what you gave us.

How do you see it?


Phil

It could be both a drama and a thriller.

~Zack~

I'm just nervous about making the wrong decision I guess.  I feel very passionate about this script.  I dont want to mess up..lol..  I see it as being very emotional and I want it to be on the edge of your seat thriller, can it be both? It can right?

When writing a thriller, the main thing you should focus on is keeping us guessing. Throw us a curve ball.

~Zack~

Yes! I am kind of making the husband look as innocent as possible with a couple of things that the audience might find odd.  The police arrent a man, but the sister in convinced he is innocent.  

Or you could have the husband LOOK guilty, only to throw us a curveball and reveal that the killer is actually the sister. A predictable thriller is a boring thriller.

~Zack~

Write the script and see how it turns out.


Phil

The basic mistake you are making here is putting the genre before the story.

Any successful script is going to have dramatic elements, Steph -- be it a zombie-filled horror epic or an animated children’s story about talking flowers.

Without drama you will have nothing compelling going on with your characters.

So do not obsess about a genre now.  Free yourself from that, and any conventions that you may feel you need to adhere to or avoid.

Tell your story as you think it needs to be told, that is the key...

...and when you are done, then decide for yourself what genre you have created.

Thank you all so much, I think I am "thinking" way too much.  I love these characters, I should just write what comes to me and see where it takes me.
Again I appreciate all the posts.  This is my first time, I've had ideas in the past, but this is the first time I actually started writing.  I know I will learn as I go.
Steph

Quoted from bert The basic mistake you are making here is putting the genre before the story. ...and when you are done, then decide for yourself what genre you have created.

Completely agree. I would even say, let other people decide what genre it is when you're done.

The most deadly to creativity is rules, so toss out all rules. Rule number 1 when brainstorming: No critisism. NEVER think, when you are writing a line or a sequence, "naaahh this is crap, I'm gonna erase it and start over". Best thing you can do is write it, keep on writing, print it out, put it in a drawer, leave it there for a few weeks and read it again. You will surprise yourself.

I've had many times when I was trying to write a sketch that I thought 'this isnt funny, I might as well stop now', but finished it, tossed it into a corner, only to find it after a month or so and find myself laughing at my own lines. Admittedly, it more often happens that you refind a piece and think 'I was right the first time, this sucks allright' but the point is, you will miss out on the good ones too if you stop before you started.

So don't worry about rules, formats, genres when you write your first draft. You wanna write it in 14pts comic sans font? Do it. You want to have it 240 pages? Write it. You want a monologue of 15 pages? No problem. First time, everything is allowed. Creativity at full speed. After that, you will probably throw away 75% of what you have written, but that's for later.