Writing Vertical Dramas by Joseph Anthony Francis
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Probably the most famous opening of a novel, this statement begins the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities. Like most of Dickens’s novels, Tale was originally released in short, weekly installments that were published in a magazine. Similar to modern day soap operas, each of the installments ended with a cliffhanger to keep readers interested in what would happen next.
The use of cliffhangers is critical to the success of serialized stories from Dickens novels to daytime dramas and, most recently, vertical dramas. Popular apps such as DramaBox, ReelShorts, and SaltyTV currently offer viewers from all over the world serialized dramas that are presented in short, one or two-minute episodes. Like soap operas (and Dickens novels), they tell romantic, passionate stories in a fast-paced format for today’s viewing audiences.
Already popular in other countries, vertical dramas are becoming more and more popular in America – and more and more apps offering this method of storytelling seem to be popping up daily. The stories themselves are relatively simplistic, often centered on the lives of billionaires (and sometimes werewolves!) and the people who interact with them.
Writing vertical dramas for these popular apps presents its own set of rewards and challenges. The stories are fast-paced and plot-driven, usually involving plenty of melodramatic moments that keep viewers engaged and wanting more. For the writer, each episode is usually less than two pages in length, and the entire series usually consists of fifty to sixty of these short episodes. This format requires careful planning because the story has to be revealed in very short pieces requiring far more frequent cliffhangers than a traditional soap opera told in thirty or sixty-minute episodes.
For example, what happens in one episode of a traditional soap opera like Days of Our Lives or General Hospital would be spread out over about twenty episodes of a vertical drama. That means the vertical drama requires twenty cliffhangers in the same amount of time that the traditional soap requires just one.
In addition to the challenge of frequent cliffhangers, vertical dramas leave little room for character development because they are plot-driven stories. Whereas more traditional dramas offer the flexibility to “pause” the action for scenes that develop the characters and allow viewers to gain insight into them, vertical dramas have to keep the plot constantly moving forward.
Because many of the stories featured in vertical dramas are often initially written overseas, issues of language translation frequently emerge. In particular, idiomatic expressions don’t easily translate from one language and culture to another. By hiring American writers to tell the stories intended for American audiences, the vertical drama apps and production companies help to make the storytelling clear and accessible, which also makes the work of the actors in these projects much easier.
As vertical dramas become more prevalent and popular, they are beginning to expand and diversify their storytelling. While stories about billionaires and mobsters continue to dominate the genre, some apps are venturing into new areas. For example, the vertical drama “Faux Fiancé” on SaltyTV features its own take on a reality TV dating show and “My Secret Agent Husband” on DramaBox presents an LGBTQ storyline.
Viewer comments posted on vertical dramas often reveal a desire for longer episodes and more unique stories. If creators listen to viewers, vertical dramas will continue to evolve in positive ways and garner even more attention from larger audiences.
Vertical dramas are only gaining popularity, which suggests the genre will be around for the foreseeable future. As a result, writers will continue to adapt their skills and methods to meet the specific demands of this storytelling form. And while there is little comparison between the quality of a vertical drama and a Dickens novel, the format for the storytelling is very much the same.
