The Spirealm: Behind the Mysterious Doors
100+ PAGES AND 2000+ ARTICLES LATER...
Finally, we come to the end of this series. I have flipped through thousands of articles on hundreds of pages and read many articles needed for writing. In this final part of the series, I present the last ten reflective, informative, and entertaining articles from Combo, shiisoen, lexies, KMH, algelic, Ceki, HappySqueak, MeeraNair, ruby, and kkdrama.
Clicking on the title takes you to the article. Clicking on "Writer's articles" takes you to a list of the articles they wrote. Clicking on the writer's name takes you to his/her profile. Any linked source is in italic. Links important to the article and other articles mentioned are in bold italic. The ideas I came up with for future writers are underlined.
This article can also be read in Dark Mode.
Previous parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5
Informative by ComboWriter's articles | Books: Veteran Cupid’s Assistants"Combo's top 5 romantic scenes revolving around or brought about by... books!" After reading the article, two things come into my mind regarding giving out writing ideas: 1. Someone who has a particular hobby outside watching dramas, can write an article about his/her hobby that connects to the drama. In this case, the writer's hobby may be reading and she remembered romantic scenes that related to books in particular dramas. A non-book reader like me won't put those scenes in mind. 2. It takes some time and patience to collect certain drama scenes that fit your article topic. For example, even if you remember that the romantic book scene is in a particular drama, you still need to remember the episode in which the scene appears or rewatch the drama. Without a feature with which you can scroll and watch scenes at the same time, or reading drama recaps, it will be hard to find the particular scene you are looking for. If you aim the topic for an ongoing drama you watch, it takes patience to wait for scenes that fit your article topic to appear. In the case of romantic book scenes, you may want to watch tons of school/college dramas, or any dramas with the 'book' or 'library' tag. |
Reflective by shiisoenWriter's articles | 10 Things That Make Me NOT Want To Watch a Drama/Movie"Let me introduce ten of the things I avoid when I'm looking for something new to watch." I have pretty much a broad interest in dramas/movies, so none of the 10 things listed by the writer is on my criteria list. However, after reading this article, it got me to think of the 350+ pre-2020 dramas/movies on my PTW list, as well as 30+ dramas/movies that are ready to be watched (completely subbed) on my CW list. I feel like I have to tighten my criteria since I am overwhelmed with those lists. I may want to pick one or two indicator(s) listed in the article to shorten my list. In this section, I won't discuss writing ideas on this topic, but generally about writing reflective articles (the ones that get readers to think thoroughly). If you write an informative article and add a bunch of resources to back up your article, no one will leave negative comments but only praises for your comprehensive writing. If you write an entertaining article that intention is just to make readers laugh, you get lots of likes. As reflective topics are subjective to the writer, sometimes it is tricky to present them in articles. There are always readers with different points of view who disagree either politely or harshly in the comment section. Therefore, make sure you put a disclaimer that what you write is your personal ideas, preferences, and experiences. Accept every comment gracefully, apologize if necessary. Also, it's better to stay quiet than counter-attack an upsetting comment. |
Informative by lexiesWriter's articles | Screenwriters Introduction: The Hong Sisters"Lexies introduces the writing team behind popular dramas You're Beautiful, My Girl, and more!" The article introduces us to Hong Jung Eun and Hong Mi Ran who are known as The Hong Sisters and also wrote scripts for the famous Hotel del Luna (2019), A Korean Odyssey (2017), and The Master's Sun (2013), that are not covered in the article. The Hong Sisters are so famous that there is even a love letter written on MDL for them: A Fangirl’s Love Letter to the Hong Sisters. The writer also wrote a similar article on another famous Korean screenwriter: Screenwriters Introduction: Kim Eun Sook A drama is formatted to last a while longer than a movie, and to tell a story over an extended period of time. The drama script has an arc for a story to be developed in a specific episode to be interesting to viewers, but it also needs to be part of a bigger arc that links the episodes together and makes viewers stick to it. Therefore, as the writer explains, screenwriters are like the backbones of dramas. Scripts either make or break the whole show. In the article, the writer also discusses the positive and negative points in the stories written by the sisters. Without good work from behind-the-scene crews, even any top actor/actress cannot save a drama. Therefore, we need to know more about great figures who work behind the scene. More articles need to be written as expressions of gratitude for their works for great producers, directors, novel/manga writers whose works are adapted to dramas, screenwriters, voice actors, OST musicians, art directors, and other types of crews from different countries. |
Entertaining by KMHWriter's articles | 5 KDramas That Would Make Awesome Video Games"Here are 5 more KDramas that have the potential to be mind-blowing video games!" There are so many video games that are made into animes or live-action shows (see Wikipedia list). However, there are only a handful of television shows that became video games and none of them are from Asia as far as I know (Source 1 and 2). The famous manga Hana Yori Dango was made into a Japanese Otome video game called Hana Yori Dango: F4 to Fāsutokisu, but the game is not based on the drama. Therefore, it was the writer's uninhibited imagination to create this article and its sequels below: 5 More KDramas That Would Make Awesome Video GamesEven MORE KDramas That Would Make Awesome Video Games It's always fun to read articles in which ideas seem to come from out of nowhere, in which the writers thought out-of-the-box. When I read this article for the first time, I had no idea that I would see images of video game screens that were created from the dramas she discusses! Moreover, her imaginary 'games' actually fulfill the inner desires of drama viewers who want different endings than those that were fated by the drama gods (aka screenwriters). Just by reading the article, how fun it feels to tweak the story of a drama! Personally, I want anyone, either the writer herself or someone else, to refresh the idea of dramas to be made into video games. The comments were positive, readers even gave more drama recommendations that can be made into games. |
Informative by algelicWriter's articles | The Drama Behind Dramas"algelic explains why some dramas' behind-the-scenes drama created a whole lot of mess. *Warning* Some SPOILERS for Bad Guy, East of Eden, and Myung Wol the Spy." The series of this article and its sequels, Part 2 and Part 3, is actually my guilty pleasure because of the way they were written. From a bunch of Korean news on entertainment, instead of effortlessly translating them from raw sources into plain news-type articles, the writer transformed them into entertaining editorials specifically on certain dramas in each part. Despite feeling bad about the news (some of them contain accidents), I also felt amused with the scandalous ones. As a commenter stated: "although I'm not really new to this kind of news it's fun reading the feedbacks". The popularity of the first article made the writer follow up with its sequels. By the end of part 3, the writer stated that she couldn't find any non-Korean news to create an article like this. I am surprised that no other editorial-type articles have been made out of real entertainment news like these, despite rumors, scandals, mishaps, and incidents happening. Non-Korean news could be obtained from the raw sources as long as we can read the written language (using Google translate can be a pain). |
Entertaining
by rubyWriter's articles | Class of 2016/17 KDrama Superlatives"What is your favorite part about flipping through yearbooks? If it is the superlatives page that gets you laughing, look no further. These are the “class” superlatives from your favorite dramas of 2016/17!" We may have missed this gem article due to cultural differences. To explain to worldwide readers: in the U.S. when a school year is over and school yearbooks come out, frequently there is a section for senior students in which they are polled to nominate their classmates for "superlatives" or "class celebrities" (source: Wikipedia). The intention of giving out 'awards' is purely for humorous memories of their friendship, and the nomination categories vary from one class year/school to another solely depending on the committee's brainstorming. I have yet to see other articles like this, in which a writer awarded characters, scenes, features, dramas/movies, actors/actresses solely for fun and depends on the writer's watching experience and creativity. The article timing can be in the middle of the year when school years are over, or at the beginning of the year when entertainment communities give out awards. Here are some ideas if a writer wants to write a class of year drama superlative awards. For a beginning of the year article, a writer can get the nomination ideas from entertainment award events. |
Informative by CekiWriter's articles | Slap & Kiss Dramas and What Makes Them So Popular"Let's explore the world of slap and kiss dramas and some theories on why they might be so popular nowadays. WARNING: the article contains sensitive content!" The writer also wrote another article with sensitive topics: Patriarchy, Abuse and Gender Roles in Asian Dramas Can we write about sensitive topics? Yes, you can! As stated in the Formatting and Writing Guidelines: "When writing about sensitive topics (e.g. religion, race, politics, gender, heritage, abuse, war), take extra care to be respectful and to notify readers of possible triggers." However, I have four pieces of advice to think about before you write one:
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Entertaining by HappySqueakWriter's articles | Oppa Gangster Style"The tropical and bold fashion of Drama Gangsters! Let’s take a look at this reoccurring theme!" The MDLers in the article/writing circle definitely misses the writer as she 'has been promoted' to write and feature videos in the MDL Youtube channel and no longer writes articles here. Interestingly, articles on drama fashion are rare. The ones common mostly present bad fashion seen in dramas, such as: The ONLY article I found that shows good drama fashion is the own writer's article: Winter Coat Fashion Craze Inspired by K-Dramas! We need to admit that one great visual catch while watching dramas are the beautiful costumes, whether it's historical or modern ones. Therefore, we need to see more articles (both good and bad presentation) on costumes, whether it's the clothing, makeup, and/or accessories, in modern or historical dramas (actually there is none written on historical costumes). |
Informative by MeeraNair | 5 Sageuk Dramas of 2017: Fiction Vs. Fact"Love period dramas, but don't know how far they are true? This article explores 5 historical Korean dramas of 2017 and the extent of historicity in the storylines." At the beginning of a drama/movie, the screen always shows a disclaimer that the story is a work of fiction, or else it will be called a documentary. However, when you watch a drama/movie, have you ever thought about some dialogue statements in the drama/movie and you're curious to look up the fact. I know I have, in many historical/costume dramas. For example, in The Wolf, there is a scene when the main couple has their late-night date, and they recite and discuss a poem that historically is famous in ancient China called Song of The Everlasting Regret. Also, when the male lead shows the female lead the rare sago bloom, I wondered why it's such a big deal, only to find out later that the sago plant starts blooming after 15 - 20 years and only blooms every 3 - 4 years (see source)! A writer can also watch a fantasy drama based on a myth (not historical fact), and look up the myth behind it, such as written in The Myths Behind "A Korean Odyssey". One time I also did what she did (only I don't write about it) when I looked up the traditional Korean Valentine's Day Chilseok that is shown and explained in the sageuk Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency. Another writer, during her travel to Thailand, actually looked up a historical place in a drama they watched and then wrote the article❤ Bpoop Phaeh Saniwaat: Love Destiny ❤ A retrospective. There are always interesting facts or myths shown in dramas/movies to be explored. |
Reflective by kkdramaWriter's articles | Writing Articles!! Why not?"KKKdrama's personal experience with writing while encouraging MDL users to write their own articles." This article and two other similar articles below share the writer's experience in writing articles for MDL, including their sources of inspiration, first articles, fears, etc. All writers have the common trait that we are just a bunch of regular people who got writing ideas, that despite some limitations, strongly compel us to share those ideas with the MDL community in form of an article. Meet the Writers of MDL FUNARTICLE: Writing an article has never been this AWESOME
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CONCLUSION
When I started back in October 2020, I had no idea what I would have to go through. I have provided readers with past articles to enjoy. I have not only inspired new/future writers to write but also past writers to open their laptops and start writing again. I have made friends with wonderful writers, editors, and readers. I have conversed with many like-minded MDLers. During the process of writing each part I have gotten tons of article ideas that I cannot write by myself so I shared them with you. In my opinion, that is my biggest wish with this series, that I somewhat provide you with some unique ideas that are reflective, informative, and entertaining.
Now that the series has ended, I will go back to my ultimate love in article writing I have neglected: recapping dramas!!!
source: Brimstone
Acknowledgments: Thank you to all the writers who gave me your consent to use your articles for your support and excitement. Also, to the editors who edited this article.
Credits: I do not own any of the images used. Credits go to the respective owners. The cover image is an official film still of Chicago Typewriter. To honor the writers' effort to search, choose, and reformat pictures, I used their original article's cover images.
Editors: BrightestStar (2nd editor_
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