Introduction
As stated in Part 1, my original objectives in writing this series are to promote past articles, recommend article ideas, and give tribute to the writers. However, after three parts were published, I found another benefit: to motivate past writers to write again. As seen in some comments: “In fact, you’re making me want to write again!” (Miss-lestrudel, whose article is featured here); “I’m not gonna lie, seeing you go through the process has awakened something inside me” (Lumiere, the article in Part 2); or “You’ve made me want to pick up a pen again” (Wandering_Queen, the article in Part 3). As some articles I picked are either the first article written by the writers or their one and only article, I would be thrilled to see past writers write articles again.
Article Featured
In this part, I compiled unique articles that are either reflective, informative, or entertaining from Seonsaeng and Ebisuno92, shaz22, Natsu2, Miss-lestrudel, Kairi of the Sky, KDramaQueen91, kez, Wiam Najjar, PickyMcpickleton, and Amy.
From Best Korea with Love: An Introduction to North Korean Dramas & Movies
"Seonsaeng and Ebisuno92's introduction into dramas and movies from the Hermit Kingdom."
This article is one of a kind, due to its limited products, and resources, as well as the sensitivity of the topic. Without preaching the ideology of communism, the writers brought knowledge to readers about North Korea’s entertainment industry, which, no doubt it was used as a propaganda tool to their movie/drama watchers. I particularly like the kidnapping story and trivia.
Article Ideas
Articles on North Korea on MDL are usually about its relationship with South Korea which was depicted in SK dramas/movies. Even so, I only found two: The first one is an NK-SK issue on the particular drama Over-Analyzing: Crash Landing on You (Ep. 1, Part 1). The second is a light-hearted one that touches NK-SK relationship and other inter-country relationships in dramas in The North/South Divide. In connection with the latter article, I would love to read more articles on global political relationships in dramas/movies.
In the past, I have also seen articles on dramas/movies from other Asian countries not represented in MDL, for example from India, Pakistan, Turkey, etc. It will be fun to see similar articles like that again, for example, shows from Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other Asian countries.
A Hypothesis on “Drama Craze”
"A hypothetical analysis of Asian drama addiction."
This article is a riot. The writer discusses a global yet localized disease she coined as “Drama Craze” (DC) which is “an infectious disease in men and women caused by the virus of the family dramaaddictionviridae, more commonly known as Asian Drama viruses (ADVs)”. I won’t talk more about it, just read it! Note also that the zombie-like article cover image fits the topic. The writer also wrote other funny articles similar to this, please check out her list.
Article Ideas
My purpose in using this article in this section is simple: as long as we are not banned from laughing yet, everyone can write satiric or parodic articles on drama/movie topics, genres, or tags. As long as the topic is within the Writing Guidelines. It’s freedom of expression called comedy.
For example on the genre: we read articles on ‘my [x amount] favorite romantic dramas’, but why not write on ‘my [x amount] favorite romantic dramas to be laughed about’? For tags: instead of writing on ‘my top arranged marriage/relationship dramas’, why not write about ‘my top ridiculous arranged relationship dramas’? I wonder if any writer will take the challenge to write a comical article on a particular over-hyped, over-rated drama.
Back to School
"Curious how schools in Japanese actually work? Natsu2 breaks it down for us - The question now is, how anxious are you to go and experience the Japanese school system?"
I haven’t watched many school/college dramas, but I enjoyed reading an article that explained about a school system from a country which dramas I watched. It’s nice to see the comments that readers also joined in explaining their own country’s school systems.
Article Ideas
I’m surprised that this is the only article that talked about the school system of a country in which dramas/movies we watched. We also want to know about the school systems in other countries which shows are represented on MDL. And how their high school dramas and movies match or do not match with it. I want to know about school rules. For example, rules on uniforms.
I praise the writer’s interest in the topic and the effort put into writing the article, regardless of his/her unfamiliarity with the school system before this. Therefore, I am convinced anyone could write articles on school systems from other countries.
The First Drama/Movie Mood Ring!
"Want a drama or movie that matches the mood you're in? Well, you've found the very first drama/movie mood ring!"
What an interesting inception of the article, it tells us we can just come up with a writing idea from any source not connected to drama/ movie! Thank you for explaining what a mood ring is since I had no clue what it was. Anyone who wants to know more about mood rings can read the Wikipedia description and an experiment article.
Article Ideas
I have seen several articles on how to drop dramas, one of them was written by this writer (Letting a Drama Go). However, I have not seen any article on how to, not what to, choose dramas to watch. It will be great to see people writing articles with tips on choosing what drama to watch.
Historical Drama Edition: POWER COUPLE RULES!
"A MAN WITH DREAMS NEEDS A WOMAN WITH VISION :) "
I haven’t watched any of the power couples mentioned in this article, although General and I has been on my PTW list for a while. Since I am a sucker for seeing a couple that both strong in their own rights, I’m looking forward to watching that drama! I agreed with the writer about how tiresome it is to watch dramas about annoying royal couples with a weak female lead who needs to be rescued most of the time. Gosh, any annoying non-royal couple with either bad ML or FL!
Article Ideas
Too many times, we see couples in which one is superior to the other. The cliche is usually the male leads are better looking, richer, smarter, in a higher position, and/or stronger (physically or mentally) than the female leads. Someone becomes dependent on the other person. I think nowadays in romantic dramas we prefer to see couples that both the male and the female characters are at the same or similar level of strength, although they have different skills and talents they work together harmoniously. Therefore, we need to write articles on identifying power couples both in historical and modern dramas. Power couples are not only in the royals (as discussed in this article), but also influential couples in their own right in politics, entertainment, sports, and/or business.
Lost in Translation
"KDramaQueen91 defines the two staples of subtitle theology, as well as some frustrating aspects of the art of subbing."
Although the writer might try to be serious in explaining how the difference in subtitles format (literal or modified) can either support or fail a drama and the difference between recipients (first-time K-drama watchers and veterans), I couldn’t help laughing reading it. This article is hilarious, even just looking at the pictures shows how horrible the translation is on certain dramas.
Article Ideas
The lack of English sub from native languages motivates some experienced viewers to brave themselves to watch the raw version. I am curious about how they were able to do that. Therefore, there is a need for an article explaining how viewers can watch in the native language and still be able to understand the plot, although they don’t speak that language.
An Open Letter to Kdrama Fans
"This is an open letter to all the K-drama fans like me. "
I love this short and sweet article. It urges the readers to take care of their well-being: sleep, time management, and get out of the couch the explore the world outside dramaland (aka real life).
Article Ideas
More articles need to be written on balancing drama addiction, with topics like time management, self-control, smart-watch, healthy things to do while watching dramas (ex: exercising, socializing), etc. Have you ever been to a watch party? Tell us about it in an article, do you really make friends?
Another thing I want to mention is the short and simple format of this article. Any writer loves to pour out his/her idea(s) and emotion into an article and design the layout as pretty as possible. Without realizing it, we can make our article long and complicated. And poor readers cannot view the article and/or comment on it due to the limitation of their devices and/or internet connection. The lack of pictures in this article is interesting, and without a doubt, was deliberately made so. By the end, not only that the writer able to communicate her idea, but the readers also reflected on the bad habit of lack of sleep caused by watching dramas!
Charismatic Killers in Korean Dramas and Films Series
"Let's take a look at some hot bad guys/girls..."
Unlike other articles where I talked about the topic, I want to talk about writing series. The writer is one of the few who wrote many series of her articles. Besides this series of 6 articles prepared in a year, she also wrote the series below:
- Actors over 40 who never cease to amaze (7 parts in 3 months)
- Korean Actresses Over 40 Who Never Cease to Amaze (6 parts in 6 months)
- Schools in Korean Dramas and Films (8 parts in 4 months)
- Korean Heroes and Heroines of the Year 1990 (8 parts in one year)
- Blooming Genius: Korean Child Actors/Actresses (5 parts in 2 months)
All six series were published within 1 1/2 years, so I assumed the writing preparation also takes about the same length.
Article Ideas
Writing a series takes more preparation time and dedication than just writing individual articles. Before collecting the resources, the writer needs to see the big picture of how many individuals, characters, dramas, movies, or topics will be presented and divided into parts, in which each part should be presented concisely. While collecting resources, all can be collected one time which takes less writing time but may need re-watching (if the theme is certain dramas/movies). Or else to be collected while the writer casually watches dramas/movies. The latter resource collection takes longer, so in this case, needs the writer’s dedication in writing the series, or he/she may lose interest in the long run.
In Defense of The Heirs: The Defense Series
"Series of articles defending the so-called terrible dramas. I start with The Heirs!"
The writer braced herself to write in favor of The Heirs, a popular K-drama (by the time this article was submitted, it ranked #6 in popularity on this site with 82K+ MDL watchers) that received mixed opinions. She was fair enough to introduce the couple as “two very uninteresting leads” with a very outdated romance trope of rich guy/poor girl. However, she further defended the drama with some good features that you better read the article yourself since I won’t spoil her article. The writer can be a ‘defense lawyer’ in dramaland, as she also wrote another article Rated Horribly with Love.
Article Ideas
I’m glad that the writer decided to write this entertaining article, as when I read down further in the comment section, she stated that “this article was supposed to be deleted as [she] didn’t think it was good enough”. There were more articles written criticizing overrated/overhyped dramas but not the other way around. We need more writers who dare enough to write articles ‘defending’ popular dramas that received lots of criticism 😉.
A Horrible Attempt to Translate Chinese Lyrics
"This MDL'er attempts to translate Chinese Drama OST lyrics into English. See how it goes inside! "
I admired the writer, who is a native Chinese and, therefore learned Chinese at a young age, and translated two of her favorite OST songs from The Eternal Love and Three Miles of Peach Blossoms. Although the writer modestly stated that the translation was “a horrible attempt”, she still could capture the beauty of the lyrics into understandable interpretations. As the writer stated, there are double metaphors (“one metaphor on top of another”) in the lyrics. I would love to understand the meaning of some of my favorite OSTs. I use the OSTs I compiled in the above list as background music while I’m doing anything else than watching a drama/movie. It’s satisfying to be able to understand what the song is about.
Article Ideas
It has been a while since this article was written in 2018, and so far it seems this was the only one for the Chinese historical/costume drama OST. I wonder if there will be any future article similar to this one, explaining the meaning of the OSTs in some historical/costume dramas/movies. Several articles have been written describing the lyrics of modern dramas of any country, but it seems harder in historical dramas due to the poetic language used. It never goes wrong to look up OST ideas from great dramas in MDL’s Top Shows and Top Movies lists.
Related Articles
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.
The original article was published on January 11, 2021. Link HERE.
