K-drama mania 😀

Last week, I posted on my newfound enthusiasm for K-Dramas, which sparked some discussion with fellow writers, along the lines of whether what we like watching reflects the kind of stories we like to tell ourselves.

All of which caused me to reflect on potential overlaps between some of the K-dramas I’ve been watching and, for example, the Wall of Night series — and decide that there might be something in this thesis. Bearing in mind, of course, that there seem to be myriad ‘sorts and conditions’ of K-dramas, so there’s almost bound to be a nexus somewhere.

That being said, I write historically-informed epic Fantasy — and so far all the historical K-dramas I’ve watched have been very epic, with beleaguered rulers and duplicitous councilors, faithful friends and sworn enemies, intrigue and skirmishes, if not outright war, honour  and duty, and — of course — star-crossed love.

Master Tal-Tal in Empress Ki: concerned with honour, duty, & difficult choices

I don’t know about you, but I do see some overlaps with the sort of story I’m telling in The Wall of Night series. Plus these historical epics do tend to have large casts of characters, many with indepth backstories, which is definitely heartland Wall territory — as is a concern with integrity in friendships and the importance of good leadership.

Even when romance is front & centre, honor, duty, & integrity play their part

To date, romantic love, star-crossed or otherwise, has not been so central to the Wall story, although the jury must remain ‘out’ on its overall place until The Chaos Gate is published. And love and romance were certainly part of the mix in Thornspell.

Last but never least, I also write poetry — and in several of the K-dramas I’ve watched so far, the characters both read and quote poems to each other. So I guess there are quite a few similarities between the K-dramas I’m enjoying watching and what I like writing myself, from epic sagas to poetry. 😀

Rookie Historian — the power of the pen plays a starring role.