Short Drama Writing: What You Need to Know First

Imagine a crowded market.

People are rushing past.

Some are selling vegetables.

Some are selling coffee.

Some are selling handmade crafts.

You are one of the vendors.

But instead of selling products, you are trying to sell a story.

No one is waiting for you.

No one owes you attention.

Anyone can walk away at any moment.

So the real question is not:

“Can I write?”

It is:

“How do I make someone stop?”

“What do I say first?”

“Why would they stay?”

This is where short drama begins.

Where These Rules Come From

Short drama did not start as an artistic experiment.

It emerged from China’s mobile-first content market — a market where more than half of the population regularly watches short dramas, and over 100 new series are produced every day.

In this environment, stories are not judged by taste or intention.

They are judged by one thing only:

Do people stop watching — or do they leave?

Over time, this market has produced an enormous number of successes and failures.

What survives does so for structural reasons.

What fails does so consistently.

From this process, a set of basic writing rules has become unavoidable.

This booklet summarizes those rules.

What This Booklet Is — and Is Not

This is not a motivational writing book.

It is not a traditional screenwriting manual.

And it does not promise instant success.

Instead, it focuses on the most basic principles you must understand before learning short drama writing properly.

These principles explain:

• What short dramas are — and what they are not
• Why short dramas can only sustain one main storyline
• What platforms actually look for when evaluating projects

These are not personal opinions.

They are the result of market selection.

Who this guide is for

• Beginners curious about short drama / vertical drama writing
• Creators who want their ideas to reach real audiences
• Writers without a film or TV background
• Anyone trying to understand how short drama platforms think

About the author

This guide is written by Wenwen (Maggie) Han, an independent short drama producer and the founder of Short Drama Alliance (SDA) — an international knowledge and consulting platform connecting creators, platforms, and investors in the short drama space.

She previously worked at a short drama platform and has since advised and trained writers and teams across both Chinese and overseas markets. Her work focuses on format logic, audience behavior, and market structure, rather than personal creative taste.

This guide reflects how short drama projects are actually filtered by platforms today — not how stories are written in theory.