Drama is what keeps a reader turning the page (or scrolling the page?)
Drama = Conflict.
This doesn’t automatically mean a violent fight scene or a battle (though it can do). It means the story has to contain something where two people (or more) are not in agreement with each other, or where certain things or events are not in agreement with the characters. Non-concordance. Discord. Disharmony.
As with any piece of artwork, it’s the subtle imperfections that attract human interest. If something is painted or drawn to look exactly like the object it depicts, it is boring. If a song or piece of music is played according to the laws of music with no little deviation from them, it is boring. If a story is told in which everything is perfect and nothing bad happens, it is boring.
Why?
Because it’s the tiny imperfections that reveal something about the creator’s personality. Readers want to see parts of your personality.
So don’t write a story about Brian getting up, putting his left shoe on, then his right, then combing his hair, whistling, brushing his teeth, eating breakfast, yadda yadda. These are actions that are too mundane; practically everyone does them in some shape or format. Write a story about Brian getting up, trying to put his left shoe on, and discovering his feet have grown to the size of small boats overnight. Write about how this affects his workday, how he finds out what happened to make his feet grow, and how he solves the problem (or learns to live with it).
Or, write about Brian getting up and realising his wife has left him, because she realised she was gay. How does that affect his day, and his interactions with other people? Maybe he gets a phone call from his mother-in-law, they have a sour argument, and suddenly they both discover that neither of them know where Mrs. Brian is. She’s gone missing from the face of the Earth. The more you let the situation escalate and make more things go wrong, the more of a story it will be… as long as it has a satisfying conclusion where all the disparate elements harmonise back into unity. It may help if you come up with the story’s ending first.
Nightwalks 