To Dark or Not To Dark?

[orionsloosetooth]

I get the weirdest thoughts when I just stare at a wall. Anyway, I'm writing and planning, like always, and I was planning this one scene where two children get kidnapped and their mother tries to save them but she's brutally beaten down by her daughters' kidnappers. And then I stopped halfway through and wondered "is this too dark?"

Then I started thinking about some books I've read that have featured actual torture, the first-person account of an assault. Anyway, back to what I wanted to discuss.

I get that some books are dark for a reason (The Bluest Eye to name one), but I wonder if there's a relevance to the darkness that an author captures. Personally, I like reading dark books. Because it makes the heartthrob at how someone could come up with something so vile yet beautiful at the same time. But it makes the heart clench b/c you ask yourself: "where did they come up with that?" And then the sudden realization that they real-world events more than likely had a massive effect on the writing.

What do you guys think? Writing darks things: good or bad? Relevant or not? I wanna know what not only writers think but readers. : )

[Iris-Grimoire]

It's always about fitting the story or not. If a comedic adventure suddenly has a moment like that, it takes you out because there's no buildup - unless it's part of the offender(s) that they don't work within the story's rules. At the same time, in a depressing war story, you're probably not stopping the narration dead on its tracks to point out a silly pun that has nothing to do with the scene.

I've got a weak stomach so I'm really not a person for dark stories, but I have tried a few, and it's always about balance. If you get too light, people lose track of the intensity or the threat of situations, but get comically depressing instead of just dark, and people go "well why should I read this if everyone's gonna die or wish they were dead" and drop it. That latter one has a LOT of Game of Thrones wannabe books on the list, I remember reading a few for the nice magic and lore only for characters to get killed when the moment was ripe for cheap shock(why should I care about someone with a really nice design or personality if that paints a target on their back).

[teasidesketches]

Personally, I feel like it's hard to write serious stories grounded in reality, whether literally or emotionally, without them being at least some degree of dark. It might also be a sort of way for people to grapple with reality in a safe way where there's no actual, real life threat? Even if those things could happen in real life, you can explore it in the safety of fiction. I think they could be relevant, then, because you can prepare yourself emotionally for whatever sort of tragedies you read about (or, hey, maybe you're just fascinated by morbidity, and that's fine, too!).

I tend to like darker stories that explore serious themes but also show the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's a bittersweet light. I like seeing the hope and watching characters overcome hardships and come out better at the end, so I'm not exactly a fan of grimdark "nobody is happy ever" stories. Life is hard enough as it is, I don't need meaninglessly depressing stories unless there's some kind of purpose to the bad outcome.

[yansusu]

As a reader and a writer I'd say there is no good or bad in writing something dark. To me, the question is really whether it's relevant or not. If it's something that the story needs, then yes, I think the author should write it down. If it's not important and just there for shock value, then no, I don't need to have that.

[Vada]

I am inclined to agree. Personally, I enjoy dark themes. Nothing is more terrifying, to me, than depictions of what bad people are capable of. That said, I think there's a fine line between "dark" and "gratuitous gore/torture/violence". Some people enjoy gratuitous (think of fans of the new Hellboy movie) while others do not. Relevance, as yansusu stipulated, is the key factor.

[Wumbl]

It's neither good nor bad. It's just a thematic choice.

If you write it very effectively, yeah it's good. If you don't know how to do it in a striking and fun way there's no point in doing it.

I mean, why write difficult subject matter if you're not going to tackle it with good research and a strong emotional understanding? Why write a violence-heavy comic if the violence is going to be all same-y and unoriginal?

Write things with dark themes if you want but you MUST do the necessary research to approach it well. You MUST make sure you're doing it with a lot of heart and soul.

An example of dark themes done badly? Blue Velvet, Fifty Shades Of Grey.... there are plenty to choose from. They come across as tone deaf and aren't written or directed in a way that really makes any of the dark occurrences feel acknowledged, or memorable. I can't even count the number of times Fifty Shades has included straight-up rape or abuse and just mistaken it for romance. I can't count the number of times Blue Velvet made me feel either insulted or just plain bored. Both try to tackle "dark" ideas but do it really poorly and without much thought.

On the other hand, dark themes are handled in Hannibal (the red dragon) absolutely perfectly. They're done in a way that's memorable and actually sympathetic. They're handled with the right amount of care, and the emotional beats are almost never missed. Same thing goes with Silence Of The Lambs. Other examples I know of include things like Until Dawn, Ghost World, Frankenstein... I could go on for a long time about how these works take darker or more taboo themes and make really beautiful, poignant stories about them.

As long as you're ready to handle the themes and the weight they carry, go ahead. Just don't tackle it until you're ready... I've seen a lot of young writers try to tackle very heavy stuff early on without sufficient perspective, and the results are often pretty disastrous. It's not a good idea to take on something you're not ready for. Planning and research are super important, ESPECIALLY for dark themes.

[joannekwan]

Just depends on how it's handled. If it's relevant to the narrative, like look at Bambi, The Land Before Time, and Dumbo, they all have dark moments but they are approached in a way that makes sense to the mood and themes of the stories.

If a story is just being dark for the sake of it though, that's when I roll my eyes.

[Vada]

Excellent examples. May or may not be wanting to watch them again after reading your comment. Insert sheepish look.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

As someone who loves writing dark stories but also aims to write stories that kids can enjoy, I find myself faced with this question a lot. ^^; As an (incredibly dense) kid, I was fascinated by the idea of pain and strife, of feeling something so intensely that it could actually make you faint...it all felt like fantasy to me. To be honest, it still does. One of the benefits of our modern times is that most people never come into contact with those kinds of events...the kind of darkness that shocks and scars.

Which is probably why people like to read about it. ^^ It's a safe place to explore those feelings. Better to watch a character brutally murdered than a loved one, y'know? Or an otherwise real human being who will be really dead at the end of it all. You can enjoy the ride; relish the feeling of your soul being crushed in sorrow...and bounce back a little easier, because it's all just fiction.

Anyway, as a writer of dark things, I don't take inspiration from real-world events. Reality is much crueler than anything I could come up with. XD I just enjoy creating the forces that bring darkness to fruition, and watching the characters fight against them...or perish trying.
I think, deep down, I might still be that kid, fascinated by pain...I don't really like to watch it anymore, but I couldn't write a story without it.

[mrtoontastic]

Dark things can be good in a story, especially when moving in, or just to catch a reader by surprise. I say surprise your readers, man. If someone's gotta get shot, then shoot 'em.

[Maps]

My novel is very dark and I have definitely questioned myself about it. But honestly, like you, I love dark novels and it gives me the type of drama I’m seeking to portray. I really don’t think there’s anything wrong with it (but I do always give trigger warnings at the beginning of my chaps).

[Jenny-Toons]

It's also about asking yourself What yoyr limits are and what you're comfortable with. Do you yourself feel this is important to add to the work or do you yourself feel it's too much?

Ey, we have our limits and that's ok. It's why people who do commissions have "will do" and "won't do" lists.

After all, there are other ways to show dark content without being explicit. Symbolism and metaphors and the like help with that. If you feel you need that darkness but aren't comfortable yet, what other ways are you able to express It?

[indagold]

I say don't over do it and over describe stuff. Like I have side characters from deeply abusive upbringing but only subtly bring it up cause it would just be too much in an already sad plot line pushing it from seriousness to melodrama. I also made the decision to include very little gore because it felt like lots of blood and guts makes it too edgy or gross. You can make pretty disturbing and unsettling stuff with very little blood. Less is more.

[Saturn150]

To get more comfortable. Start with pg rated movies and slowly climb till you are at t rated films. Take it easy though.

[N1ghtm4r3]

mine I'm starting dark to show how messed up the world is, it severs its purpose for the story

Knights chronicles :: Arrival | Tapas

[Freemints30]

Dark stuff is neither good nor bad. Thou I personally eat that dark shit I acknowledge it works best when the the tone is already set that way from the beginning or at least heavily foreshadowed it from the start. Like if your story for a large portion of it was PG with no hints and all of sudden your MC is graphically tortured it would be pretty much extremely tonal whiplash and rather alienating to both your currant audience and potential future audience who would like the dark stuff but wouldn't like the completely different story you have get through.

Really just don't make a miscarriage arc in a wacky gaming comic or a sex slave plot in an extremely cheesy ecchi fighter anime, please.

[Jenny-Toons]

I mean, just in general, even with doing all of that, people have their limits in what they will and won't consume/create when it comes to dark content.

Me? I don't mind gore. But I will never ever write sexual abuse of any kind in my works. And if I ever do, it's implied, never explicit. That's with consuming dark content and mature movies.

You just have to decide for yourself what you wanna consume and create.

[winterpenwell]

As a reader, I usually choose light over dark (it used to be the other way around). As a writer, some of the things I’ve thought of will haunt me forever.

If an idea is giving me nightmares, I’ll step away. If I'm thinking of asking a friend to “please burn this if I die” I’ll step away. There’s great advice here…I’ll just add that I think it’s important to make sure that whatever you’re working on isn’t messing with you.

[Darth_Biomech]

There's dark, then there's grimderp. Latter can be characterized by the definition "everything sucks forever, and there's nothing positive happens, and there's no good in anybody PERIOD I'm a nihilistic misanthropic asshole". Avoid grimderp, and you should be fine. I'll paraphrase one of the quotes from Don Bluth that I really liked (but sadly can't remember exactly) - "you can go as dark as you like, it won't be bad as long as story is turning up positive in the end".
Go deep, go dark, just make sure to pull the reader out of there after that. Too many writers are just leaving us there.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

My story isn't dark myself because my heart is basically as soft as a butter I just feel sorry for torturing my own characters from the depth of my heart. I try to not make things dark or darker on purpose because I'm aware of my skill that I'm no good at it

If I try to make something dark it would look like it comes out from 12 years old emo edgelord who thinks it's deep Some people handle even heavy dark theme good and if you know what you're doing don't let it discourage you from adding certain elements in the story, but those people don't include me.

I don't know, but certain people think the stories that are "dark" are cool because it's more "mature" and "complicated." Sometimes it results in people forcing to paint their story black without thinking about the story's necessity or how it would work with the other elements in it, and it's just for the sake of making it dark. I think as a reader, at times it's obvious when creators adding dark elements just because of the nature of the story or to make it dark on purpose and add shock value, the latter is often sound forced. Another possibility is it sounds forced because even if it fits the story, the creators don't have sufficient skill or correct approach to it

I don't get why people think grim and gritty things are better, cooler, and more mature. In simple and light-hearted things we can also learn valuables thing and have comfort in ourselves, why it is childish to be comfortable? There is enough real tragedies in real world, anyway.